Lelia Ann May Malley

For more than two decades, she was known only as the "Woman on Eliza Street," a nameless victim in a cold case file. Lelia Ann May Malley, a 49-year-old female from the Mississippi Gulf Coast, was estranged from her family, and the last time her daughter saw her was around the year 2000. Lelia was reportedly living between Long Beach, Mississippi, and New Orleans, Louisiana, in the time before her death. Little is publicly known about her life, her work, or the path that led her to New Orleans in the winter of 2002.

On the morning of Sunday, February 24, 2002, a woman’s body was discovered in a vacant, overgrown lot in the 1200 block of Eliza Street in the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans. She had no identification, and there was little at the scene to suggest who she was. The Orleans Parish Coroner's Office ruled her death a homicide. An examination determined she was a white female, approximately 5'3" tall and 110 pounds, with green eyes and shoulder-length, reddish-brown hair that had been dyed blonde, with gray roots showing. She had a vertical scar on or behind her right knee.

The New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) launched a homicide investigation, but with the victim’s identity unknown, the case quickly hit a wall. Without a name, detectives had no way to trace her final days, speak to her friends or family, or establish a motive for her murder. For years, she was simply Orleans Parish Jane Doe. In 2006, in an effort to generate new leads, the LSU Forensic Anthropology and Computer Enhancement Services (FACES) Laboratory created a facial reconstruction, a composite sketch showing what she may have looked like in life. Despite the image being shared publicly, no one came forward to identify her, and the case grew cold.

For 22 years, Lelia Malley remained unidentified. The breakthrough finally came in 2024, when the New Orleans Police Department and the FBI’s New Orleans Field Office partnered with Othram, a private lab specializing in forensic genetic genealogy. About six months prior to the identification, the FBI had approached the NOPD to offer the new technology. Scientists at Othram developed a comprehensive DNA profile from the forensic evidence, and the FBI's genealogy team used that profile to search public databases, eventually building a family tree that led to potential relatives. Investigators contacted the family, and through their cooperation, the woman found on Eliza Street was finally identified as Lelia Ann May Malley.

Her family, including her daughter, Kimberly Bergeron, was notified in October 2024. After more than two decades of uncertainty, they finally had an answer to what had happened to Lelia, but it was a devastating one. "Without this development, we probably would never find out what happened to her," Bergeron said, expressing gratitude to law enforcement while pleading for public help. "I'm asking if anyone has any information about a suspect or has information about her or who had known her in the past or anything about this investigation to come forward."

Giving Lelia Malley her name back was a monumental step, but it did not solve her murder. As of October 2026, her homicide remains an active and open investigation. The NOPD and the FBI are now able to pursue the case from a new angle, hoping to piece together the last days of Lelia's life. "Now the NOPD can move forward with this investigation and work to find closure for this family," said NOPD Deputy Superintendent Ryan Lubrano. Special Agent in Charge Lyonel Myrthil of the FBI New Orleans Field Office added, "The FBI is proud to have partnered with NOPD in this case and finally bring some measure of comfort to Lelia's family."

Investigators are asking for the public’s help to solve this decades-old murder. They hope that by releasing her name, someone who knew Lelia or had contact with her around February 2002 will come forward with information that could lead to her killer.

Anyone with information about Lelia Ann May Malley or her death is urged to contact the NOPD Homicide Unit at (504) 658-5300 or Crimestoppers of Greater New Orleans anonymously at (504) 822-1111.