Nashville police renew search for leads in 1998 Cumberland River killing of identified woman Diane Minor

Case status: identity confirmed, homicide investigation continues

Nashville police are asking the public for information in the 1998 killing of a woman whose body was recovered from the Cumberland River near Cleeses Ferry. The case, long treated as an unidentified-decedent investigation, shifted in July 2024 after forensic genetic genealogy work established the victim’s identity as Diane Minor.

Police say Minor was 54 at the time of her death. An examination of her remains determined she had been shot twice in the head. The killing remains unsolved, and detectives continue to seek information about Minor’s movements, contacts, and circumstances in the days and weeks leading up to March 18, 1998, when her body was found.

What investigators have disclosed about the victim and discovery site

Investigators have publicly described several details from the original recovery that may help generate leads decades later. Minor was recovered from the Cumberland River near Cleeses Ferry. She was initially known to investigators and the public as “Leo Jane Doe,” a nickname tied to a Leo zodiac necklace found on her.

Police have also said Minor was last known to have worked as a manager at the Second Story Café in Nashville in the early 1990s. No missing-person report was filed for her at the time, a factor that can complicate timelines and limit early investigative leads in long-running cases.

How the identification was made

The identification was achieved through forensic investigative genetic genealogy, a method that uses DNA testing and genealogical research to locate biological relatives and confirm a person’s name. Police have said the work was completed with assistance from the Metro Nashville Police Department Crime Lab and external partners supporting the genetic genealogy process. With Minor’s identity established, investigators have indicated their focus has turned to reconstructing her final known whereabouts and relationships that might help explain how and why she ended up in the river.

Key facts released so far

• Victim: Diane Minor, age 54 at death.
• Cause of death: homicide; two gunshot wounds to the head.
• Recovery location: Cumberland River near Cleeses Ferry.
• Date recovered: March 18, 1998.
• Identification: confirmed through forensic investigative genetic genealogy; publicly announced July 15, 2024.

What police are asking for now

Detectives are seeking information that could clarify Minor’s day-to-day life in the period before her death, including where she lived, who she associated with, and whether anyone observed conflicts, threats, or sudden changes in her routine. Investigators have urged anyone with information—no matter how minor it may seem after so many years—to contact Nashville Crime Stoppers at 615-742-7463.

The case remains open, and investigators say public tips could help reconstruct a timeline that was difficult to establish when no missing-person report existed.