Sheriff IDs woman found in 1977 as victim of serial killer

PASCAGOULA, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi sheriff’s department says it has identified the remains of a woman found nearly 44 years ago. Investigators believe Clara Birdlong was a victim of Samuel Little, the most prolific serial killer in U.S. history. Hunters found the remains in 1977 in Escatawpa in coastal Jackson County. Officers had referred to her since then as “Escatawpa Jane Doe.” Sheriff Mike Ezell said Tuesday that investigators used DNA to identify the remains. Little died last December, two years after he confessed to killing 93 people between 1970 and 2005. One of the killings he confessed to was that of “Escatawpa Jane Doe.”