DNA Identifies Nashville Murder Victim Nearly 40 Years After Remains Were Found

Forensic genetic genealogy has helped Nashville investigators identify a woman whose remains were discovered nearly four decades ago, resolving a longstanding identification mystery in a double-murder investigation.

The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department announced on November 9, 2026, that the woman had been identified as Toni L. Gordon of Nashville, who was 31 years old when she was killed.

Gordon was one of two women whose bodies were discovered in 1987, buried in shallow graves beneath the dirt floor of a basement in a home on Charlotte Avenue.

The second victim, Sheila Cummings, was 23 years old. Her identity had already been established in 2025, leaving Gordon as the remaining unidentified victim.

Investigators determined that both women had been murdered by James Shaffer, who had rented the property where their remains were discovered.

Shaffer confessed to the killings after the bodies were found. Authorities believe the murders occurred approximately two years before their discovery.

He subsequently received two life sentences and died in prison in 2004.

Although the person responsible for the murders had been identified decades earlier, establishing the victims' identities presented a separate forensic challenge.

According to Nashville police, Gordon's family believed she had moved out of state and had eventually lost contact with her.

Her identification was achieved through forensic genetic genealogy, an investigative approach that uses genetic information and genealogical research to help establish biological relationships and identify unknown individuals.

Unlike conventional forensic DNA comparisons, which generally search for direct matches between genetic profiles, investigative genetic genealogy can use more distant relationships to develop potential identities.

Investigators may combine genetic leads with genealogical records and other information before seeking independent confirmation.

However, the Nashville Police Department's announcement does not specify the laboratory sequencing method, genetic databases, number of relatives examined, or final confirmation procedure used in Gordon's case.

Those details should not be assumed from the general capabilities of forensic genetic genealogy.

The department credited several organizations for contributing to the identification, including DNA Investigative Solutions, Bode Technology, the National Missing & Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), the Medical Examiner's Office, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

The collaboration demonstrates how forensic laboratories, public agencies, and investigative specialists can work together to revisit unidentified-person cases.

Importantly, this investigation was not about identifying an unknown perpetrator. Shaffer's responsibility had already been established through the criminal justice process.

Instead, the forensic development restored an identity to a victim whose name had remained unknown for decades.

Nashville police confirmed that Gordon's surviving family members have been notified.

The case illustrates how modern forensic genetics can contribute to historical investigations even when the circumstances of a crime and the person responsible are already known.