Nearly three decades ago, “scavengers” searching for cans and bottles for recycling spotted a fridge in a California irrigation canal.

Inside was a mystery that would haunt San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office 27 years old – “a woman in a refrigerator”.

However, thanks to DNA technology, the woman found in the remote area of Holt has been identified, Sheriff Patrick Withrow said at a Thursday, Feb. 23, news conference.

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“I’d just like to take this time right now to give her her name back, to give her her story back,” Withrow said. “And her name is Amanda. Amanda Lynn Schumann Deza.”

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She was a 29-year-old mother of three, according to a news release from Othram Inc., a forensic genealogy company that helped the sheriff’s office identify the woman.

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Decades of investigation

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When the “lady in the fridge” was found in March 1995, it appeared as if she had been underwater inside the fridge for several months, according to Othram.

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She was found wearing a blue sweatshirt with Levi shorts and “multi-color knee-high socks with toes in them,” the sheriff’s office said in a September 2010 Facebook post. The woman also had a one-third carat diamond ring.

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In the fridge with her was also a “Hillary brand sleeping bag” and items that suggested the fridge may have been from the Contra Costa County area, the post said.

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The woman, whose cause of death was determined to be blunt force trauma, likely died in 1994, Lt. Linda Jimenez said at the news conference.

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The case was entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, Othram said.

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Despite pursuing all leads, “the woman’s identity remained a mystery,” and the case went cold, according to Othram.

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“We were not able to identify this beautiful young woman,” Withrow said. “For 27 years, officers who have retired now and now our cold case team now have been working on this trying to identify and then find out who did this.”

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Genetic genealogy leads to ID

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In 2022, the sheriff’s office partnered with Othram to help identify the woman.

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A lab was able to get a “comprehensive DNA profile” from skeletal evidence, Othram said. From there, genetic genealogy was used to identify possible leads.

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Genetic genealogy uses DNA testing coupled with “traditional genealogical methods” to create “family history profiles,” according to the Library of Congress. With genealogical DNA testing, researchers can determine if and how people are biologically related.

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The sheriff’s office contacted the mother and daughter of Schumann Deza, Othram said. After comparing their DNA profiles, it confirmed the woman’s identity as Schumann Deza.

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Still no suspect

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Now that the “lady in the fridge” has been identified, the sheriff’s office is focusing on finding a suspect in her killing, Withrow said.

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At the time she disappeared she was separated from her husband, Othram said. She also had “three young children.”

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“Amanda is a daughter. She’s a sister. She’s a mother. She’s a friend,” Jimenez said.

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She was last seen by family at a Napa apartment complex with “an unidentified male she met in a rehabilitation facility,” according to Othram.

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The sheriff’s office is missing information from the “years prior to her disappearance and her death” and hope someone with information about Schumann Deza will come forward, Jimenez said.

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“Somebody out there might know that could reach out to us and give us that final piece that we can solve and bring to justice the person who has done this,” Withrow said.

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Anyone with information is asked to contact the sheriff’s office by calling 209-468-5087 or emailing coldcase@sjgov.org.

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Holt is about 60 miles southwest of Sacramento.

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