After nearly six decades of being missing in the Nevada desert, the remains of a woman from Calgary have been identified, though the circumstances surrounding her death remain unclear. Anna Sylvia Just was reported missing by her sister after she was last seen boarding a bus in Calgary on August 17, 1966, at the age of 29. Two years later, Las Vegas police filed a missing person report for Just when her belongings were discovered near Henderson, Nevada, approximately 26 kilometers away from Las Vegas.
It took over 50 years for DNA technology to link the woman who boarded a bus in Calgary to the victim in the Mojave Desert. Calgary Police Service (CPS) Staff Sgt. Sean Gregson expressed empathy for Just’s family, acknowledging the long wait for answers. The Calgary Police Service’s Historical Homicide Team stumbled upon Just’s case while investigating other unsolved missing women files. Just was not found in any local, national, or international databases, likely due to different record-keeping practices at the time.
Upon contacting the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, it was revealed that Just was believed to have been a homicide victim, although her remains had never been located. CPS sought out living relatives of Just for a DNA sample and eventually found her sister, a 97-year-old Calgarian, last November. The DNA sample was collected and submitted to international databases, leading to a match being found by Las Vegas police last month.
The late Anna Just, a stenographer residing in Calgary’s Richmond neighborhood, had some of her belongings discovered outside Las Vegas in 1968. Allegedly, Just had ties to Thomas Hanley, a gaming union leader with suspected mob connections. Hanley passed away in 1979 while in federal custody for a different murder. The case went cold until 1970 when human remains were found near Just’s belongings, but could not be identified due to technological limitations.
In 2010, the unidentified remains were submitted for DNA testing, sitting unclaimed until Just’s sister’s DNA was uploaded by CPS. The recent investigation revealed a probable connection between Just and Hanley, hinting at a dispute between them leading to Just’s demise. Despite the prolonged investigation, CPS and Las Vegas police aimed to bring closure to Just’s sister by providing her with information about Just’s resting place.
