In March 1996, tree trimmers working in Upperco, just south of Gunpowder Road on Falls Road, found human remains.

Investigators at the time thought the remains had been there for at least five years. Now they know Leoria Smith had been missing for about 12 years when her body was found.

Smith, the “Falls Road Jane Doe,” disappeared at age 20 in 1984. Police believe the last time she may have been seen alive was in November 1984 celebrating her birthday at a club called Underground, in the 2100 block of Edmondson Avenue in Baltimore. Her disappearance was not reported at the time, police said.

“Knowing her identity is just the first step,” said Cpl. Dona Carter, from the police department’s cold case and missing persons squad. “No detail is too small in this case.”

Detectives spent decades working on the case with no substantial leads, Carter said. Finally, in 2021, the department began working with DNA Labs International and developed a DNA profile.

Genealogists with DLI used that profile to develop potential leads for detectives, who continued to interview people and obtain samples for further testing.

Police were able to “break down that [family] tree and get to where we need to be to identify somebody who may be related to the deceased individual,” Carter said.

And, in that process, detectives identified Smith’s daughter, who was just an infant when she disappeared.

Tierra Ashby, 40, said she had been wondering what happened to her mother for a long time. She was caught by surprise when police contacted her. She’s grateful for the detectives who have been working to identify her and figure out what happened.

“But it’s mixed emotions, ‘cause I’m still sad that I don’t have a mother. And I lost so much,” Ashby said. “And my kids never got that experience of a grandmother.”

“But I’m happy that she could get put to rest, properly,” she added.

Smith’s granddaughter, Kierra Merton, 26, said she wished she could have known her grandmother and that she was upset Smith was “taken from us.”

“It would have been nice to have a grandmother to call,” Merton said.

When detectives called Merton about the case, she said, the phone call threw her off because her family has only one person who’s gone missing.

“I couldn’t answer anything, ‘cause I never got to meet her,” Merton said. “I never got the chance to see what it would be like to have a grandmother.”

Who is Leoria Smith?

Smith attended Gywnns Falls Park Junior High School in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, police said. When she was found, Smith was wearing blue jeans, a light-colored blouse with pinstripes and pearl buttons, and high-top-style shoes. Two gold hoop earrings were also found at the scene, police said.

“This is truly the first step,” Carter said. “That’s why we’re asking anyone who knew her at all, or who may have seen her out at that club, ever, not even just that night she went out celebrating her birthday, to please contact us.”

Police urged anyone who may have known Smith or who has photographs of her to contact them at 410-887-3943.

For Smith’s surviving family, her identification is just one step toward closure and justice. They want to make sure whoever hurt her mother doesn’t hurt others, Ashby said.

“I always have missed her. Because I never got to experience what I seen other little kids experience and do with their families,” Ashby said. “A lot of people out there say, ‘We got you, we love you.’ But it’s never the same.”