This week, Boulder County Sheriff's investigators announced that results of DNA testing have ruled out Embrey as the "Jane Doe" murder victim found near Boulder Creek in 1954.

Embrey disappeared from North Platte in 1953.

Twylia's great-grandniece, Jennifer Kitt of North Platte and Twylia's sister, Mildred Garner of Wellfleet had read the articles headlined, "City works to discover Jane Doe's real identity" and "50 years later, she's still a mystery" in The Telegraph in December 2004, and they wondered if Jane Doe could be Twylia.

The stories were about a young woman murdered in Colorado in 1954. After police were unable to identify the body, residents of Boulder raised funds to provide a private grave marked "Jane Doe April 1954 age about 20," as a final resting place until the woman could be identified.

Estimated to be between 17-20 years old, an appendectomy scar was her only distinguishing feature. Approximately 5" 3', weighing about 120 [should be 100-110] pounds, the victim had reddish-blond hair.

The Boulder County Sheriff's Office re-opened the case in 2004, and exhumed Jane Doe's skeletal remains from the cemetery in June of that year. Additional information about the circumstances of "Jane Doe's" death was learned from the remains and a DNA sample was obtained, and the skull was reconstructed.

Publicity from the case resulted in the sheriff's office receiving a number of leads to her identity.

After reading the articles, Kitt and Garner began to wonder if Jane Doe was their missing relative.

Twylia May Embrey was 19 years old, approximately 5"2' and weighed 100-110 pounds, with dark blond hair, according to Kitt.

"Grandma told me she was always trying to cover up a mole on the side of her face near her lower lip," Kitt said. "Grandma called it her beauty mark."

Kitt and Garner contacted Silvia Pettem, a Boulder County historian who has been trying to learn Jane Doe's identity. Pettem maintains a web site devoted to Boulder Jane Doe. Pettem came to Nebraska in April to visit with Twylia's family.

From the description of Embrey provided by the family, Boulder County investigators felt there were enough similarities to justify further forensic testing. A photograph of Embrey was superimposed over a photograph of the victim's skull. That test indicated that Embrey was likely not Jane Doe.

Following the forensic facial reconstruction done by forensic artist Frank Bender, Bender told investigators that there were signs that the skull might match Embrey.

Embrey, the second-to-youngest daughter of Charles and Iva Embrey, was born in 1934. She grew up on a farm near Maywood, and moved to North Platte following graduation from Maywood High School. According to family members, Embrey and her father had quarreled, leading her to tell her father that he would never see her again. The family knows that she had a job at the Little Lemon Café in North Platte, which was near the old depot.

Sometime in 1953, Charles Embrey stopped in at the café for lunch and to see his daughter. He was told that she hadn't worked there for some time.

Charles and Iva Embrey spent the rest of their lives searching for their daughter. Hearing rumors that she had gone to California, the family believed she had run away, something she had threatened to do many times, according to Kitt.

Kitt has talked to all family members who are still alive, trying to find any clue that would point to where Twylia may have gone. There has been no activity on Twylia's Social Security number since she disappeared.

Jane Doe was discovered in a ditch near Boulder Creek on April 8, 1954. Alive when thrown over the bank, the nude victim had multiple fractures. Police at the time had various suspects and several theories, but none of the leads led to an arrest or to identifying the victim.

"We are relieved," Kitt said, after hearing the news the DNA did not match. "We are relieved that Twylia didn't die in such a horrible way, then be in that grave all that time with no name."

Embrey's family will continue their search for their missing relative, Kitt said.

"We have some leads that point in a positive direction," Kitt said. "We are going to keep searching, we are still traveling down that road."

Historian Pettem said she would continue to try and help the family find Twylia while continuing to try to identify Jane Doe.

"In the past several months searching for Twylia, I have gotten to know the family and I too, am relieved that Twylia is not Jane Doe," Pettem said.

"The stories of these two young women (one missing, one found but not identified) are more common that I ever realized," Pettem said. "What makes Twylia and Jane unique is the time frame. The family of Twylia (and most likely the family of Jane) has agonized over the uncertainty of what happened to their loved ones for more than 50 years."