LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Using DNA samples, human remains found in the desert south of Las Vegas more than 50 years ago have been identified as a missing Canadian woman who may have been the victim of a mob hit.
In 1968, a missing person report was filed for Anna Sylvia Just when some of her belongings were found in the desert just outside of Henderson, Nevada.
Police later learned there was already an active missing person report for her out of Calgary, Canada.
During the investigation, reports suggested Just was an acquaintance of Thomas Hanley, the former head of the American Federation of Casino and Gaming Employees and the Gaming and Office Employee Union.
Hanley had known ties to organized crime in Las Vegas and the Midwest, according to the UNLV Special Collections and Archives. He was accused of killing Ralph Alsup, of Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 525, in 1966, but the charges against Hanley were dropped.
Before the charges were dropped, another man, Alphonse Bass, 36, was scheduled to testify against Hanley in the Alsup murder, according to LVMPD Cold Case Homicide. In March 1969, Bass was found badly burned in a house fire on Lake Mead Boulevard. He later died in a local hospital before he could testify in the trial.
A neighbor saw the fire from her kitchen window and reported seeing a green Ford Mustang leaving the area, and investigators found the fire was intentionally set. Police identified Hanley as a suspect, but charges against him, attorney Albert Dreyer, and associate Leroy Marsh were dropped. The death of Bass was never solved.
Later, in 1977, Hanley and his son, Andrew Garamby Hanley, pleaded guilty to the murder of Culinary Union boss Al Bramlet. Hanley later died while under guard in a Las Vegas hospital in 1979 at the age of 63.
Thomas Hanley pleaded guilty to the murder of Culinary Union boss Al Bramlet in 1977. (KLAS)
8 News Now Chief Investigator George Knapp did a deep dive report into Hanley and Garamby, titled In The Company of Killers. The full report can be found in two parts here and here on YouTube.
Police said Just had gone to Hanley for money, and it was alleged that he had his associates drive her out to the desert where they murdered her.
In 1968, there was an extensive search of the area where her belongings were found, but she was never located.
Two years later, in 1970, children playing in the desert south of Las Vegas found human remains buried in a shallow grave. At the time, the remains were unidentifiable.
The Clark County coroner’s office ruled the death a homicide due to a depressed fracture in the skull.
In October 2024, Calgary Cold Case Missing Person detectives reached out to the LVMPD after learning Just might have been in the Las Vegas area in the late 1960s. LVMPD Cold Case detectives were able to provide the name of Anna’s sister, who was still alive, and Calgary detectives collected a DNA sample from her.
Using genetic genealogy, police were able to confirm that the remains belonged to Just.
At the time of publication, 8 News Now did not have any photos of Just.
