Saskatoon Police Identify Century-Old 'Woman in Well' Using Genetic Genealogy

The Saskatoon Police Service has identified "the woman in the well," a century-old cold case from 2006, as Alice Spence (née Burke), a woman of Irish ancestry who died between 1916 and 1918 under suspicious circumstances. Her remains were discovered in a barrel inside an old well in Saskatoon's Sutherland neighbourhood, and DNA testing combined with investigative genetic genealogy, aided by Toronto police and forensic experts, linked her to living relatives and solved what is believed to be Canada's oldest case resolved by this method. Alice had moved to Sutherland from Minnesota in 1913 with her husband Charles and daughter Idella, who was orphaned young and never spoke about her mother's fate. Despite extensive investigation, the exact circumstances of her death remain unclear, but injuries indicate she was assaulted and murdered. The case is now closed based on circumstantial evidence and the passage of time, but the identification has provided Alice's descendants with a long-awaited connection to their family history. This resolution highlights the advances in forensic technology and the dedication of law enforcement over nearly two decades.