DNA Breakthrough Connects 1970 Vegas Murder to Casino Mob Boss

A woman went missing in the Nevada desert over fifty years ago. Now, investigators have confirmed that bones found south of Las Vegas in 1970 belong to Anna Sylvia Just, a Canadian stenographer who vanished in the late 1960s. The case, which people have long linked to mob stories, now has a connection to a former Las Vegas casino union boss who had ties to organized crime.

Las Vegas Mob Ties Emerge in 1960s Mystery of Missing Canadian Woman

Just, a 27-year-old from Calgary, Alberta, vanished in August 1966. Two years later, people found her belongings, including clothes and ID, spread out in the desert near Henderson. Officials started a search, but could not find her body.

The finding of human remains in June 1970 sparked new talk, given Las Vegas’ dangerous underworld at that time. Kids playing in the desert found a shallow grave about a mile from where her things had been. The Clark County coroner said it was murder, pointing to a skull crack matching a hard hit. However, the lack of clear evidence put the case on hold for more than 50 years.

Back then, detectives thought Just’s vanishing act might be linked to Thomas “Tommy” Hanley. This big shot ran the American Federation of Casino and Gaming Employees and pulled a lot of strings in Las Vegas’s job market. He often mixed casino business with mob dealings. Old police files show that Just had gone to Hanley asking for money. Later on, cops claimed Hanley‘s guys drove her out to the desert and killed her.

Genetic Testing Unmasks Victim of Mob-Linked Casino Union Chief Decades Later

Hanley gained a bad reputation in Las Vegas labor circles due to his supposed links to several violent events connected to union conflicts. People accused him of planning the killing of a local union official in 1966, but the charges did not stick. Ten years later, in 1977, he and his son went to jail for killing Al Bramlet, a big name in the Culinary Union. This crime showed how Las Vegas’s casino business was mixed up with violent union activities. Hanley died while in jail in 1979.

In October 2024, the Calgary Cold Case Unit and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department teamed up again and made a big discovery. Detectives found Just’s sister, who was still alive in Canada and got her DNA. Forensic experts used genetic genealogy to confirm that the remains buried in the Nevada desert belonged to Anna Sylvia Just

.For Las Vegas, finding out who she was does not just solve one of its oldest mysteries. It also brings back memories of a rough time when casino unions, mob families, and power struggles shaped the city’s dark past.