Victim of 1986 Homicide Identified

The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help after the victim in a 38-year-old homicide investigation is finally identified as Pamela Lee Hupp a.k.a. Deborah Gail Justice, born in April of 1958. Pamela was pregnant at the time of her murder, and her last known place of residency was Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 

On June 19, 1986, deputies with the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office was notified after a fisherman found a body floating in Lake Pontchartrain. Deputies located the body of a white female, estimated at the time to be in her early twenties, close to the shoreline of Slidell near the I-10 Twin Span.  The remains were turned over to the St. Tammany Parish Coroner’s Office, and following a postmortem examination, the women’s manner of death was ruled a homicide. However, her identity remained unknown for more than 38 years and she became known simply as “Lake Lady Jane Doe”.

Despite the extensive and exhaustive efforts of several STPSO detectives throughout the years, the identity of “Lake Lady” remained a mystery. During the investigation, the Sheriff’s Office also worked closely with the Louisiana State University FACES Laboratory, the Louisiana State Police Crime Laboratory and the St. Tammany Parish Coroner’s Office DNA Laboratory.  Efforts included a reconstruction of the victim’s skull by the FACES laboratory, from which a photograph was captured and released to the public. Case information and the victim’s profile were aired on the “America’s Most Wanted” television show and the Louisiana State Police Crime Laboratory and the St. Tammany Parish Coroner’s DNA Laboratory conducted DNA analysis.  Through the exhaustive efforts of all who participated in this investigative effort, the identity of the victim still eluded investigators.

In September of 2022, NamUs (managed by RTI - Research Triangle Institute) availed a grant to the St. Tammany Parish Coroner’s Office for DNA analysis and genealogy research, to be completed by Othram Inc. The St. Tammany Parish Coroner’s Office turned over the specimens necessary to further the investigation, which focused on identifying the victim. 

In April of 2023, Othram Inc’s efforts resulted in the identification of potential family members of the victim, and detectives with the STPSO Major Crimes Division began making contact with the individuals listed as potential family members. As a result of the investigations and interviews conducted, an identity was discovered and has since been confirmed through DNA analysis.

At this time, the investigation is active and ongoing, and the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office is asking that anyone with information into the death of Pamela Lee Hupp, to contact (985) 898-2341 or Detective Winston Harbin at (985) 276-1355.

“I want to thank the many investigators over the years who worked on this case and sought out available resources and technology to identify and give a name to the victim,” Sheriff Randy Smith said. “Our detectives will not stop working until they have identified and arrested the person(s) responsible for Ms. Hupp’s death.”