After 62 Years, ‘Little Miss Nobody’ — A Young Girl Who Was Murdered In Arizona — Is Discovered to Be 4-Year-Old Sharon Lee Gallegos
After 62 years, a tragic cold case that stumped authorities has finally been solved. The solved case is that of “Little Miss Nobody,” a little girl whose partially buried body was found in Arizona in 1960. After all this time, the girl who was dubbed by investigators as “Little Miss Nobody” finally has a name: 4-year-old Sharon Lee Gallegos.
On Tuesday, authorities from the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office (where the little girl’s body was found) announced the incredible update to this decades-long cold case, revealing that they finally discovered the little girl’s identity through cutting-edge DNA analysis.
“The unidentified little girl who won the hearts of Yavapai County in 1960 and who occupied the minds and time of Y.C.S.O. and partners for 62 years will now rightfully be given her name back and will no longer need to be referred to as Little Miss Nobody,” said the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office in a statement posted to Facebook.
Unsurprisingly, the news that “Little Miss Nobody” ended up being Sharon Lee Gallegos was a bittersweet revelation to the girl’s remaining family members.
“Our family is so grateful to finally have answers,” Gallego’s nephew, Rey Chavez Jr. said at a press conference. “We want to thank the people of Prescott for taking care of my aunt for 62 years… Thank everyone for enabling our family to be at peace.”
Before her death, Gallegos lived with her poor, yet close-knit family in Alamogordo, New Mexico. Before she died, Gallegos’s family described her as a “feisty” and “happy go lucky” child. According to family members, they lovingly called Sharon “La Güera” because of her pale skin and blonde hair.
Gallegos was abducted on July 21, 1960, by a couple who forced her into a “dirty, old green car” according to her young cousins, who were witnesses of the crime. Family members say that an unknown couple had been stalking for weeks leading up to the abduction. Sharon was so rattled that her behavior changed in the days leading up to the abduction. She no longer wanted to leave the house alone to run errands and she was visibly frightened when she saw a green car pass her on the street.
Authorities managed to identify “Little Miss Nobody” with the help of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), who paid for the girl’s body to be exhumed so her DNA could be tested at Othram Inc. — a company that specializes in genetic testing.
Authorities say that it only took 3 weeks for the tests to trace “Little Miss Nobody” to the Gallegos family in New Mexico. The case of “Little Miss Nobody” is the oldest cold case that the NCMEC helped to solve.
“This is a major milestone on NCMEC’s behalf, as it’s the oldest identification we’ve had,” said NCMEC forensic case manager Ainsley Cotter. “Many agencies worked tirelessly to help identify this little girl, despite many roadblocks. I hope this case will give optimism and faith to those who have a missing loved one.”
Despite the anonymous little girl’s identity finally being uncovered, authorities still have a tough task ahead of them: to find out who her murderer (or murderers) is and hopefully bring them to justice. But if technology has advanced this far, anything is possible.
