True Crime Chronicles: Three decades passed between discovery of body and the identification of suspected killer

 Donna Sue Nelton

For over three decades, the brutal murder of a young woman found in a heavily wooded area near Maysville, Arkansas, remained one of Benton County’s most haunting unsolved mysteries.

On May 7, 1990, the remains of an unidentified woman, dubbed “Jane Doe,” were discovered along State Route 102 in Rogers, near the Oklahoma and Missouri state lines. Investigators determined she had been shot, doused with gasoline, and set on fire, leaving her body severely damaged.

Estimated to be between 25 and 35 years old, her identity eluded authorities despite exhaustive efforts—until a groundbreaking DNA breakthrough in 2022 finally gave her back her name: Donna Sue Nelton.

The case, which had gone cold after years of dead ends, was revitalized through advancements in forensic genetic genealogy. In August 2022, the Benton County Sheriff’s Office, in partnership with Othram Inc., a Texas-based company specializing in DNA analysis, located a distant relative unaware of any missing family members.

By September 2022, DNA testing confirmed a genetic match, identifying the victim as 28-year-old Donna Sue Nelton, originally from Arkansas but living in the Kansas City area at the time of her death. “After 32 years, we can finally say her name,” said Lt. Hunter Petray during a press conference on October 25, 2022.

Nelton’s life before her tragic death painted a picture of a woman caught in a dangerous orbit. She was last seen in the fall of 1989, and her boyfriend at the time, George Alvin Bruton (often referred to as George Brewton), was under investigation by federal authorities for various crimes.

Bruton, a career criminal with a violent past, had a notorious history. In 1979, he spent three months on the FBI’s Most Wanted List after taking two families hostage and wounding two police officers in Utah. Paroled in 1988, Bruton resumed criminal activities, including leading a multistate drug ring.

Investigators uncovered compelling evidence linking Bruton to Nelton’s death. Flyers for the Pine Island RV Park in Jay, Oklahoma, where Nelton and Bruton were known to stay, were found near her body at the crime scene.

In September 1989, FBI agents observed Bruton and an associate disposing of black trash bags in a dumpster in North Kansas City, which contained a large amount of Nelton’s personal effects. Her vehicle was later found in a storage unit used by Bruton. Most damningly, a source reported in July 1990 that Bruton had admitted to killing a woman named “Donna” over fears she would expose his drug and theft operations.

Despite these leads, the case stalled for decades. In 1995, authorities attempted a facial reconstruction, but the extensive damage to Nelton’s remains made it impossible. Evidence was resubmitted to the Arkansas Crime Lab that same year and again in 2008 to the University of North Texas, but no identification was made.

It wasn’t until 2021, when Lt. Petray and Capt. Thomas See collaborated with Othram, that the case saw new hope. Othram’s advanced DNA profiling and genetic genealogy techniques traced a distant relative, leading to the eventual confirmation of Nelton’s identity.

Bruton, who died in federal prison in 2008 while serving two life sentences for drug offenses, was named the prime suspect in Nelton’s murder. Although he could not be prosecuted, the Benton County Sheriff’s Office expressed confidence in closing the case.