The following is a press release written by the folks at Ancestry:

 Ancestry, the global leader in family history, today announced its acquisition of iMemories, a pioneer in media digitization and cloud-based content preservation. This is an important next step in enabling Ancestry to deliver on its mission to connect everyone to their past so they can discover, preserve and share their unique family stories.

iMemories transforms analog media—including home movies, films, videotapes, photos, slides and negatives —into high-quality digital formats that can be streamed on your smartphone, tablet, computer, or Smart TV with the iMemories app.

The acquisition brings powerful capabilities into Ancestry's ecosystem, accelerating the growth of user-generated content to enhance personalized, AI-powered storytelling, and directly complements Ancestry's family history–focused strategy, providing added value to current subscribers while expanding appeal to new customer segments.

"We're thrilled to welcome iMemories to Ancestry as we make family history more visual, emotional, and accessible," said Howard Hochhauser, President & CEO of Ancestry. "By combining Ancestry's leadership in family history with iMemories' expertise in media digitization, we're empowering people to preserve their most meaningful moments and bring their family stories to life in powerful new ways."

Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, iMemories has built a trusted reputation for over 20 years, serving over one million customers and digitizing more than 100 million assets. Their expertise brings advanced preservation tools and a scalable media platform to Ancestry's global audience.

"Joining forces with Ancestry opens an exciting new chapter for iMemories," said Mark Rukavina, Founder and CEO of iMemories. "Together, we're redefining how families experience their history—making it easier than ever to preserve treasured memories and pass them on for generations to come."

Looking ahead, with iMemories, Ancestry will not only digitize family photos, videos, slides, and films, but enable customers to seamlessly add them to their family tree, enhancing discoveries with a new layer of emotional richness. And with the help of AI-powered tools, those family stories will become even more vivid, dynamic, and personal.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed. JEGI CLARITY + LEONIS represented iMemories in this transaction.

About Ancestry

Ancestry, the global leader in family history, connects everyone with their past so they can discover, preserve, and share their unique family stories. With our unparalleled collection of more than 65 billion records, over 3 million subscribers and over 27 million people in our growing DNA network, customers can discover their family story and gain a new level of understanding about their lives. Over the past 40 years, we've built trusted relationships with millions of people who have chosen us as the platform for discovering, preserving and sharing the most important information about themselves and their families.

About iMemories

iMemories is the largest and most trusted digitizer of analog home movies and photos. A pioneer in streaming personal memories on any device via its iMemories Cloud, the company pairs industry‑leading scanning with proprietary AI enhancement to revive decades‑old reels, tapes, and prints in stunning clarity and resolution. Honored among Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies 2023, iMemories has safeguarded more than 100 million memories since 2005 from its Scottsdale, Arizona headquarters. Discover how iMemories preserves, enriches, and shares life's moments at www.imemories.com.

Wesley LePatner, board member for UJA-Federation of New York and The Abraham Joshua Heschel School, mourned by loved ones as ‘uniquely brilliant’

US Jewish institutions in New York City are in mourning after a well-known and beloved communal figure was one of the victims of a mass shooting Monday in Midtown Manhattan.

Wesley LePatner, 43, was a board member for UJA-Federation of New York and The Abraham Joshua Heschel School, where her name is now inscribed with the Hebrew acronym for “may her memory be a blessing” in memoriam. She also was the recipient of UJA’s Alan C. Greenberg Young Leadership Award in 2023.

A few weeks ago, LePatner went to lunch with her synagogue’s co-founder and rebbetzin, who on social media wrote they were catching up about “the future, our children, women’s leadership, Torah, our love for Israel and all of the uncertainty of this moment in time.”

No one could have imagined that LePatner would be gunned down, in a mass shooting at the office building in Manhattan where she had climbed to one of the city’s most elite investment firms.

The office building and shooting target was home to the headquarters of the NFL and Blackstone. The alleged shooter, identified by authorities as Shane Tamura of Las Vegas, killed four people, including a LePatner and a New York City police officer, and wounded a fifth before killing himself.

While a motive has not been officially announced, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said police were investigating a note from the suspected gunman that reportedly referred to potential links to the NFL and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a neurodegenerative disease associated with head trauma.

“We’re still investigating, this is relatively new,” Adams said. “There’s no more than just a note at this time and as you indicated he talked about CTE.”

In the aftermath of LePatner’s murder on Monday, many who knew her are mourning the loss of a Jewish leader who had demonstrated care for everything she and her luncheon companion had been discussing.

“There are no right words for this unfathomable moment of pain and loss,” head of school Ariela Dubler and board president Ben Archibald wrote in an email to the community of the Abraham Joshua Heschel School, the Upper West Side school where LePatner was a parent and a board member.

“It was a rare z’chut, a rare privilege, to know Wesley and to learn from her,” they continued. “She was a uniquely brilliant and modest leader and parent, filled with wisdom, empathy, vision, and appreciation. Quite simply, Wesley made the world — and all of the institutions that she touched, including the Heschel School — a better place.”

LePatner was also a board member for UJA-Federation of New York and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as one of the highest-ranking women at Blackstone, where she led the Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust.

“She was the most loving wife, mother, daughter, sister and relative, who enriched our lives in every way imaginable,” her family said in a statement.“To so many others, she was a beloved, fiercely loyal and caring friend, and a driven and extraordinarily talented professional and colleague. At this unbearably painful time, we are experiencing an enormous, gaping hole in our hearts that will never be filled, yet we will carry on the remarkable legacy Wesley created.”

LePatner had deep roots in New York’s Jewish community, where she grew up and returned after college to make an impact on religious, educational and charitable organizations.

In December 2023, shortly after she led a solidarity mission to Israel in the aftermath of the October 7 Hamas attacks, UJA honored her with the Alan C. Greenberg Young Leadership Award at its annual Wall Street Dinner. The award recognized LePatner for her commitment to the Jewish community “and her remarkable achievements, all the more notable as a woman in a traditionally male-dominated field,” the organization said in a statement.

“She lived with courage and conviction, instilling in her two children a deep love for Judaism and the Jewish people,” UJA added.

For her part, LePatner said at the time that UJA had been central in her development as a business executive with a thriving Jewish identity.

“As one of the only female analysts in my investment banking group at Goldman Sachs and as a liberal arts major who studied the Ming and Qing dynasties of China in college and Pre-Raphaelite art in Great Britain, rather than complex accounting and excel models like the rest of my adult class, I felt different and alone in the early months of my career,” she said in her comments at the 2023 dinner. “UJA stepped in early and fixed my feeling out of place by connecting me with senior Goldman Sachs women who were further along in their careers and personal lives, but equally committed to their Jewish community and identity.”

First responders gather on 52nd Street outside a Manhattan office building where four people were killed in a shooting, including a New York police officer, July 28, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis) 
Born Wesley Meredith Mittman, LePatner was an alumna of the Horace Mann School in the Bronx, where she remained engaged in various fundraising campaigns after graduating.

She went to Yale, graduating in 2003 with a degree in history and working as head of tour guides for the admissions office while a student. She met her husband, Evan, on the first day of student orientation at Yale, according to the couple’s 2006 wedding announcement in The New York Times.

LePatner remained involved with her alma mater after graduating. She served on the Yale University Library Council, which fundraises for the library, along with writer Bruce Feiler, who mourned her loss in a post on Facebook.

“At 43, she was the most effortless and impressive person — you wanted to follow her wherever she went,” Feiler wrote. “A mentor to young women and generous friend to everyone who knew her, she was on the board of her children’s Jewish day school, recently joined the board of The Met, and just felt in every way like the kind of leader we all want and need in these unsettling times. I howled when I heard the news and haven’t stopped shaking since. Godspeed to her family. God helps us all.” 

Upon graduating from Yale, LePatner became an investment banker working at Goldman Sachs, where she remained for 11 years before heading to Blackstone in 2014. There, in addition to rising in the real estate division, she became the chair of Blackstone’s Women’s Initiative.

“Words cannot express the devastation we feel,” the company said in an emailed statement to NBC News New York. “Wesley was a beloved member of the Blackstone family and will be sorely missed. She was brilliant, passionate, warm, generous, and deeply respected within our firm and beyond. She embodied the best of Blackstone. “Our prayers are with her husband, children and family. We are also saddened by the loss of the other innocent victims as well, including brave security personnel and NYPD.”

LePatner and her husband settled on the Upper East Side, where they had two children. Benny Rogosnitzky, cantor at Park East Synagogue, recalled in an interview that she was “a very active, very involved parent” when her children attended the school affiliated with his congregation. In 2019, the congregation and school bestowed their annual “Youth Enrichment Center Award” on the couple.

“She was very practical, down to earth, very much wanted to make a difference, not just in giving ideas, but to actually realize them,” Rogosnitzky said. “She was someone we could rely on. She was someone that we could call even when the children graduated.”

Rogosnitzky recalled that LePatner once told him she felt at home when she came into the Park East Day School building.

“This is where she took her kids every day, and she dropped them off on the way to work,” he said. “And it was just — it was home. It was a second home. And we’ll miss her terribly.” 

More recently, LePatner was involved in launching the Altneu synagogue on the Upper East Side, according to co-founder Avital Chizik-Goldschmidt, who described the recent lunch and called her a “dear friend, mentor, community member & builder” on social media.

“Daughter, wife, mother, leader in so many ways,” Chizik-Goldschmidt added. “The kindest & sharpest human being. A nightmare that we can’t wake up from. No words. Holding her family in our aching hearts.” 

The family remained members at Park East, Rogosnitzky said, as well as at the Fifth Avenue Synagogue, which announced that it would dedicate a week of learning in her honor.

LePatner also brought her children with her to volunteer locally, said David Greenfield, CEO of the Met Council, a Jewish social services nonprofit.

“Wesley was an amazing person who was also [a] tremendously talented leader,” Greenfield shared on X. “She volunteered with her kids @MetCouncil to feed those in need. Heartbroken that she was murdered yesterday in the midtown shooting rampage. Thoughts and prayers with her family. Baruch Dayan HaEmes.” 

LePatner is survived by her husband, Evan, their two young children, and her parents, attorneys Ellyn and Lawrence Mittman.

History will come to life at Windsor Castle during the family weekend 'Windsor at War' in time for the 80th anniversary of VJ Day.

The living history display will allow visitors to experience what life was like at Windsor Castle during the Second World War on Saturday, August 16 and Sunday, August 17.

As Friday, August 15, marks Victory over Japan Day – the end of the war – the Castle's precincts and grounds will open for the public to celebrate the momentous milestone. 

Windsor at War is part of a summer series of themed family history weekends where between 11am and 4.30pm daily, costumed educators will offer a glimpse into 20th-century castle life.

Drop-in activities throughout the weekend, included in the price of an admission ticket to Windsor Castle, are as follows:

• A living history camp for families to explore and displays of WWII-era objects and replica weapons.
• Performances of wartime music.
• 1940s vehicles, including a Morris C8 truck, the same type that Queen Elizabeth II would have repaired when she served as a mechanic in the war, and a WWII-era ambulance, like the one pictured with then-Princess Elizabeth during the war.
• Home-Guard drills for visitors to take part in and demonstrations with an Anti-Aircraft Gun and historical reenactors.
• Arts and crafts activities in the Quadrangle.

All activities are included with standard admission to the Castle, and a range of concessions are available.

These include half-price entry for children aged 5–17, free entry for under-5s and a Young Person discount for 18–24-year-olds.

Families attending Windsor at War can convert their admission ticket into a 1-Year Pass, offering unlimited re-entry to Windsor Castle for 12 months for upcoming historical family weekends.

For more information, visit www.rct.uk/event/history-weekends-windsor-at-war-08-2025

Interested in your genealogy but unsure where to begin? Come to an informative workshop on Saturday, Aug. 2, from 10:30 a.m. to noon at the World Heritage Center, 3106 Roosevelt Ave. in San Antonio.

At the workshop — free and open to the public — representatives from the San Antonio Public Library’s Texana/Genealogy Department will provide tips and guidance to kick-start your family history research.

For more information, visit WorldHeritageSA.com.

The World Heritage Center serves as an information gateway for the historic Spanish missions in San Antonio and the Rancho de las Cabras near Floresville.

By buying iMemories, Ancestry is betting on a future where DNA, old home videos, and AI create personalized family films.

Home-movies-and-photos digitizer service iMemories was scooped up by genealogy company Ancestry, a bet by the ancestry giant that subscribers who already spend their money on DNA kits and pour their time into building family trees will be further enticed by visual storytelling that weaves all those details together.

The transaction will merge Ancestry, with more than 3.7 million subscribers and $1 billion in annual subscription revenue, with iMemories, which bills itself as the “Netflix” of old family memories, with more than 100,000 paying subscribers and has digitized more than 100 million VHS videotapes, photo prints, DVDs, and other video formats over the past 20 years. IMemories was also named to the 2023 list of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies.

“The goal is to bring all family storytelling together into one spot,” Howard Hochhauser, Ancestry’s president and CEO, tells Fast Company in an interview.

Terms of the transaction weren’t disclosed, although Hochhauser says it is Ancestry’s largest acquisition in terms of revenue.

STITCHING TOGETHER RECORDS AND MEMORY 
With its integration of iMemories’ content into the Ancestry platform, the enlarged company will expand on a strategy already championed by Hochhauser to connect 10,000 terabytes of Ancestry data on the nitty-gritty of birth records, marriages, deaths, military service, and immigration with archival family photos and videos.

In the future, Ancestry says it will lean on artificial intelligence to stitch together video clips from iMemories and Ancestry’s own user-uploaded trove of archival materials, along with AI-generated images, to create short films that tell the tales of family lore.

“When a consumer sees a photo versus say, a U.S. census, they retain better, higher engagement, higher retention,” says Hochhauser, who joined Ancestry in 2009 as chief financial officer and has served in an executive capacity at the company for the initial public offering in 2009, a going-private transaction in 2012, and the 2020 sale to asset manager Blackstone.“Visual content is compelling, much more so than reading a document.”

TURNING PARCHED RECORDS INTO AUDIO VISUALS 
This week, and separate from the iMemories deal, Ancestry is also rolling out a beta AI-enabled pilot program to 500 users that can generate audio files from the documents uploaded to Ancestry. Hochhauser says these assets can be a gateway for younger consumers especially.

He recounts how his own 18-year-old son wasn’t too keen to read about an ancestor who fought in World War II. But when the text was converted into audio, Hochhauser says his son was on the edge of his seat when he got to the part of the tale that featured a great uncle in battle, where he talks about lobbing grenades at the enemy and the Purple Heart that he received as a result of his bravery. “That’s pretty powerful,” Hochhauser says. “And so that’s the direction we are taking the company.”

Hochhauser says before the iMemories deal, Ancestry had conducted research that found 40% of its users said they wanted the company to offer a digitization and storage service. It also found a third of non-Ancestry users expressed a similar wish.

AI SPEEDS DIGITIZATION OF HISTORICAL RECORDS 
AI is also already being leaned on by Ancestry to speed the digitization of census records. Back in 2012, when the U.S. Census Bureau first released files for every living person in the country that were taken in the year 1940, it took Ancestry nine months and millions of dollars to digitize all that information. But when the government agency released the 1950 files in 2022, technology had advanced to the point where Ancestry could employ computer vision and AI to transcribe those files in nine days without any manual labor.

The company is using AI in a similar way to parse through records from France, Belgium, and other foreign markets as it looks to speed up the work of digitization.

CONCERNS ABOUT PRIVACY ALSO LOOM 
The Ancestry-iMemories transaction does come at a time of heightened consumer concern over the data privacy of personal DNA information held by genomics companies. The 2023 data breach of rival 23andMe, which later went bankrupt, inflamed fears over who would end up with control of genetic information if one of these genealogy companies went belly up.

“People’s confidence has been shaken, in Big Tech overall, and also in consumer genomics,” says Dr. Brandon Colby, the founder and CEO of Sequencing.com, a biotech company that does whole genome sequencing.“The need to be extra obvious about transparency is really important.There’s no room for people to go and assume that we’re trying to do something shady.”

Sequencing is big on transparency in telling consumers of its “Privacy Forever” commitment to never sell any data to pharma companies, government agencies, or other outside parties, which is how some genomics companies have made money.

Colby says Sequencing makes money from monthly subscriptions and by selling reports it produces based on genome sequencing that can show consumers how they might react to medications, or offer advice on better sleep or nutrition strategies.

Hochhauser at Ancestry makes a similar pledge around DNA. Users control their own biological samples and DNA data, and have the freedom to delete that information from the service if they like. The same approach will be applied with AI-related content that is generated from iMemories data. It’s up to users how they want to share it, he says.

“We are a family history company,” Hochhauser says. “Consumers own their data, control their data, and we have multifactor authentication, as an example, and lots of different security protocols in place to protect and preserve data.”

Thanks to funding from our partner, Alexander County Library, over 3,000 issues of The Taylorsville Times (Taylorsville, N.C.) spanning from 1927 to 1996 are now available to peruse on DigitalNC. This weekly newspaper has focused on informing readers of local, national, and global news for around a century. Around the 1920s, The Mountain Scout and Taylorsville Times newspapers merged to form The Taylorsville Times and Mountain Scout. The merged paper published until August of 1933, when “Mountain Scout” was removed from its name. Since then, the paper has continued to publish under The Taylorsville Times title.

The earliest issues from this batch from 1927 and 1928 provide a look into the period’s perspective of American history through short hidden object puzzles they call “American History Puzzle Picture.” The puzzle is formatted with a drawing depicting a critical or well-known event related to American history, a short description of said event, and the hidden object the player needs to find. Though published as a simple, educational puzzle, these snippets provide a complex gleam into America’s period of conformist nationalism by showing who and what was considered pivotal in the late 1920s; interpretations of how people and places looked, language usage, etc. Take a look at and try finding the hidden objects in the—expected and, some not—depictions of American history below.

To learn more about and view other materials contributed by Alexander County Library, visit their contributor page linked here.

View all issues of The Taylorsville Times (Taylorsville, N.C.) on DigitalNC, linked here.

To view more newspapers from across the state, view our North Carolina Newspapers Collection linked here.

The Irish Genealogical Research Society is launching a new database created from a card index compiled several decades ago by the now late Patrick Smythe-Wood. It notes biographical information from Irish, and a small number of Canadian, newspapers. Although the range of newspapers covers all of Ireland, the data tends to mainly represent the nine northern counties which form the province of Ulster: Antrim, Armagh, Cavan, Derry/Londonderry, Donegal, Down, Fermanagh, Monaghan, and Tyrone,

A sample page from the list

There are approximately 11,600 index records, referencing about 20,000 individuals. The earliest dates from 1772 and the latest 1900, though the majority fall into the period 1800 to 1860.  Patrick’s interest in the history of members of the Royal Irish Constabulary, military personnel, and other uniformed services (customs and excise officers for instance), is widely represented in this database.

Ian Alastair Patrick Smythe-Wood (1914-1997). was a distinguished genealogist who was elected a Fellow of the IGRS in 1993, just four years before his death. His father's family came from Bushmills in Co. Antrim. Patrick was known for his extensive work on parochial records, monumental inscriptions, Canadian families of Irish descent, Irish links with the Isle of Man, and Irish and Canadian newspapers. He went on to donate the results of most of his work to the Society and this latest launch by the IGRS represents the fruit of some of his work.

Non-members can access this database for free to check for the prevalence of particular first name and surname combinations by clicking HERE. Logged-in members can access the full database through the UNIQUE RESOURCES page.

A typical entry in the database might note as much as an individual's name, address, spouse, parent(s), date/year of birth, death or marriage, religious denomination, and names of other family members and relations. 

The Will County Coroner’s office details the positive identification of a woman whose remains were discovered in Will County, Illinois, in 1968, closing a cold case that lingered for over half a century. Through the combined efforts of law enforcement, forensic scientists, genealogists, and the support of family and community, the identity of Martha Bassett—a 33-year-old Native American woman originally from Wapato, Yakima, Washington—was finally restored. This case is emblematic not only of advances in forensic science but also of the enduring determination of families and officials to bring closure to long-unsolved tragedies.

On Sept. 30, 1968, the remains of a female were found in the brush near the intersection of I-55 and Blodgett Road in unincorporated Will County. The woman was a murder victim whose identity would remain unknown for decades. At the time, investigative resources and forensic technology were limited, and despite efforts, authorities were unable to make a positive identification. The unidentified victim was interred in Oakwood Cemetery in Wilmington, Illinois.

Background of the Victim

Martha Bassett was born in Washington State and was a member of the Native American community from Wapato, Yakima. In 1960, she relocated to the Chicago area as part of the Indian Relocation Act of 1956, a federal initiative that sought to encourage Indigenous peoples to move from reservations to urban centers. By 1967, Martha lost contact with her family, who, concerned for her welfare, traveled to Chicago in a determined effort to find her. Unfortunately, their exhaustive search was unsuccessful, and the family returned home without answers.

For decades, the case of the unidentified woman found in Will County remained unsolved. The lack of leads, limited means of communication between jurisdictions, and absence of technological tools like DNA testing kept the identity of the victim a mystery.

Reopening the Case: Renewed Forensic Efforts (2009)

In 2009, Will County Coroner Patrick O’Neil established a cold case unit to address lingering mysteries such as this one. The investigation was led by experienced law enforcement professionals, including retired Romeoville Investigator Eugene Sullivan and the late Will County Sheriff’s Investigator James Cardin.

That year, the team exhumed the remains buried in Oakwood Cemetery, seeking to leverage advances in forensic science to finally bring answers. Portions of the skeletal remains were sent to the University of North Texas and the Smithsonian Institute Paleontology Department. Their initial analyses determined that the remains were possibly of Native American descent, a detail that provided a crucial clue to the victim’s identity.

Advancement in Forensic Anthropology (2017)

Further study was conducted in 2017 by Dr. Cris Hughes and the University of Illinois Forensic Anthropology Department. Their analysis corroborated the earlier conclusion, indicating that the remains could be of both Asian and Native American descent. This additional detail further narrowed the potential pool of missing persons, guiding investigators toward new avenues.

Outreach and Collaboration

Recognizing the unique cultural background suggested by the remains, current Cold Case Investigator William Sheehan and Investigator Joe Piper, both retired Lockport Police Detectives, took an innovative approach. They reached out proactively to Native American tribes in Illinois and Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa, inquiring about any missing person reports from the late 1960s that matched the victim’s description. Cooperation with the Bureau of Indian Affairs was instrumental, fostering the creation and dissemination of a flyer about the case that was published on social media and distributed within Native communities. This led to a lead that was generated, and we contacted Emily Washines out of Washinton State who is a distant relative of Martha, Emily created a background on Martha and this office was able to make contact with a niece of Martha who provided the necessary DNA to make the match. This was accomplished by cooperation from the community, family and the Attorney General’s Office of the State of Washington.

Renewed Exhumation and DNA Analysis (2024)

On Sept. 13, 2024, Coroner Laurie H. Summers authorized another exhumation that was undertaken by the Will County Coroner’s cold case unit in partnership with the Will County Sheriff’s Police. The purpose was to extract additional DNA from the remains, hoping that more advanced gene sequencing techniques could yield a definitive match. Portions of the skeleton were sent to Othram, a forensic genetic genealogy company in Woodlands, Texas. This organization specializes in using cutting-edge DNA analysis to provide genealogy matches that could identify victims or perpetrators in cold cases. Coroner Summers has made the identification of this case and others a priority since taking office in 2020.

The forensic investigation was made possible by funding from the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NAMUS), an initiative of the Department of Justice. NAMUS provides critical resources for the identification of missing and unidentified persons, ensuring that cases like this one receive the attention and tools necessary for resolution.

Breakthrough and Identification

Through the concerted efforts described above, a breakthrough was finally achieved. Genetic genealogy provided a match, confirming that the remains were those of Martha Bassett, the 33-year-old woman from Wapato, Yakima, Washington, who had moved to Chicago in 1960. After more than 50 years, Martha was no longer a nameless victim, and her family was finally given closure.

This case highlights several important themes:

• The Power of Persistence: The unwavering dedication of Martha Bassett’s family, who never stopped searching, and the determination of law enforcement and forensic experts, made resolution possible.

• Advances in Forensic Science: The use of DNA analysis and genetic genealogy has revolutionized the way cold cases are solved, turning what were once impassable barriers into pathways for discovery.

• Collaboration Across Agencies: The successful identification was the product of cooperation between local law enforcement, federal agencies, Native American communities, universities, and private forensic companies.

• The Importance of Support Networks: The funding and logistical support from organizations like NAMUS and the Department of Justice are indispensable for the complex process of resolving cold cases.

The resolution of the 1968 Will County cold case represents a triumph of scientific progress, interagency cooperation, and human perseverance. Martha Bassett’s identity, lost to history for more than half a century, has been restored, allowing her family and community to honor her memory and finally lay her to rest. The case stands as a testament to what can be achieved when modern technology is applied with compassion and resolve—and it offers hope to the families of other missing persons that answers, though sometimes delayed, can still be found.

The following is a pess release written by employees of the (U.S.) National Archives and Records Administration:

MLK Records #1 Downloaded Across Government The National Archives—in partnership with several other government agencies—recently released over 230,000 pages of records related to the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  In the first few days after their release, the MLK assassination records were the most downloaded files across any U.S. federal government website --- even more than passport applications. Learn more in this National Archives News story. Martin Luther King, Jr. (detail) by Jack Lewis Hiller, 1960, Gelatin silver print, used with permission of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Jack Lewis Hiller. 60th Anniversary of Medicare & Medicaid On July 30, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Medicare and Medicaid Act, also known as the Social Security Amendments of 1965, into law. It established Medicare, a health insurance program for the elderly, and Medicaid, a health insurance program for people with limited income. The Medicare and Medicaid Act, also known as the Social Security Amendments of 1965, was signed into law on July 30, 1965, by President Lyndon B. Johnson. NAID: 299908 Winston Churchill's Descendent Visits National Archives On July 22, 2025, Edward Churchill–a descendent of Sir Winston Churchill–and new International Churchill Society (ICS) Executive Director Dr. Adam Howard got a behind-the-scenes look at some of the National Archives' holdings regarding Winston Churchill at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Archivist Trevor Plante (left) shows Edward Churchill (center; in suit) documents related to Sir Winston Churchill's attendance at a meeting to go over the final plans for Operation Overlord in May 1944. More National Archives News Contact the National Archives: public.affairs@nara.gov National Archives and Records Administration, 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20408

In a bizarre incident in the US state of Wisconsin, a woman named Audrey Backeberg, who had been missing for 60 years, was finally located.

However, she has expressed her desire to keep her identity and current location confidential.

Audrey Backeberg left her home in Reedsburg, Wisconsin, in 1962 at the age of 20 and disappeared. Allegedly, due to a forced marriage and domestic violence, she decided to leave home. Reports of physical abuse were documented with the police.

In January 2025, Investigator Isaac Hansen reopened the case, digitized documents, and conducted interviews with relevant individuals. Using family data obtained from Ancestry.com, he identified a possible address.

A deputy was sent to the related area, and the woman was traced. Within 10 minutes, Audrey spoke with Hansen for 45 minutes, during which she confirmed her identity and stated that she is now happy and has "no regrets".

Audrey chose to keep her identity hidden for the sake of her prosperous life. She expressed her wish to keep her current location a secret, and the police have respected her request.