How DNA solved a decades-old case of woman found murdered near Lake Tahoe

The murder of a woman whose body was discovered on a Lake Tahoe hiking trail remained unsolved for 37 years — until now.

On Tuesday, Washoe County Sheriff Darin Balaam announced that a woman known only as "Sheep's Flat Jane Doe" has been identified as Mary Silvani, who was 33 when she was shot to death in 1982 off the Mt. Rose Highway.

Forensic genealogists identified Silvani and her killer, James Richard Curry, using decades-old DNA evidence recovered from a rape kit. Curry committed suicide in 1983 while in jail on another murder charge. 

For Silvani's cousin Angel Capriles, the revelation left her with more questions than answers. Her DNA was used to track down Silvani's other relatives.

Capriles, who lives in New York City with her mother, said Tuesday that the investigation turned her life "upside down."

"I just feel so heartbroken because it's like this woman was completely forgotten about on her side of the family," Capriles, 43, said. "It's tragic. It's really just tragic."

She said her mother, Joan Silvani, 78, remembers her cousin Mary as "a really sweet girl."

"It was a shock for my mom, especially," Capriles said. "She's the last living one of the Silvani children." 

"For her, it's hard," she said. "This isn't knowledge that you want."

Capriles said she had hoped the murder suspect would still be alive so that the family could see justice for Mary Silvani's murder.

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Robert Silvani Jr., 53, said he never met his aunt; his father was Mary Silvani's brother.

"It’s not closure, but it’s better than what I had because I only heard of Mary one time in my life," Silvani Jr. said.

Silvani met Capriles through the investigation. He said he learned about his aunt's murder through Capriles. 

"I’m so happy that they solved it because now I know more about my family," he said. 

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Silvani said he hopes to visit his aunt's grave site. 

"The fact is I wasn’t close to her," he said. "I just want her to get what she deserves because that’s a horrible way to die. She should have a proper headstone or flowers or an engraved granite, not just a plaque with the name 'Jane Doe.'"

Capriles said she'll raise money for a headstone for her relative's unmarked grave in Reno. She started an online donation site on GoFundMe. 

"I thought I knew my family," she said. "We just figured those cousins were out there living their best life."

How the case was cracked 

Detectives and forensic genealogists from the DNA Doe Project and IdentiFinders International detailed the process at a news conference on Tuesday at the Washoe County Sheriff's Office.

The biggest challenge they faced was tracing the extended family trees of hundreds of individuals based on DNA through an online genealogy database.

Balaam said the technique used in the investigation on the Golden State Killer was also used to solve Silvani's murder.

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For years, investigators worked to identify Silvani through DNA, fingerprints and dental records. They sorted through hundreds of missing persons reports for anyone who matched her description.

Then in February last year, forensic investigators attended a lecture by the DNA Doe Project and IdentiFinders International and started working with those organizations.

"If you think back, that was before the revolution happened," said Colleen Fitzpatrick, co-executive director of DNA Doe Project and founder of IndentiFinders International. "That was before we made our first Doe identification before the Golden State Killer case came out.

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"So, you have to credit the sheriff's department for some forward thinking in deciding to use this technology even before it was out there and well known."

Using DNA samples, investigators found Silvani's parents, which led to her identify.

"We know her name, but we don't know her story," said Margaret Press, co-founder of the DNA Doe Project. "We don't know who she was or how she came to be on that trail in Sheep's Flat and why her life came to an end."

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A look back

Mary Silvani was born in Pontiac, Michigan, in 1948. She attended high school in Detroit before moving to California.

On July 17, 1982, a group of hikers discovered her body in a meadow area near the summit of Mt. Rose Highway. She had been shot in the back of her head.

For decades, she was known only as "Sheep's Flat Jane Doe," named after the hiking trail.

Balaam said Silvani was dressed for a day at the beach. She was found wearing yellow tennis shoes and a one-piece bathing suit underneath a powder blue T-shirt and blue jeans.

Silvani wasn't carrying any identification, and no one ever filed a missing person's report.

"Most of the family members are deceased at this time due to the age of the crime," Detective Kathleen Bishop said Tuesday. "So, the people we reached out to and spoke with are very appreciative … that this crime was solved.

"They learned more about their family because they never met Mary Silvani."

Balaam said Curry, Silvani's killer, was born in Texas in 1946. He served time in prison for robbery before moving to California in 1977.

Six years later, he was arrested for the murders of Gerald Novoselatz, 39, and his wife, Sharon, 34, according to a 1983 report published by The San Francisco Examiner.  

Curry, then 36, managed a storage lot in Santa Clara. He admitted killing the couple, who owned a rival storage facility in San Jose. He shot and killed Gerald Novoselatz and then kidnapped and raped Sharon Novoselatz.

The San Francisco Examiner also reported Curry confessed to murdering his 38-year-old friend, Richard Lemmon Jr., whose body was found inside a wooden crate.

Investigators in California also linked him to a fourth murder victim, James DeWitt Robinson. Robinson's handgun, legal documents, and checkbooks were discovered in a locker at Curry's storage facility, but his body was never recovered.

"Shortly right after that, he committed suicide … that's why he was never fully charged in those cases," Bishop said. "We were never able to link how (Silvani and Curry) knew each other."

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Marcella Corona is a breaking news reporter who covers crime and justice in Northern Nevada. Support her work by subscribing to RGJ.com right here.