The Cook County sheriff’s office has identified the remains of an elderly person known as “Seven,” buried in an unmarked grave, as Reba C. Bailey, a Women’s Army Corps veteran missing since the 1970s.
The investigation has revealed the complexities of Reba’s life, including her disappearance, homelessness, and desire to be identified as a man called Seven.
The case has brought closure to relatives and friends, and efforts are underway to honor Reba with a new gravestone and military honors. (Trending: Transgender Actor ‘Purposefully Misgendered’ By Airline Employee)
“That’s a horrible circumstance that someone could die and no one knows who they are. That’s why we pursue these cases so strongly, out of dignity,” Commander Jason Moran said.
“A person deserves a name. We never had anything like that before,” Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said. “This one is different and it just kept getting more different.”
“Human identification is a mix of science and circumstance,” Moran said. “It makes it very interesting to learn about who they were. The passage of time creates these difficulties. So we do the best we can to piece together who they were in life.”
“My dad had searched for years to try and find his sister,” Reba’s nephew Rick Bailey said.
“They would all be thrilled if they were here.”
“It is kind of like an onion,” Reba’s great-niece Amanda Ingram said. “You keep peeling it back and hopefully you find the story you really wanted to know.”
Reba’s early life, military service, and subsequent disappearance have been pieced together through records and family accounts.
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