The Missoula County Sheriff’s Office issued a press release on Monday that a murder victim that had previously been identified as ‘Christy Crystal Creek’ due to the location where her skeletal remains were found, has been identified through her DNA.

Public Information Officer Jeannette Smith provided details on Monday morning.

“It's with both great pride and sadness that the Missoula County Sheriff's Office announces that after 36 years, we can now give a name to the unidentified remains previously known as Christy Crystal Creek,” said Smith. “The individuals name is Janet Lee Lucas. She was a 23 year old woman from Spokane, Washington.”

Smith described how the remains were uncovered.

“On September 9 1985, a bear hunter came across skeletonized remains near Crystal Creek,” she said. “After a thorough investigation, those remains could not be identified and the case became known as Christy Crystal Creek," she said.

The victim’s family has provided the Sheriff’s Office with details about her life.

“We have a few details about Janet,” she said. “She was born in October of 1960. She grew up in California and Washington she had seven brothers and sisters and a five year old son who spent much of his adult life searching for Janet. I think our Detective Captain Dave Conway said it best when he says we cannot rest on our success of having finally identified Janet, and now the focus has changed from who was Christy Crystal Creek to what happened to Janet Lucas.”

A book by author John Coston published in 1992 entitled ‘To Kill and Kill Again’, intimated that East Missoula resident Wayne Nance was responsible for Lucas’ death, as well as several others. Nance was killed in a shootout at the home of a Missoula man whose wife Nance had worked with.

 

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