Nearly two decades after the remains of a person known as “The Woman in the Well” were found, Canadian authorities announced the remains belonged to a woman named Alice Spence.
Alice was born in September 1881, and police said she moved to Canada from Minnesota in 1913, according to CBS News. She was married to a man named Charles Spence and they had a daughter named Idella Spence.
Her listing in a 1916 census was the last proof of life that historians have been able to trace back Alice.
Additionally, it was discovered that the family’s home in Sutherland, Saskatoon, was destroyed by a fire in 1918. Police records show that Charles and Idella lived with a housekeeper in 1921, while investigators believe Alice died sometime between 1916 and the fire in 1918.
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Her remains were discovered in June 2006 when crews found an old well and a barrel containing preserved human remains when they were excavating a site in Sutherland, according to a news release from the Saskatoon Police Service.
The Shore Hotel, a boarding house that was demolished in 1927, was previously located in the area, per a news release from the private genetic genealogy company Othram.
Police believed the woman had been partially dismembered, and her body was wrapped in a burlap sack and stuffed in the barrel. Authorities found a fitted jacket and a long skirt that was believed to be from 1910 and 1920, according to Othram. Additionally, authorities found a broken necklace and men’s clothing.
An autopsy was conducted and it was determined that the woman died under suspicious circumstances, per CBS News. Following years of investigation, authorities struggled to identify her.
Othram said that police developed a DNA profile and facial reconstruction images released to the public, though no one came forward with information about who the woman was.
The Saskatoon Police Services didn’t give up, and they submitted forensic evidence from the case to Othram in 2023. Othram’s scientists developed a DNA extract from the skeletal evidence, per the release, and they built a comprehensive DNA profile that was used to generate “new investigative leads.”
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A major development took place in June 2025 when Saskatoon Police Service Sergeant Darren Funk heard about the Toronto Police Service using investigative genetic genealogy to solve a homicide.
Investigative genetic genealogy is “an innovative investigative approach that combines traditional genealogy with advanced DNA analysis to solve crimes,” according to the Texas District & County Attorneys Association. “The technique is primarily used on cold cases, but the future of many criminal investigations that are not initially solved may be based in the world of IGG.”
Funk then reached out to the Toronto Police Service and asked them to breakdown the case of “The Woman in the Well.”
Amid the Toronto Police Service’s follow-up investigation, authorities found people who may have been the woman’s relatives and collected reference DNA samples from those subjects to compare to Alice’s DNA profile. Additionally, authorities used historical information and city archives to help identify the woman.
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