The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department announced Tuesday the identity of Sahara Sue Doe as Gwenn Marie Story, a woman found dead in an empty lot in 1979.

She was named for where she was found near the intersection of Sahara Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard on Aug. 14, 1979, in the dirt of what was once the site of the El Rancho Vegas hotel and casino, police explained in a release.

The Clark County Coroner’s Office determined at the time that she was slain.

An initial investigation couldn’t figure out who Sahara Sue Doe was, but in 2022 police referred her DNA samples to Othram, a forensic genetic firm that informed police in November of her real identity: Gwenn Marie Story.

Story left the Cincinnati area in 1979 to go west and find her biological father, traveling to Las Vegas with two male friends, police said.

The two men eventually returned to Ohio and told her family they left Story in Las Vegas. She never contacted her family again, Las Vegas police explained.

Cold case detectives are investigating her death and ask that anyone with information on Story or her two traveling companions call 702-828-3521 or email homicide@lvmpd.com.

According to Las Vegas CBS affiliate KLAS-TV, Story’s family said in a statement, “Finally after 44 years of not knowing what happened to our sister Gwenn Story, we have news that she had been identified. We are looking for some closure on this case.”

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.