Dec. 27, 2018
Bones discovered at a Sherman Oaks park have been positively identified as a Manhattan Beach woman who went missing in 2016, the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner announced.
On Oct. 15, 2016, Nancy Marie Paulikas (DOB: 11/11/60) of Manhattan Beach went missing while visiting the Los Angeles County Museum of Art with her husband.
Numerous efforts were made to locate Paulikas without success.
On March 11, 2017, coroner investigators responded to Fossil Ridge Park in Sherman Oaks after the discovery of a skull. At the time, the case was listed as “Undetermined Doe #5” and assigned coroner case no. 2017-02039.
In an effort to positively identify the decedent, DMEC sent a sample from the skull to the California Department of Justice for DNA analysis in April 2017.
On Sept. 13, 2018, coroner investigators found bones near the same area of the park where the skull was discovered. The case was assigned as “Undetermined Doe #12” with coroner case no. 2018-07089.
The next month, DMEC also sent samples from the bones to CA DOJ for DNA analysis and identification.
On Dec. 26, 2018, CA DOJ notified DMEC that the remains for case no. 2017-02039 and 2018-07089 belonged to the same decedent and that the person matched Paulikas’ DNA.
Paulikas’ case has since been merged into 2017-02039. The cause and manner of her death remains undetermined.
Correction: An earlier version of this post said the second set of remains was initially identified as "Undetermined Doe #21" and that they were found in September 2017. The remains were identified at the time as "Undetermined Doe #12" in September 2018.
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