New DNA testing has revealed that an unidentified woman found along a rural Florida road in 1988 was transgender.

Lake County Sheriff's Detective Tamara Dale says that could help identify the body, because gender-reassignment surgeries weren't as common then.

The remains were found Sept. 25, 1988, in Four Corners. Investigators said the body had had several cosmetic surgeries, including breast implants. A cause of death never was found.

The Orlando Sentinel reports the remains were tested again under a statewide initiative to revisit unsolved cases. New DNA tests concluded the remains belonged to someone who was born a man.

The detectives who first investigated the case never considered that the body belonged to someone possibly estranged from family before making the transition from a man to a woman.