EVER SINCE Unisha "Niecey" Jefferson vanished from a North Philly corner 2 1/2 years ago, her kid sister, Katrina Johnson, has repeatedly called police, hung "Missing" posters and prayed for help.
This week, Johnson found her sister in the medical examiner's office, where her body had been lying, unidentified, for more than two years.

"I'm happy because we know where my sister is and we can lay her to rest," said Johnson, 35.

"But two years of sitting there? We're mad as hell. "

So far, no one from the city has apologized.

"They said, sometimes things get overlooked," Johnson said of the medical examiner's office.

Jefferson, 38, was last reported seen on April 14, 2003, when a friend gave her a ride to 22nd Street and Lehigh Avenue, the family said.

The following September, a decomposed body was found in an abandoned warehouse, just a few blocks from where Jefferson was last seen. Somehow no one in the Police Department or the M.E.'s office connected the dots.

Until now.

Asked about the long delay, Capt. John Darby, of the police Special Victims Unit, said, "I'm not in a position to respond to that because the medical examiner's office is involved in the case as well. "

Health Department spokesman Hans Kellner said, "There are a couple of cases at the end of the year that remain unidentified. "

In fact, Jefferson's body would probably still be at the medical examiner's office if her name hadn't recently been in a news report about missing persons in Philadelphia.

Ten days ago at West Philadelphia High School, Johnson and her mom attended a conference about missing persons organized by City Councilman Juan Ramos. Their plight was mentioned in an Inquirer report on the conference.

A pathologist at the medical examiner's office read the story and remembered that a body had been found not far from where Jefferson went missing, Kellner said.

This past weekend, the M.E.'s office called Johnson, asking for X-rays.

"On Tuesday, they said it was my sister," Johnson said. "So basically, if me and my mother didn't attend this meeting, they would have never found my sister. "

The M.E.'s office has ruled that Jefferson died of a drug overdose. The funeral is tomorrow.

Ramos said he planned to look into why this happened.

"I am very, very troubled by the idea that this body was at the medical examiner's office for two years," he said. "Isn't there a system in place that you get that information out there? "

Both police and the Health Department tried to explain how Jefferson's case had fallen through the cracks.

The typical procedure when a body is found is to take it to the M.E.'s office, where attempts are made to identify it through fingerprints or dental records, Kellner said.

In Jefferson's case, the body was too badly decomposed for fingerprints, and the office had no dental records for Jefferson on file.

Her family could not originally find dental records, police said. Only later did they find an old X-ray that showed part of Jefferson's jaw line, which was the one used this week to identify her.

Of course, if police had figured out at the time that the body was Jefferson's, they might have been able to get extra records or other information sooner.

Darby couldn't explain why police had not looked into whether the body could be Jefferson's, given where she went missing.

He said that the Special Victims Unit periodically contacts the M.E.'s office and tells them what missing persons they have on file. The office never said they had anyone who might be a match for Jefferson.

"We are in regular contact to see if there is anyone unclaimed," he said.

Darby said that police also entered Jefferson's information into local and national databases for missing persons. And earlier this year, they took a DNA sample from her mother so they could put her genetic match in an FBI database.

"It is a sad case. Obviously it's unfortunate that it took this long," he said.

Johnson said the years of waiting have tortured their family.

"This thing has aged my mother," she said. "Her first child, not knowing where she is. Worrying every single day, and she was right there. "

Johnson remembered her sister as a kind woman who always had a big smile, family said.

"She would talk to everybody, a chatterbox," Johnson said.

After growing up in Philadelphia, Jefferson moved down South for much of her adult life, returning to the area in 2002.

Several months before her disappearance, Jefferson miscarried. She was depressed and upset, and was taking some time off, her sister said.

"She wanted to have a baby," she said. "She had a love for baby dolls. "

Johnson said that for now the family is too busy planning the funeral and dealing with their grief to consider their legal options.

"Over two years of wondering, and her body being there all the time," she said. "We're just glad we found her."