Cassandra Rhines’ remains have been identified, and now police are asking the public for help to catch her killer. 19-year-old Cassandra Rhines, who was a prostitute, vanished in Minneapolis over 30 years ago, and her body was discovered in May 2014.
Cassandra Rhines‘ remains have been identified after countless DNA tests. In June of 1985, a 19-year-old woman named Cassandra Rhines vanished in Minneapolis, Minnesota after calling a pal to announce that she would be attending a gathering.
It is believed that Rhines, who was a prostitute and stripper, may have been killed by one of her clients or by the unnamed man she was living with at the time.
“Cassandra Rhines was last heard from in June 1985, when she called a friend to confirm her attendance at her goddaughter’s birthday party in Minneapolis the next day. She never showed, and was never heard from again,” Lake County Sheriff Carey Johnson said in a press conference.
In May of May 2014, Cassandra Rhines’ remains were found by an off-duty employee of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office in Gooseberry Falls State Park.
The officer was training a dog that dug up a human skull, and later on numerous bones were located in the remote area. “It’s a remote, heavily wooded area that visitors aren’t traveling to,” Johnson added. “We think it’s an area that was picked because of its remoteness.”
The remains were identified through DNA provided by Rhines’ sister. The St. Louis County Medical Examiner’s Office explained:
“A forensic anthropologist determined that Rhines had been the victim of homicide. We believe Rhines was killed near the time of her disappearance and was killed elsewhere, and then her body was left in the park.”
Authorities are asking anyone with the smallest information about Rhines to contact the Lake County Sheriff’s Office or the BCA.
“Investigators need the public’s help to better understand who Cassandra Rhines knew and who may have sought to harm her,” BCA Assistant Superintendent Drew Evans said in a press conference. “The clearer picture we have of the time when she disappeared, the better chance we have of finding out who killed her.”
Evans revealed that Rhines lived in an apartment building at 2700 Grand Ave. S. in Minneapolis, near Whittier Park, and is pleading with former neighbors and acquaintances to call them with information that may help solve this case.
Cassandra Rhines’ remains have been identified, and now the search for answers begins.
