Sharon Lee Gallegos

Case background and investigation

On July 31, 1960, the partially skeletonized remains of a young girl were found in the desert near Congress, Arizona, a small mining community about 80 miles northwest of Phoenix. The child appeared to have been between three and six years old. She was wearing a white cotton nightgown and had been left in a shallow depression in the desert. The cause of death could not be determined due to the condition of the remains.

The discovery made national headlines, and the unidentified child was given the name 'Little Miss Nobody' by the media. The community of Congress rallied around the case, raising money for a proper burial. She was laid to rest in the Yavapai Cemetery in Prescott, Arizona with a headstone reading 'Little Miss Nobody' and a plea for information. Despite widespread publicity, no one came forward to identify her.

Over the decades, investigators periodically revisited the case as forensic technology advanced. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children created facial reconstructions, and DNA was eventually extracted from the remains. Through genetic genealogy, investigators were able to trace family connections.

In March 2022, Yavapai County authorities announced that Little Miss Nobody had been identified as Sharon Lee Gallegos, who had been abducted on July 21, 1960, from the front yard of her grandmother's home in Alamogordo, New Mexico. She had been snatched by a couple in a green car. The identification confirmed that Sharon had been transported across state lines and killed. Her killers have never been identified.