Body of woman found behind North Texas truck stop 26 years ago identified with DNA
A woman whose body was found behind a North Texas truck stop near Interstate 20 more than 26 years ago was publicly identified Monday, Feb. 24, by the Weatherford Police Department.
Nellie Faye Gillespie disappeared in August 1998 after telling her son, David Gillespie, over the phone that she was driving to Arizona. That was the last contact anyone had with the 61-year-old Mississippi woman.
Now advanced DNA analysis has given Nellie Gillespie’s family the answers they’ve been looking for, the Weatherford Police Department said in a news release and social media video on Monday, Feb. 24.
On Oct. 7, 1998, some people camping in a field northeast of Petro Travel Center in Weatherford discovered the woman’s body in the thick brush. A gun with one shell casing was found nearby, according to the Star-Telegram’s archives.
A wig and a pair of glasses were also found at the site, but there was no identification, Weatherford Police Department investigator Lt. Johnny Qualls said in the video.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the woman’s death a suicide. Attempts to identify her through a national DNA database failed, Qualls said, and for 25 years she was known as a Parker County Jane Doe.
In the fall of 2023, investigators sent some of the woman’s teeth to Othram, a private lab near Houston that specializes in forensic genetic genealogy. Since 2020, technology from the lab has been instrumental in solving nearly 20 unidentified persons cases in Texas.
“Families deserve the truth and there is technology here today that works and may be able to get answers for a lot of families, like in this case,” said Kristen Mittelman, chief development officer for Othram, in a news release. “Getting certainty and clarity about what happened can be hard, but getting a resolution means a family can finally have a proper burial and mourn their loved one.”
The lab extracted DNA from the woman’s teeth and built a genealogical profile that gave Qualls the name of a possible family member — David Gillespie.
Qualls reached out to David Gillespie around Christmas 2023. When he learned that David Gillespie’s mother had been missing for 25 years and that she commonly wore a wig and a certain type of glasses, Qualls said he felt pretty sure that the unidentified woman was Nellie Gillespie. A DNA test taken by David Gillespie confirmed this.
“This was one of those cases that was very satisfying to be able to offer some closure to a family,” Qualls said. “Because we review cold cases that just a very small percentage of those cases are ever actually solved.”
David Gillespie plans to bury his mother in their family lot in Mississippi, according to the video.
In a social media post, David Gillespie thanked Qualls, the Weatherford Police Department and others who have worked to bring resolution to his family.
“My final prayer is that other families still seeking answers may also be blessed with the same closure our family is now able to realize,” David Gillespie said.
Forensic genetic genealogy testing comes with a high cost. The city of Weatherford helped cover the expenses associated with Nellie Gillespie’s case, Qualls said. As a result of that success, the Weatherford Police and Fire Foundation has offered to help with the cost of testing for similar cases in the future.
This story was originally published February 25, 2025 at 2:24 PM.
