In 2011, a group of teenagers searching for scrap metal in Spartanburg County found human bones in a wooded area near Startex. Since there was no identification, the woman became known in the community as “Ms. Startex.”
Years later, in 2020, the Spartanburg County Coroner’s Office partnered with the DNA Doe Project to create a DNA profile. They uploaded the profile to GEDmatch and FamilyTreeDNA, but only got distant matches, many with Puerto Rican roots. This made the search difficult because of the close family relationships common in those family lines.
Finally, in April 2025, investigators got a new DNA match that led to a breakthrough. They were able to identify the woman as Jolene Lynn White. Investigators learned that Jolene had been adopted after her birth mother passed away and later moved to South Carolina with her adoptive family.
For years, investigators had followed weak leads and built hundreds of family trees with no success. The new match in 2025 changed everything and gave them the answer they had been searching for. This case is a powerful reminder that cold cases can stay unsolved for many years — until just one new piece of information can solve the mystery.
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