On April 22, 1981 the body of a woman later identified as Louise Virginia Peterson Flesher, 65, was recovered from a covered well in Chesapeake, Lawrence County, Ohio. Investigators determined she had been strangled, and her remains may have been in the well for as long as two years before discovery, which led to the case being called the Belle in the Well.

For nearly four decades the woman’s identity was unknown. In 2019 DNA analysis and forensic genealogy by the nonprofit DNA Doe Project confirmed her name after more than 10,000 hours of work over 14 months and the use of family DNA samples. Flesher had been born in West Virginia and had moved to Ohio after spending time out west. The circumstances of her death remain unsolved and no suspects have been identified.

The Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone with information about Flesher’s last known whereabouts or who might be responsible for her death to come forward.