DNA Match Provides Break in Mille Lacs County Cold Case

MILACA -- A DNA match has helped authorities identify the remains of a woman whose body was found in an abandoned and burned down house in Mille Lacs County in 1970.

The woman has been identified as 18-year-old Gloria Rieken, a University of Minnesota student that had been reported missing around the same time.

Up until now, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office was only able to report that the body belonged to a young woman, and the fire was not the cause of death.

Now, thanks to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s missing person DNA database, Rieken's family is finally getting some answers.

An investigation into the cause of her death is moving forward. If you have any information on Rieken’s disappearance you are asked to contact either the Mille Lacs County Sheriff’s Office or the BCA.