Calgary woman missing more than 50 years identified as murder victim in Nevada cold case

It's been nearly six decades since a woman feared dead was last seen in Calgary. Now, she is identified as a murder victim in a Nevada cold case.

Las Vegas Metro Police say with the help of Calgary detectives, they’ve identified a woman found murdered in the Silver State 55 years ago.

Human remains found on June 7, 1970, are those of Anna Sylvia Just.

The Calgary woman was reported missing from Calgary in 1966 and later reported missing from Nevada in 1968.

Las Vegas police say during the investigation, several reports suggested Just was an acquaintance of Thomas Hanley, a well-known union mob boss, and that she had gone to him for money.

At the time, it was alleged that Hanley had his associates drive Just out to the desert, where she was killed.

Hanley was never charged in Just’s death, and there was no evidence found that he played a role in it.

He died in 1979 while in federal custody.

Just’s body was discovered by kids playing in the desert, where she had been buried in a shallow grave.

“The remains were unidentifiable,” Las Vegas police said.

“With the help of the Clark County coroner’s office, the cause of death was ruled a homicide due to a depressed fracture to the skull.”

It was in 1968 that investigators found Just’s belongings in the desert near Henderson, Nev., including her suitcase and her purse.

Her passport, a plane ticket and human hair were found inside the purse.

One hundred yards away from there were her undergarments, blouse and a bloody cloth wrapped in a bed sheet.

“An extensive search of the area where her belongings were found was conducted, but Anna was never located,” Las Vegas police said.

In previous reporting, Just’s body was found about a mile away.

Calgary Police Service investigators reached out to their counterparts in Nevada in October 2024.

Las Vegas investigators provided Calgary authorities with the name of a relative who had collected Just’s belongings from Nevada and linked them to another family member—Just’s biological sister.

Calgary police found her and collected a DNA sample from her.

Just was 29 years old, working as a stenographer in Henderson.

Initially, Just’s family had reported her missing on Aug. 17, 1966, from her home in Calgary at 210 22nd Ave. S.W.