Berkeley Woman's Remains ID'd 35 Years After She Vanished

BERKELEY, CA — Placer County authorities said Monday they've identified remains of a Berkeley woman who was last seen on Halloween in 1989.

Wendy Abrams-Nishikai was 21 when she went missing on Oct. 31, 1989. Her body was found in 1990, off an an embankment on Yankee Jims Road in Colfax, and had remained unidentified for more than three decades, according to the Placer County Sheriff's Office.

The case was reopened in 2023 when a cold case investigation team was formed with a focus on using advancements in technology and forensic genealogy.

In 2024, the California Department of Justice Laboratory in Richmond successfully identified a likely next of kin through DNA analysis, linking the remains to Abrams-Nishikai.

The cold case investigators obtained additional DNA samples from family members for further comparison, and last month the remains were officially identified as Abrams-Nishikai.

"While her death is still under investigation and the case is ongoing, we hope this identification provides some closure to her surviving family members after 35 years of uncertainty," the sheriff's office said in a news release.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact the sheriff's office at PCSOTipLine@placer.ca.gov

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