In a stunning discovery, skeletal remains have been identified four decades after they were sent to police as Kay Josephine Medin, who vanished from her home in 1987
The skeletal remains of a woman who vanished four decades ago have been identified, bringing a stunning end to a long-running mystery. Kay Josephine Medin, 48, vanished from her home in 1987 after husband Nickolas Medin reported she was missing when he returned from a business trip.
Police frantically searched their home in Hyampom, rural Northern California, but they could find no signs of the teacher. The search hit a dead in despite multiple interviews with friends and family. “She never showed up at school,” said Mike Fridley, a cold case investigator with the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office.
“They checked, they contacted her school, and they said that she seemed to be in good spirits and happy and didn’t have any medical issues or anything. So that’s what obviously made everybody wonder what the heck happened. Her stuff is still at the house. Her car’s there. She just disappeared.”
Kay’s sudden disappearance from the quiet, rural community raised suspicions, reports Daily Record. However, a chilling twist came on November 25, 1987, when the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office received a disturbing package in the mail.
Inside was a box containing skeletal remains and an anonymous letter that included a “map leading to a location of more remains,” according to Fridley. The map pointed investigators toward an area near Ammon Ridge Road in Eastern Humboldt County.
“It’s very straightforward and generic,” Fridley explained about the letter.
Upon investigation, more remains were found in the location indicated on the map, and after forensic analysis, they were positively identified as Kay’s, thanks to her dental records. The remains had not been buried. A death certificate for Kay was issued the following year, in 1988.
To this day, the identity of the person who sent the letter remains a mystery. “It could go either way,” said Fridley. “It could have just been somebody that was deer hunting or didn’t want to get involved, or it could be the killer. Who knows?”
The case took another grim turn on February 16, 1993, when Fortuna Police discovered a partial skull on a beach near Trinidad Head, located around 150 miles from where Kay’s remains were originally found.
DNA testing was conducted and entered into both the California Missing Person DNA Database and the National Unidentified Person DNA Index, but there were no matches.
In an effort to resolve the case, the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office received Community Project Funding from Congressman Jared Huffman’s Office, which allowed them to clear the backlog of unidentified human remains cases. They sent the partial skull to a private forensic lab, Othram Inc., for genetic genealogy testing.
Othram’s analysis in September 2024 suggested the skull likely belonged to Kay. Investigators then reached out to Kay’s daughter, obtaining a DNA sample from her. In early May 2025, the California Department of Justice confirmed that the skull did indeed belong to Kay.
Now, Fridley is urging anyone with information to come forward to help bring closure to the case.
“I’m just looking for somebody that might have information that could help with the case,” Fridley said. “Maybe somebody has some information that could get this case going again. And, you know, a lot of times as time goes by, people might come forward and talk to us that were reluctant to do that back then.”
Nickolas Medin, Kay’s husband, passed away in August 2018.