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'Valentine Sally': Woman found dead nearly 40 years ago in Northern Arizona identified

By and Brent Corrado
Updated  February 22, 2021 6:41pm MST
Crime and Public Safety
FOX 10 Phoenix

Woman known as ‘Valentine Sally’ identified, nearly 40 years later

'Valentine Sally' was found dead in Coconino County, and investigators have used Familial DNA to determine who she was. FOX 10's Justin Lum reports.

WILLIAMS, Ariz. - A woman who was found dead nearly 40 years ago in Northern Arizona has been identified, authorities said.

The Coconino County Sheriff's Office said on Feb. 22 the woman has been identified as Carolyn Eaton of St. Louis, Missouri. Eaton's body was found on February 14, 1982 along Interstate 40 near Williams.

Eaton was wearing a red and white striped sweater and blue jeans when her body was discovered. She was last seen at a local truck stop cafe on Feb. 4, 1982 with a white man around 60 years old, according to a waitress who spoke to police after the discovery.

In the years since Eaton's body was found, detectives searched for leads, trying to find out who the woman then known as 'Valentine Sally' truly was.

"We kept running into dead ends," Sheriff Jim Driscoll with the Coconino County Sheriff's Office recounted. "We thought we had her identified a couple of different times, but as it turned out, it was not here."

With help from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the National Missing and Unidentified Person System, and the Arizona Department of Public Safety, CCSO located and obtained DNA samples from the victim's family, and confirmed the body as Carolyn, who went missing after running away from home in 1981.

"Having cases this old, utilizing today's technology, it's really a gamechanger," said Ashley Rodriguez, Senior Forensic Case Manager for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

In the years since Eaton's body was found, detectives searched for leads, trying to find out who the woman then known as 'Valentine Sally' truly was.

"We kept running into dead ends," Sheriff Driscoll recounted. "We thought we had her identified a couple of different times, but as it turned out, it was not here."

Identification of family members in St. Louis, Mo. led to interviews, which confirmed a sibling ran away from home around Christmas 1981.

"She obviously you know, was a little troubled during her younger years when she ran away but the family never knew what happened," said Sheriff Driscoll.

DNA samples from those relatives matched the profile of "Valentine Sally."

"Carolyn's story isn't over," said Rodribuez. "We now know who she is, where she is, but we don't know how she got there or why she was put there."

"We are very sure this was a homicide," Sheriff Driscoll said

The case is being investigated as a homicide and detectives are working to identify any possible suspects.

Carolyn Eaton, previously knoewn as "Valentine Sally" (Courtesy: Carl Koppelman)

"Valentine Sally" (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children)

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