Cassandra Rhines was 19 when she disappeared after telling a friend by phone she would attend her goddaughter’s birthday in Minneapolis the next day in June 1985. She never arrived and was not heard from again until skeletal remains were found in May 2014 in a secluded area of Gooseberry Falls State Park, roughly 200 miles from where she was last seen. A St. Louis County forensic anthropologist ruled the remains the result of a homicide and investigators concluded the victim had likely been killed elsewhere and left in the remote park.

Identification came in August 2014 after DNA from a sample provided by Cassandra’s sister to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension matched the remains. At the time of her disappearance Cassandra was living at an apartment complex at 2700 Grand Avenue South in Minneapolis; records indicate possible involvement in prostitution and work as an exotic dancer. A photograph showed Cassandra with an unidentified man who investigators later named as Donald McSwain; McSwain died before he could be interviewed.

No arrests have been announced and the case remains unsolved. If anyone knew Cassandra, her movements in June 1985, or recognized the man in the photo, please share information with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office or the BCA.