FOLSOM, Calif — After two decades, a family from Russia has found closure after the body of their loved one was finally identified and brought home.
In 2015, a family walking along Folsom Lake waterfront discovered skeletal remains which only became visible because of the drought.
The discovery started a multi-year investigation with several different agencies and it all surrounded a man who is no longer alive. The remains belonged to a white man whose dental work was not done in the US, the coroner's office said.
Around the same time, officials received a tip that there may have been a drowning in Folsom lake in the mid 90's.
As it turned out, on June 21, 1996, the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office had been called by California State Parks to search for 29-year-old Oleg Zheleznikov, a Russian national citizen.
He had been sailing and decided to go swimming but never resurfaced.
Detectives knew at the time Oleg was married and had a daughter.
With unidentified remains and a similar story, the detectives decided to call on the FBI for help to find his daughter.
After many years of work, they were able to find her in Russia. Yulia Rusina was told by detectives the remains found in 2015 are in fact her fathers.
Detectives took this one step further and booked a flight for Yulia to come to California to take his remains home.
She flew into San Francisco early this month and was picked up by members of the sheriff's office and representatives from the FBI.
A few days later, she picked up her father's urn and met with the sheriff, as well as both the sheriff's office and FBI staff.
On Wednesday, Yulia flew back to Russia, returning her father to his home and his family.
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