DNA helps identify woman found dead in Lakeside in 1986

A homicide victim whose body was discovered near Lakeside nearly four decades ago has been positively identified through a genetic genealogy investigation, sheriff’s officials announced Tuesday.

The Sheriff’s Department said Maria Pilar Del Gadillo Carrillo, 43, was identified as the woman whose body was discovered Aug. 3, 1986, on an embankment along State Route 67, south of Poway Road.

The exact cause of her death has not been released, but the sheriff’s department said she “sustained traumatic injuries to her body that were consistent with foul play,” and the medical examiner ruled her death was a homicide.

The case remained unsolved and the victim was only identified earlier this year, following recent attempts to identify him.

Sheriff’s officials say Carrillo immigrated to the United States in early 1986 from Yahaulica, Jalisco, Mexico.

With her identity known, detectives are now working to determine where she was in the San Diego area before she was killed. Her family was also informed that she had been positively identified and that the homicide investigation was ongoing, the department said.

Anyone who knew Carrillo was asked to contact the Sheriff’s Department’s homicide unit at (858) 285-6330, or after hours at (858) 565-5200. Tipsters can remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.