The Magnolia Project
Thirty women. Thirty stories waiting to be told.
Across Mississippi, women remain unidentified despite the efforts of investigators, forensic professionals, and the passage of years. Each woman had a life, a family, and a story.
Through The Magnolia Project, Moxxy Forensic Investigations is working alongside the Mississippi State Repository for Missing and Unidentified Persons to help restore identities to 30 women who died as victims of homicide.
Identification is more than putting a name to a case. It can give investigators new leads, return answers to families, and restore a piece of a life that was lost.
The First Cases
Before they became Jane Does, they were someone’s daughter, sister, mother, friend, or loved one. They had lives, memories, dreams, and people who knew them by name.
Now, their identities have been lost to time.
The Magnolia Project begins with these two women. By combining forensic DNA testing, investigative genetic genealogy, and traditional genealogical research, we hope to uncover the families and stories behind their unidentified remains—and help return their names to them.
Because every woman deserves to be remembered as more than an unidentified person.
How We Work
Identifying an unknown person is a process that brings science, genetics, and genealogy together. Through investigative genetic genealogy, our team follows the evidence step by step—from developing a DNA profile to uncovering family connections and, ultimately, working toward an identification.
DNA
Forensic DNA provides the foundation for the investigation. Specialized testing can create a genetic profile from unidentified remains, giving researchers the information needed to begin searching for family connections.
Genetic Matches
The DNA profile is compared with approved genetic databases to identify potential relatives. Even distant matches can provide valuable clues about where an unidentified person may have come from.
Family Research
Our investigators combine genetic genealogy with traditional genealogical research to build family trees, trace ancestral lines, and identify the family connections that may lead us closer to a name.
Identification
When the evidence points to a likely identity, investigators work with the appropriate authorities to evaluate and confirm the findings. The ultimate goal is to restore a name, provide answers, and give families the opportunity to know what happened to their loved one.
She Had a Name.
Before she became an unidentified woman, she had a name. She had a life, a family, and a story.
Finding that name takes more than hope. It takes forensic DNA testing, genetic genealogy, genealogical research, records, laboratory resources, and the dedicated investigators who bring these pieces together.
Your support helps make that work possible.
Every contribution helps Moxxy pursue the resources needed to investigate these cases and work toward giving these women back their identities—and giving families the answers they have been waiting for.
Help us give these women their names back.