IDENTIFIED: 1990 Colfax Jane Doe
Wendy Jamie Abrams Nishikai
Courtesy of Facebook, ‘Attempt to Locate’ page
Wendy Abrams-Nishikai has been identified as Colfax Jane Doe, 1990
Placer County Sheriff's Office
𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐒𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐟’𝐬 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟎 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐃𝐨𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐞
In a breakthrough investigation, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office has officially identified the remains of a woman found in 1990 as Wendy Abrams-Nishikai. She was last seen on October 31st, 1989, at the age of 21. Her remains were discovered off an embankment on Yankee Jims Road in Colfax, CA, and had remained unidentified for over three decades.
The case, initially handled by the Placer County Sheriff’s Office, was deemed a Jane Doe cold case after investigators were unable to identify the decedent using the technology available at the time. Despite extensive efforts, the case went unsolved until the formation of the Placer County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Investigations team in 2023.
The Cold Case Investigations team, which includes investigators from the Placer County Sheriff’s Office and the Placer County District Attorney's Office, reopened the case with a focus on utilizing advancements in technology and forensic genealogy. In 2024, the California Department of Justice Laboratory in Richmond, CA, successfully identified a likely next of kin through DNA analysis, linking the remains to a relative of a woman reported missing in 1989 from Berkeley, CA.
The Sheriff’s Cold Case Investigations team worked to obtain additional DNA samples from family members for further comparison. In January 2025, the remains were officially identified as Wendy 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 Placer County Sheriff’s Office is continuing its investigation into the circumstances surrounding her death and is urging anyone with information to contact us at PCSOTipLine@placer.ca.gov
Colfax DOE’s original information can be found below:
Doe Network: 114UFCA
NamUs #UP
Placer County Coroner’s Office
Date of Discovery: April 5, 1991
Location of Discovery: Colfax, CA
Estimated Date of Death: 3-6 months prior
State of Remains: Decomposed
Cause of Death: Suspected homicide
Physical Description
Estimated Age: 16-26 years old
Race: White and/or Hispanic
Sex: Female
Height: 4’10” - 5'4"
Weight: 120 - 140 lbs.
Hair: Brown and short.
Eye Color: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Scar to the right side of her chest and may have had prior cyst removal surgery or injury to her tailbone. She had 3 ear piercings in her left ear and a small, home-made tattoo of a green cross on her upper left chest. Possibly diabetic. She had a medium to heavy build.
Identifiers
Dentals: Available.
Fingerprints: Not available.
DNA: Insufficient for DNA profiling
Clothing & Personal Items
Clothing: Blue hiking shorts, a light colored, size large, sleeveless tank top and was wearing size 4, L.A. Gear tennis shoes.
Jewelry: A 17” pearl necklace with 14K gold clasp, and 3 stud earrings in her left ear: gold stud in cartilage, green stud in the middle earlobe, silver stud in the lower earlobe. Two size 5 Mother of Pearl rings were found near the remains.
Additional Personal Items: Insulin-type syringes were found near the remains.
Circumstances of Discovery
The victim's remains were found in the steep, wooded terrain of the Sierra foothills. Two target shooters spotted the woman's clothing and two new white L.A. Gear tennis shoes in brush at the bottom of an incline off of Yankee Jims Road six miles east of Colfax. The men did not get close enough to see the body but later wondered why someone would throw away two new tennis shoes, and reported what they had seen to authorities. The woman apparently had been hiking.
Investigating Agency(s)
Agency Name: Placer County Coroner's Office
Agency Contact Person: Dennis Watt
Agency Phone Number: 1-530-889-7800 or 1-530-889-7878
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: SO9002100046
Agency Name: Placer County Sheriff's Office
Agency Contact Person: N/A
Agency Phone Number: 1-530-889-7854
Agency E-Mail: PCSOWEB(at)placer.ca.gov
Agency Case Number: SO9002100123
NCIC Case Number: U408925361
NamUs Case Number: 6325
NCMEC Case Number: 110387
Information Source(s)
Added: Prior to 2001; Last Updated: 3/20/19
Wendy Abrams-Nishikai was last seen in Berkeley, California on October 31, 1989. She has never been heard from again. Abrams-Nishikai was a student at the University of California at Berkeley at the time of her disappearance; she left behind a young daughter. Few details are available in her case.
