NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Family and friends are finally getting answers in a 26-year Nashville cold case concerning a woman named Diane Minor who went missing in the 1990's.
In 1998, police say a woman's body was pulled from the Cumberland River. No one knew who it was. She was only known as the Leo Jane Doe because of a necklace with a Leo Zodiac sign she was wearing.
26 years later, thanks to advanced genetic testing and modern technology, that woman was identified as Diane Minor this week. Police say was shot twice and died at 54 years old.
"I always wondered what happened to her," said her high school friend, Beverly Peeler.
Friends from both high school and later in life say she was the definition of a sweetheart.
"She was very popular," remembered Peeler. "Real bubbly, a great cheerleader."
"She was full of life, full of energy, always happy," added her friend and coworker Mark Degon.
"[Her disappearance] perplexed everybody," he went on. "We were all like, where's Diane, it was so out of character, it was like, where is she?"
Back then, a missing person report was not filed for Minor. At the time, Degon remembers someone insisting she moved to Colorado.
"It makes you feel things. It makes you feel like, should we have called somebody else? But when you're told she moved...you gotta take it at face value at some point," Degon tearfully explained.
While one mystery is solved, and many are glad her family now has answers, another mystery remains.
"I'm sure everybody would love to know who did it and that that person is brought to justice," said Peeler.
Degon agreed, adding he hopes Diane is resting peacefully.
"Just a warm, kind woman...and something like that happening to her is unfathomable to me," he concluded.
Police say the identification of Minor was assisted by the MNPD Crime Lab, Bode Lab, and the DNA Doe Project.
Detectives are still investigating this cold case. If you know anything, you can call Crime Stoppers.
Fostering Hope provides Christmas for kids in foster care. I'm delighted to see Fostering Hope expand this year to expand their reach to now include kids in Foster care in metro AND foster kids in East TN hard hit by Helene.
-Bree Smith
