CROWN POINT | In Sherry Vitaniemi's dreams of her big sister, she remains the smiling 15-year-old who relished tormenting her back in 1980.

"She stayed 15; she never aged," Vitaniemi said of her sister, Paula Ann Stewart, who would be 42 if still alive.

Although 27 years have passed since Stewart was reported missing from her Hobart home, Vitaniemi has refused to let her sister's memory die.

On Tuesday, during a news conference at the Lake County Sheriff's Department, Vitaniemi said she finally allowed herself to cry after learning her sister's remains had been identified through DNA tests.

"She was a bright, wonderful person. I'm sorry. It's still painful after all these years to know she's finally come home," Vitaniemi said while wiping away her tears.

Identification of Stewart's remains is the oldest cold case solved through the Lake County Sheriff's Department, Sheriff Rogelio "Roy" Dominguez said.

Work still remains on the case, including finding out how Stewart died and how her body ended up on the roadside near 104th Avenue and Colorado Street in what is now Winfield.

The sheriff and Hobart police Lt. Leo Finnerty say both departments are seeking information from the public.

Dominguez said a "person of interest" recently was picked up and interviewed for hours but was released pending further investigation.

"Someday, there will be justice -- but for now we're pleased that her family can have her back to bury her and to know their loved one is back home and she's resting in peace," Dominguez said.

He said Stewart's father, Paul Stewart, first reported his daughter missing June 29, 1980, to Hobart police.

Stewart, who would have been a sophomore that fall at Hobart High School, left her home in the 800 block of Lincoln Street following a day at Bass Lake with a boyfriend and his parents.

On Dec. 16, 1980, remains were discovered near 104th Avenue and Colorado Street but not positively identified at the time, Dominguez said.

"We had to wait until technology that is available today caught up," Finnerty said.

The remains, classified as a "Jane Doe," were buried in 1984 in an unmarked grave in the Merrillville Cemetery in Ross Township, he said. It was those remains, carefully collected earlier this spring, that were identified as Stewart.

Finnerty credits Vitaniemi with again bringing the case to police's attention late last year after she had contacted the Missing Children Web site via the Internet.

Finnerty said he and Lake County Police Deputy Cmdr. Shaw Spurlock met to review the case and called the Lake County coroner's office for assistance.

The Lake County prosecutor's office recommended the services of Dr. Stephen P. Nawrocki, director of osteology at the University of Indianapolis. The doctor's staff directed the disinterment.

On June 6, the Laboratory Corp. of America collected DNA from Vitaniemi, and it was later confirmed there was a match with the remains.

"Without the DNA, we would have had what we had in 1980, a missing person," Finnerty said.

Lake County Coroner David Pastrick said all the remains were intact and Nawrocki will be examining the remains in search of the cause of death.

"How Paula died still has not been determined," he said.

The coroner said the case has not yet been ruled a homicide by his department.

Vitaniemi said for her part she doesn't care if the person responsible for what happened to her sister is ever found.

"I've gotten what I wanted: Her ... that's all I ever wanted. She's earned that right to be found," she said.

Stewart's parents, although both alive, declined to take part in the news conference Tuesday, Vitaniemi said.

"I don't think my mom ever let go of the hope she'd come home," she said.