New sketch of 'Orange Socks' cold case victim released

Williamson County Cold Case Unit has issued a new sketch of the cold case victim known only as "Orange Socks" cold case victim and officials are also asking the public to "opt in" for geneology databases.

In a quiet Georgetown cemetery, shrouded by flowers from sympathetic strangers, sits a stone. It reads “unidentified woman” though many may know her as “Orange Socks.”

"On Halloween October 31, 1979, a white female was found on the side of IH- 35 just north of Georgetown. Obvious victim of a homicide. She was nude, the only thing she was wearing was orange socks, that’s how we issued her name. We have little to no leads that have been going on.” explained Sgt. John Pokorny, with the Williamson County Cold Case Unit.

The unit is hoping a new sketch of “Orange Socks,” done by a forensic artist will generate new leads in the case.

“We’re gonna keep doing what we can to help bring a voice to her, identify her and in the end bring those responsible to justice,” Pokorny says.

Sgt. Pokorny says there are ways the public can help.

Genealogy database GEDmatch, is known for its role in cracking the Golden State Killer case. It's a free site used to analyze DNA data from other fee-based genetic genealogy testing companies, such as Ancestry and 23andme.

Recently, the site, began allowing users to “opt in” or “out” of allowing law enforcement to utilize their profiles. The Williamson County Cold Case Unit is asking users “opt in.”

Sgt. Pokorny fears sites enabling an “opt out” feature may be a growing trend and that will only make his job more difficult.

“The only way we can go through and research unidentified person to help identify them, is through those databases there’s other law enforcement databases we can research but those are more suspect driven,” Pokorny says.

Sgt. Pokorny says it’s research that will help give women like "Orange Socks" her name back.

“We’ll never give up and we’re gonna continue to work hard to bring closure to the families.” Pokorny said.

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