On April 23, 1997, the body of Annie Rippel was found in the Little Tonawanda Creek in Alexander, New York.

• Annie Rippel's body was found in April 1997 in a creek in Alexander
• A Facebook page has been created to reignite the investigation
• Rippel family leaning on new DNA testing to help get closure

Her family is still searching for answers on the events leading up to Rippel's death and how her body got to the creek and/or who she was with.

“It’s surreal to think that I’m coming back here [Little Tonawanda Creek] 22 years later without answers,” said Annie's younger sister, Janet. "There was duct tape in her neck area, around her mouth area.”

Janet says Annie was unclothed from the waist down and that her clothes were scattered around the creek. She says Little Tonawanda Creek was a hangout two decades ago, and pointed out that her sister had no driver's license and couldn't have come to the area on her own.

The creek is also 20 minutes away from Annie's home in Batavia.

The Rippel family says they are leaning on a newer kind of DNA testing called "DNA sequencing" to help solve the case. It is the same method that was used to track down the 'Golden State Killer' in California.

An unknown DNA sample is submitted to a company like GEDmatch which takes submitted samples from sites such like Ancestry.com to find familial links. The process involves building a family tree backwards that will ultimately lead authorities back to a suspect.

"We're hoping that we do get some answers from that finally," said Janet Rippel.

The family is also looking to another resource that did not exist 22 years ago: Facebook. On the 22nd anniversary of Annie's death, a Facebook page has been launched to reignite the investigation.

Anyone with details on the case is asked to call the Genesee County Sheriff's Office at 585-345-3000.