ARVIN, CA – In a significant breakthrough, the Kern County Coroner’s Office, with the assistance of the DNA Doe Project, has successfully identified a cold case victim as 64-year-old Ada Beth Kaplan. Kaplan’s remains were found in a grape vineyard on Sebastian Road, near Wheeler Ridge Road in Arvin, back on March 29, 2011. Despite initial efforts, her identity had remained unknown for over a decade.
The case, initially classified as a homicide with an undetermined cause of death, went unsolved for years. The inability to identify the victim from missing persons records and fingerprints led to her burial at Union Cemetery as a Jane Doe. However, the success of a similar cold case in 1980, solved using genealogy DNA, prompted the Coroner’s Office to employ the same method for this case.
In July 2023, the DNA Doe Project identified two potential East Coast family members of the deceased. Upon their agreement to provide DNA specimens for comparison, Jane Doe 2011 was positively identified as Ada Beth Kaplan, a 64-year-old resident of Canyon Country, CA.
Despite this breakthrough in identification, significant mysteries remain. Kaplan was not reported missing, and both the circumstances of her death and the identity of any suspect involved continue to be unknown. Kern County Sheriff detectives have interviewed family members as part of their ongoing investigation.