Madison Meeks – Opinion Editor 

mvm7037@psu.edu

PHILADELPHIA – In 1987, a woman died in a fiery crash on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. She was never identified, that is until 35 years later. The Pennsylvania State Police have finally identified the women who died in a crash on the PA turnpike over 35 years ago. 

The woman was identified as Linda Jean McClure from Indiana, Pennsylvania. The police were able to provide a picture of Linda Jean McClure to the public using a 1975 yearbook. The photo is from when the woman would have been 13 years old. 

On October 22, 1987, McClure had gotten into a fiery crash on the PA Turnpike. The crash happened at mile mark 119.4 eastbound in Stoneycreek Township, Somerset County. The state police have stated that McClure was 26 at the time and a passenger in a tractor-trailer. The tractor-trailer struck the fuel tank of another semi-tractor trailer. 

Both McClure and the driver of the tractor-trailer had died in the fiery crash. Police were immediately able to identify the driver of the tractor-trailer as a man from California. However, they were unable to identify the passenger of the car despite the attempt to identify her multiple times.

In August 2022, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission agreed to pay for a forensic genetic genealogy DNA test. The Pennsylvania State Police were able to then identify McClure as the passenger in the crash. 

Police were then able to contact her family who stated that they had not been in contact with her since the 1980s, but she was never reported missing. McClure’s brother was asked to take a DNA test to compare his DNA to hers. The DNA was a match, officially identifying the victim as 26-year-old Linda Jean McClure.