Rebecca “Becky” Ann Redecker (1973-1993) was a young woman found murdered in a campsite in 1993. While she remained unidentified, she was known by the nickname “Rainbow Falls Jane Doe”.
A hiker discovered the victim’s partially clad body in a makeshift campsite at the Rainbow Falls Campground in the Pike San Isabel National Forest, between Woodland Park and Deckers off Highway 67. Investigators believe she may have been dumped at the location. They believe she had been beaten to death 2-3 days before she was found.
Isotope analysis indicated she may have been from one of several Canadian Provinces or Alaska. Becky disappeared under unknown circumstances sometime between 1992-1993. It is known she was homeless at the time of her disappearance and spent most of her life around Colorado Springs.
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office retained United Data Connect to sequence the DNA sample, from 2012 exhumation, from Jane Doe and conduct investigative genetic genealogy analysis.
Results from the DNA sequencing were received in March 2020.
Over 61 family trees of DNA matches from GEDmatch were built before her birth father was identified on May 14.
Becky went to high school in Manitou Springs from 1985 to 1988 and attended Coronado High School in Colorado Springs in 1989. Detectives want to talk to anyone who knew her and who she may have been spending time with in the summer of 1993.
“I cannot stress enough that if you knew anyone, or you knew Becky, or you had anything connected in Becky’s life, please call our office, and help us identify the suspect, or suspects that were responsible for her death, and leaving her body, in the National Forest, without a name for
Sheriff Spurlock
all these years”
Crime Stoppers is offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of her killer
Unsolved Mysteries of the World podcast – https://player.acast.com/unsolved-mysteries-of-the-world/episodes/jane-doe-rainbow-falls-colorado
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Becky_Redecker
Julie Gwenn Davis (October 19, 1968 – 1989/March 1990) formerly known as “Princess Blue” was a young adult whose skeletal remains were found at the side of a dead-end road in Manvel, Texas in 1990. She was known by her nickname due to a blue stoned 1975 class ring she wore, which is believed to have been a gift.
She was identified on June 17th, 2020.
Second- digitally enhanced photo from uidwiki
On September 10, 1990, at approximately 5 p.m, a man traveling along Highway 288 near to Manvel, Texas had pulled over to the side of Brazoria County Road in order to relieve himself. The man had noticed a pile of debris, investigating further, he had stepped behind a barricade, and had discovered what was a human skull sitting inside of a tire, with the rest of her disarticulated skeleton laying underneath.
The location of her remains was a dead-end road in a sparsely populated area, which would have been ideal to conceal human remains. There was no nearby clothing or hair located at the crime scene or in close proximity, but she was wearing many pieces of jewellery on three of her fingers and wrist, including a 1975 class ring from Robert E. Lee High School. As it is believed she died a year or less before her discovery, it is assumed this ring was a gift from an older companion or relative. A detective had taken the jewelry and placed in an evidence envelope.
Since Brazoria County had no medical examiner in 1990, the autopsy was conducted by Dr. Eduardo Bellas with the Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office. The autopsy, performed the day after the bones were discovered, did not reveal much: an upper left front tooth that had been surgically removed; two fractured ribs; and a “defect” on a bone beneath her left knee. No traces of opiates were found in her bone marrow. Bellas concluded she was Hispanic and had estimated her age to be between 15 and 19, her height at 4’8″ to 5’2″. He could not determine the cause or manner of her death, but foul play is most likely suspected based on her circumstances of discovery.
When the report was finalized a week later, the rings and bracelet had gotten a brief mention: “Some property (jewelry) was recovered at the scene with the skeletal remains.”
According to a brief Houston Chronicle article that ran three days later, Tolson characterized the girl as Hispanic and/or White. He said she had “knee problems”, and that she wore a silver ring with a turquoise unicorn on her right hand and a beaded bracelet on her right wrist.
In August 2006, a detective reopened the case file, discovering the class ring and other pieces of jewelry, which previous detectives had not been aware of. DNA advances had disputed the previous speculation she was of Hispanic descent or White with a Hispanic admixture. Testing indicated she was instead White, but someone with African DNA had recently entered into her family, which was most likely a parent or grandparent. It was also discovered that the female could have been as old as 21.
A sketch was created soon afterward by a Manvel police department sketch artist; this might still be inaccurate. Manvel authorities interviewed dozens of Robert E. Lee High School alumni, yet nobody recognized her. Authorities are still looking to speak with alumni that lost or gave away a ring before 1990 similar to the one found.
In June 2007, the sketches were released to television stations and newspapers throughout Texas. Many leads came in, but eventually, none had the answer to the identity of her or her killer. In July of the same year, Authorities had started to suspect that serial killer Roy Alan Stuart, was responsible for Princess Blue’s death, based on his presence in towns where females of a similar age bracket disappeared. Princess Blue’s time of death fits in with his time-spans. Stuart refused to cooperate with authorities, and falsely stated he was in prison in 1989 and 1990. He said he hadn’t recognized the sketches, and he had been innocent after his release. He is, however, no longer a person of interest in the case.
Danny Davis of Orange, Texas, had just given his DNA to a Texas Ranger, in hopes of finding his sister, Julie Davis, who went had went missing at the age of 16, 33 years ago. The Texas Ranger was investigating the possibility Julie might have been a missing woman found dead in another part of the state. But when Danny’s DNA went into the state database, it matched Princess Blue’s DNA. Investigators say with 99.9% certainty, Princess Blue is Julie Davis.
Davis stated he had never heard of the Princess Blue case, and never tried to connect the dots. also stating “I wouldn’t have believed it’s her if that detective didn’t tell me the DNA matched.”
It was asked by a news station if Julie could have had any connection to Houston or to Robert E. Lee High School. “I just found out last night from my sister, Shelly, that Shelly met Julie’s husband at one point, years back, and she said he was from Houston,” Danny said.
Danny believes Julie got married at 18, shortly after she left home and headed for New Orleans. Danny was 17 years old at the time.
“That’s the last thing I remember of her, her giving me a hug, telling me she loved me, and she broke down in tears and walked away, and that’s the last time I saw her,” Danny said.
Police are now looking to Danny and Julie’s four other siblings for help in the investigation, as they still do not know the connection between Julie and the class ring.
Julie’s parents both passed away never knowing what happened to their daughter. But Manvel police have met with Julie’s brothers and sisters. Danny says he’s in the process of trying to get Julie’s remains back to their home in Orange to give Julie the burial she deserves.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Julie_Davis
Nikko Lee Perez (November 8, 1996 – 1997) was an infant whose skeletal remains were found in a cooler in 2007.
A fisherman found the skeletal remains in a metal cooler in the Conway Canal near the Sacramento River.
The cooler is believed to have been in the water as long as six months and had been weighed down with stones, pieces of metal rotors, a brick, and pieces of U-shaped metal.
His father, Paul Perez, has been arrested in relation to his murder. He is also believed to be responsible for the deaths of his four siblings, three of whom have never been found.
Yolo County Sheriff’s Office Press Release–
California Father Is Charged With Murdering Five of His Infant Children
New DNA technology helped officials crack a case that had stalled for a dozen years.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/27/us/paul-perez-california-infant-murders.html
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Nikko_Perez
Shirlene “Cheryl” Ann Hammack was a young woman found murdered near a Dixie, Georgia highway in 1981. She was identified in January 2020.
Cheryl had told her family that she had planned to go to the local fair to look for a job along with an individual her family did not know. Before her disappearance, she would call around 3 or 4 times a week.
The last time she was heard from was when she stated to her family that she had met someone and was planning on moving to Texas alone, and she was expected to return at Christmas, telling her family to leave a gift under the tree for her. She never made it in time for the holidays with her family.
She was gone for 3-4 months before her murder. Her family then suspected something was wrong after Cheryl didn’t call after a week, as this wasn’t something she would do. Her disappearance was later reported by her mother, after she received Cheryl’s wallet in the mail with her driver’s license but with no return address.
Cheryl’s body was discovered at a gateway entrance to a cornfield in Brooks County, Dixie on halloween. It was concluded that she had died from stabbing due to a stab wound found on her abdomen, there was also evidence of strangulation on her neck.
An individual visually identified her picture as that of someone who had been working at a fair in nearby Quitman, Georgia a week prior to her discovery.
George Newsome, a 52-year-old fair employee, confessed to her murder and was sentenced to life in prison. He died behind bars in 1988 without ever giving up her name — whether deliberately or from ignorance. Investigators later found rope that had remarkable similarities to the ligature marks found on Cheryl‘s neck. However, Newsome refused to cooperate with authorities about being involved with her death, and escaped from custody a short time after. He was later rearrested in 1983, and confessed to the murder. He claimed he met the woman at a travelling fair in Tallahassee, Florida.
She was later put on display in a local funeral home, in hopes that a individual would stop by and recognize her, but this effort proved unsuccessful. She was later buried inside of a high quality cement casket instead of a wooden coffin, A local family had volunteered to have her buried on their family plot instead of an unmarked grave. When later dug up by Georgia authorities, her body was noted to be in “Remarkable condition“ considering the amount of time that had passed during the murder.
The break in the case came in 2018 when a woman walked into the Brooks County Sheriff’s Office after seeing a website posting about the case and said she might have been the unknown woman’s childhood friend. Authorities later reached out to Cheryl’s surviving family members, leading to Cheryl’s mother having her DNA taken and then being compared to the unidentified woman, after this it was determined that more advanced testing was needed, so both of the DNA samples were sent to the North Texas Center for Human Identification. After extensive DNA testing was finally done after a year and a half it was finally determined in 2020 that the unidentified woman was proven to be Kathleen Hammack’s biological daughter —Shirlene “Cheryl” Hammack.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Cheryl_Hammack
John H. Frisch (1960-2016) On June 12, 2017 a human head washed ashore on the banks of the Illinois River in Kingston Mines, Illinois. The property owner at the River’s Edge Campground, who picked up the skull thinking it was a Halloween decoration took it into his house until it started to stink.
The skull was later linked via DNA to a torso previously recovered on November 13, 2016 in Schuyler County downriver. There was a hole in the skull, which investigators thought at first was a bullet hole, but on closer inspection, actually was blunt force trauma with the skull pushed in. Forensic investigators determined the deceased to be a white male between 30-55 years old.
On January 28, 2020 the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office of Peoria, IL (PCSO) announced the identity of the homicide victim known as Peoria Co John Doe 2016-17 as John Herman Frisch Jr. originally of Peoria, Illinois. The DNA Doe Project, Inc. (DDP) had been working closely with PCSO since February 2019 to search for the victim’s identity through the use of genetic genealogy.
John H. Frisch was born in 1960, and would have been 56-years-old when his body was found in Schuyler County, Illinois in 2016. He used addresses in Peoria, Illinois and Hawaii throughout his life. Peoria County Coroner Jamie Harwood ruled manner of death homicide due to blunt force trauma to the head. Investigators are now concentrating on John’s murder, and are retracing his movements in the days prior to his body being found.
Using pioneering genetic genealogy identification techniques, DDP submitted the victim’s DNA profile to GEDmatch for comparison with other DNA profiles of people who had uploaded their DNA results and opted in. Limited success with matches lead the team to submit the profile to FamilyTreeDNA, which yielded a few higher matches that helped to narrow the search focus even further and eventually led in the direction of John Frisch. Proof of life searches turned up no recent activity. So, on December 27, 2019 DDP sent a tentative identification for the victim to PCSO, after which the Peoria County Coroner’s Office was able to officially confirm the identity through a comparison of dental records obtained from Hawaii.
Anthony John Armbrust III was a male who was found near the bottom of a steep slope a short distance away from US Route 285 in Grant, Colorado on February 11, 1974. He had vanished with his wife and it is believed they both died in a suicide pact. He was identified in 2020.
Police estimate the man had been at the foot of the hill since late 1973.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Anthony_Armbrust_III
Nicki Virginia Lee Elkins was a teenager who disappeared after visiting her family in Miami, Florida in early 1981. Her body was discovered on March 9 of the same year, having been killed by blunt trauma to the head. She was identified after investigators noticed similar physical characteristics between Elkins and the unidentified woman, Glades County Jane Doe.
Elkins, originally from Virginia, traveled to Florida to visit relatives in early 1981. On Valentine’s Day, departed from her family’s residence in Miami, Florida, on February 14, 1981, stating she would be visiting her boyfriend, whom she did not identify by name. She was last seen walking from the home with a brown suitcase, which has yet to be recovered. The reason for her departure was allegedly after a disagreement with one of her family members. She possibly spent time in the city of Naples before arriving in Miami. Before the connection was made between her and the Jane Doe, investigators did announce that there was a possibility she had been murdered.
Elkins’ was located in a small canal, face down, in Moore Haven, Florida, near the county line separating Glades and Hendry Counties. It was estimated that she died about a day before, but decomposition had already rendered her unrecognizable.
Some reported seeing the then-unidentified female at the Uncle Joe’s Fish Camp or the Trucadero Bar in Clewiston, Florida around the time she was murdered. The remains were thought to belong to a woman between 25 and 45, until 2020.
In 2020, the sheriff’s office became aware of the disappearance of Nikki Elkins, 16, who ran away from home nearly a month before the victim’s body was found. Despite the weight difference, Elkins had a similar tattoo on one of her thumbs, although it is listed to have been on her right.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Nicki_Elkins
Robin Ann Green (c. 1957 – c. January 23, 1986) was a woman found dead in Kansas in 1986. While unidentified, she was known by the nickname “Miss Molly.”
Robin traveled with her new husband, Michael, from their residence in Los Angeles, California to Minnesota to visit Robin’s children for Christmas, who were living with Robin’s ex-husband. Robin was last seen on December 28, 1985, with her husband, Michael. She had left her children with their father and they never heard from her again.
According to her family, Michael was part of a drug investigation, and at one point, the couple’s California home was seized. Robin was not reported missing and she was declared deceased.
Michael died in 2007 and police have not ruled him out as a suspect.
Green’s body was discovered along Interstate 70 in January 1986. She had been beaten severely and thrown over a bridge, where she drowned in the water below. She was thought to have been of European descent based on her clothing.
In 2019, a theory came to light that she was possibly Anna Neeft who vanished in 1982 and was last seen in 1984. Dental records reportedly matched, however, Anna’s brother disagreed with this theory. DNA later disproved this.
Robin’s children were encouraged to submit their DNA to Minnesota authorities. Minnesota authorities submitted their DNA into a national database and it matched with “Miss Molly’s” DNA. Identification was confirmed through dental records.
Based on her case’s popularity in Salina, Robin’s family have decided to keep her remains buried in Salina, and they plan to create a proper headstone with her name.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Robin_Green
Wanda Deann Kirkum, previously known as “Valentine Doe”, was a young woman found murdered in Florida in 1991.
Wanda was found dead in a heavily wooded area off of mile marker 35 of US 1. She was completely naked, but clothing was found nearby. Wanda was sexually assaulted and beaten, but she was strangled to death with a bikini top.
Her clothing and absence of tan lines indicated she was not from Key West. A day before her discovery, she was seen walking northbound while hitchhiking on US 1 at about 6:30 PM. There was a sign that she did try to fight back from her attacker meaning she was trying to defend herself.
Wanda was identified in June 2020 using DNA comparison. She was never reported missing and her parents are now deceased. Her killer is suspected to be 31 year old Robert Lynn Bradley, who was living in Miami, Florida at the time of her murder. His semen and blood matched the samples found on Wanda. Bradley was discovered murdered in a ditch in Tarrant County, Texas in April, 1992 with gunshot wounds to his head. What his motive was to kill her and what Wanda was doing in Florida Keys is unknown at this time.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Wanda_Kirkum
Wayne Calvin Griffith (c. 1950 – Fall 1993) was a man found murdered in Florida in 1993, after he departed from his residence in Ashtabula, Ohio.
Griffith was reported missing on October 1, 1993 after leaving his home in Ashtabula, Ohio. It is believed he was intending to travel to Melbourne, Florida.
His skeletonized remains were discovered in a canal near Interstate 441 and State Route 7 in Royal Palm Beach, Florida on October 25, 1993. A tip was submitted regarding a link between Griffith’s case and the Royal Palm Beach John Doe in February 2019, and a CODIS match was made in May 2020.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Wayne_Griffith
Christie Denise York Witcher was a young woman found murdered in Kentucky in 1995.
Witcher was last seen leaving her Scottsville, Kentucky, residence on July 30, 1993, she said was going to work with the carnival that was in Allen County. She left behind at least two children. Her disappearance was reported to the Allen County Sheriff’s Office a year later.
On July 2, 1995, her skeletal remains were discovered by a pair of hunters in Nancy, Kentucky, in a wooded area near the Cumberland Parkway. The location was accessible to various highways. She had suffered a broken rib and her throat was slit.
The investigation into Witcher’s disappearance and death is still ongoing.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Christie_Witcher
https://www.twcrowfuneralhome.com/obituary/Christie-Witcher
Valerie Mack who also used the alias Melissa Taylor was a young woman whose torso was discovered in Manorville, New York in 2000. Her head, hands and right foot were later found near Gilgo Beach, New York in 2011. She is a confirmed victim of the Long Island Serial Killer (LISK)
She was identified through forensic genealogy in May 2020.
Valerie had been working as an escort in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the time of her disappearance. Valerie’s family members last saw her in the spring or summer of 2000 in Port Republic, New Jersey. She had a young son and was living with a boyfriend.
The nude, dismembered torso of her body was discovered in Manorville, New York on November 19th, 2000. Around 11 years later on April 4, 2011, her head, hands and right foot were found in a plastic bag in the vicinity of Ocean Parkway on Gilgo Beach. No personal items, jewelry, or clothing were found with the partially recovered remains.
True Crime Society 2 part podcast on LISK
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Valerie_Mack
John Clinton Doe or JCD is the name given to an unidentified teen found by hunters on November 26, 1995 in a remote wooded area along Turtle Creek in Bradford Township, Rock County, near Clinton, Wisconsin. The 97% decomposed skeleton was discovered fully clothed with very distinctive, age-appropriate clothing. He lay on his stomach, arms up over his head, with a plaid flannel jacket over his back and head. He had on a black Venom heavy metal concert T-shirt and city camo pants. One black 1994 Nike Air Bound basketball shoe lay beside the remains.
During the initial autopsy in 1995 the skeleton was examined by a Forensic Anthropologist and determined to be a Caucasian male, 17-20 years old who stood approximately 5’6” tall and weighed approximately 140 pounds. He had long, straight, collar-length brown hair.
It was estimated that the young male had been deceased for approximately one year, placing his time of death during the fall/winter of 1994. The official cause and manner of death are undetermined. Investigators theorize the teen passed out or went to sleep and was over-come by hypothermia.
Stable Isotope analysis conducted in 2014 on bone material revealed JCD had spent much of his growing up years in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, or Michigan, reinforcing beliefs he had been living in the area where he was found.
This is a case I followed and supported for a long time. While we don’t officially know his name, he is no longer is a Doe and I hope we hear more one day.
Donna Kay Griffin, Bushkill Jane Doe, also known to use the alias last names of Shelby and Linton, was a woman found deceased in Pennsylvania in 1987.
On Friday, October 23, 1987, the body of an unidentified woman was found along Route 33 in Bushkill. A PennDOT crew, who had been working on the southbound lanes, were backing up their equipment collecting traffic cones when they saw the body. The area she was found in is roughly 2 1/2 miles south of the Wind Gap exchange and about 2 miles north of the Belfast exchange. Her body was found some 10 to 20 feet from the shoulder of the road. The woman was found face down, with one arm underneath her and the other flung to her side.
She is believed to have died due to a heart attack, yet her face contained multiple lacerations from an undisclosed cause. She had died within a day of being found.
Disturbances in the grass showed that she had been dragged to the spot where she was found. It is believed she may have been at the site as early as Wednesday night, October 21st, since her clothing and hair were wet and the last recorded rainfall had been on Wednesday. Also noted was a sunburn pattern on the women’s neck and right arm that would indicate that she regularly spent time in the passenger side of a vehicle, possibly someone who frequently rode with truckers. It’s possible that she had suffered a heart attack and was dragged to the road and dumped by a truck driver when she was discovered deceased.
She was never reported missing.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Donna_Griffin
Elizabeth ‘Lisa’ Ann Roberts, known as Precious Doe while unidentified, was a young woman found murdered in Everett, Washington.
Lisa was reported as a runaway by her father to the Rosenburg Police Department on July 25, 1977. A few weeks after she ran away, she called home from Everett, Washington and asked her parents for money. At the time, they asked her to come home and she said she would think about it. Eventually, they sent the money to a bank in Everett, but the money was never picked up. It is believed Lisa was murdered on August 9, 1977, and her body was discovered five days later.
Lisa was picked up after hitchhiking by a man who was later convicted of her murder. The pair spent the day together, but she was murdered after denying the man sex.
She was tested by the DNA Doe Project, but her DNA was too degraded to work with, due to boiling of her bones in the past.
Margaret Press of the DNA Doe Project has expressed that another agency might try to extract sufficient DNA from the Jane Doe’s hair later and that the DNA Doe Project is no longer involved in Snohomish Jane Doe’s case.
She was identified in June 2020 as Elizabeth ‘Lisa’ Roberts from Roseburg, Oregon. Her case was one of the first ones solved by extracting DNA from rootless hair and was solved using forensic genealogy.
Detective Scharf contacted her family and made the sad notification. He learned that she went by “Lisa.” Lisa’s sister, Tonya, who was only 10 years old when Lisa ran away said, “I looked up to Lisa as my big sister, who would spend time with me and play with me downstairs. We had a really good bond because we were both adopted.”
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Lisa_Roberts
Anita Louise Piteau (March 9, 1942 – March 13, 1968) was a young woman found murdered in 1968. It is believed she may have been murdered after accepting a ride from her killer.
Few details are known about Anita’s disappearance, except that she came to Southern California to “make it into Hollywood”.
Her parents received her letters daily. When they stopped, her family hired a private investigator, but their efforts proved unsuccessful.
Anita’s body was found hours after she died. It is believed her murder resulted after her killer struck her in the face and proceeded to rape her. He then pulled her out of his vehicle and slit her throat, leaving her at the scene she was discovered. Anita died only five days after her 26th birthday.
Investigators received a break in 2011 regarding the identity, after a witness reported to authorities that the victim resembled an acquaintance she remembered as “Rosie.” The woman in question was from New York (having a thick accent characteristic of the area), with an “Italian” surname, and had a son with the nickname “John-John.” The witness elaborated to say that the woman worked at a bar in Long Beach, California.
At the scene, a cigarette butt was found, which may have been dropped by her killer. DNA was extracted, yet it never matched to profiles in the CODIS database.
Colleen Fitzpatrick, formerly of the DNA Doe Project, was asked to help track down the victim’s relatives using DNA. Within a week, Colleen found a relative in Maine. This relative then located his cousin’s obituary, which listed her siblings (including Anita Piteau) who hadn’t been seen in years.
Using DNA from Anita’s clothing, her killer was also identified as Johnny Chrisco, who died of throat cancer in 2015, at the age of 71. Little is known about Johnny except that he was in the army and arrested in Orange County in 1971. Before her identification, it was speculated that her murder was committed by an unspecified or unidentified serial killer.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Anita_Piteau
Melinda Joyce Holder was a young woman who was found deceased in northeast Florida after a fire at an abandoned residence.
Holder was last seen in Green Cove Springs, Florida on January 24, 1989. Her family did not report her missing until June 12 as she was known to go without contact from time to time.
On December 10 1989, the Clay County Fire and Rescue responded to a house fire on 404 Harrison Street in Green Cove Springs, Florida. The house had been abandoned for some time and had been frequented by transients and hard drug users.
Holder’s remains were discovered inside the house. According to the medical examiner, she had been dead for days prior to the house fire and it did not appear that she was murdered, as there was no evidence of antemortem trauma or disease.
Among her personal items, she was found wearing a navy blue jacket with red lining and “Riteway” patch on it, a cardigan sweater, knobby soled sneakers, and a buttoned shirt.
She also had carried keys with her: two Dexter house keys and two GM car keys that fit 1967, 1975, 1979, 1983, 1985, and 1986 model vehicles. Dexter was a brand of key that was known to be used for commercial washer and dryers.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Melinda_Holder
Thomas Alex Williams– Charleston County John Doe.
After hunting and researching for more than 17 months, the Charleston County Coroner’s Office has identified a man found in the Cooper River on Jan. 7, 2019.
His name is Thomas Alex Williams, a 24-year-old from James Island. The hunt for his identity consumed the lives of several coroners. Now, they feel they can finally close this chapter of his life — and theirs — and give some answers to his family.
The unusually long search to identify Williams came from the fact that friends and family members didn’t consider him missing. He traveled frequently, his family told coroners, and didn’t use social media. He rarely carried a cellphone; it wasn’t uncommon not to hear from him.Just a few months ago, the quest to identify his body was at a standstill.
In December, coroners told The Post and Courier it was possible the man was an immigrant or had stowed away on a ship. For over a year, all they knew was that he was a Black man between 25 and 35 who was wearing expensive clothing. His DNA and fingerprints weren’t a match in any database, and he had no unique scars or tattoos. With their usual methods of identification exhausted, the coroner’s office turned to the State Law Enforcement Division to make a full-color forensic sketch of him.
A friend of Williams recognized his clothing and the features of the sketch and a positive DNA match confirmed it was Williams.
Keith Edward Bamford was reported missing by his mother in 1996.
He was last seen leaving the Gateway Mental Health Facility on Michigan Street in Lake City on May 13, 1996 around 11:00 AM. Authorities searched for Bamford around the State Road 100 because that was the most direct route between the facility and Bamford’s family home. A man matching Bamford’s description was seen by a deputy around 1:00 PM on the State Road 100 near the County Road 245 intersection, but Bamford wasn’t found. Investigators sent photographs and a description of him to surrounding law enforcement agencies and received his DNA from relatives.
In February 2002, a hunter in Lulu, Florida found a partial human skull. Searches by Columbia County deputies and Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigators found additional remains. In January 2003, the C.A. Pound Human Identification Laboratory concluded the bones belonged to a Black woman between the ages of thirty and forty and there was no evidence of trauma on the bones. For the next sixteen years, the remains would be stored at the Medical Examiner’s Office in Jacksonville, Florida.
In early 2019, it was realized the remains were not sent to the University of Northern Texas Center for Human Identification. So the CCSO sent the remains to the laboratory, hoping it could resolve the case of a Black woman who disappeared in 1988. On June 2020, the lab stated in a report for the CCSO that the remains did belong to the same person, but they were of a man, not a woman. The report also confirmed that the remains belonged to Bamford. On July 16, 2020, the CCSO made an announcement of the identification over Facebook.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Keith_Bamford
Christy Lynn Floyd was a teenage girl whose dismembered remains were found in a dumpster in 1986. She may have died months prior, as the body may have been stored in a sealed container to slow decomposition. She was identified in August 2020 by Chesterfield detectives and Parabon NanoLabs.
Even after nearly three and a half decades, Kim Atkins never gave up hope of finding her sister.
Her search included putting her sister’s face on milk cartons and passing out flyers at truck stops, submitting her sister’s information to the TV show “America’s Most Wanted” and independently reaching out to forensic investigators. That search ended in March, though, when detectives with the Chesterfield County Police Department confirmed that the remains of her sister’s body had been found at Shoosmith Landfill off state Route 10 on Aug. 7, 1986.
Now law enforcement is working to figure out who killed Christy Lynn Floyd and placed her leg, foot and torso in a Richmond garbage dumpster 34 years ago.
More here- https://www.chesterfieldobserver.com/articles/investigators-identify-remains-of-1986-homicide-victim/
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Christy_Floyd
Rodney Peter Johnson was the man whose body was found floating in the lake in 1994- The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office announced Tuesday.
His remains went unidentified for more than two decades. Known as Lake Stickney John Doe
Johnson was last seen by family members sometime around late 1987 or early 1988 when he reportedly left on a camping trip. His body was pulled from the lake in June 1994, but investigators believe he’d been under water for several years.
Detectives concluded Johnson was 25 years old when he was shot in the head in 1987. His body likely was weighted down in the lake until it surfaced seven years later.
More info- https://www.q13fox.com/news/john-doe-homicide-victim-found-floating-in-lake-stickney-identified-after-26-years
The state of the remains resulted in difficulties ascertaining information such as age and race, leading to different findings and alternate facial reconstructions. An autopsy showed the man had been shot in the head.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Rodney_Johnson
Kenneth Wayne Watters (July 13, 1961 – 1991/1992) was a man found deceased in the Ohio River in May 1992. He had been reported missing by his family in December 1991. His cause of death is currently undetermined however his family suspects foul play.
He was identified in August 2020 after a DNA match in CODIS. His mother gave a sample after his body was exhumed. Detectives said there were only two items in the investigative file: a news article from 1997 and a previous order to exhume the body from 2012.
According to the sheriff’s department, a complete investigation of Watters’ cause and manner of death is being conducted by a forensic anthropologist.
Talking to the family- https://www.wave3.com/2020/09/02/family-louisville-man-identified-nearly-years-after-disappearance-finally-gets-closure/
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Watters
https://www.wwltv.com/article/news/local/kenneth-watters-louisville-indiana-ohio-river-body-discovered-identify/
Timothy Morgan– After more than 45 years, the body of a missing person and homicide victim has been identified.
According to a press release from the Uinta County Law Enforcement Services’ Facebook page, a body that was discovered in 1979 has now been identified as Timothy Eddy Morgan, who was reported as a missing person in 1974 when he failed to return to his uncle’s place…
…In April 1979, human remains were found about a mile and a half from where the vehicle had been previously located, just outside the initial foot search area.
With the assistance of the Wyoming State Crime Laboratory, the remains were transported to Cheyenne, Wyoming, where an autopsy was conducted. The remains were documented to be that of a young adult male; age, build and clothing all consistent with Timothy, however, a confirmed positive I.D. was unable to be made and the body was not able to be released to his family. The cause of death was listed to be from a gunshot wound and was listed as a homicide.
On January 31, 2017, investigators with the Uinta County Sheriff’s Office contacted the Wyoming State Crime Lab in regards to the unidentified body and were referred to the University of North Texas, who assisted with securing a DNA sample from the bones of the recovered body for comparison to any possible family members, to aid in a positive identification.
The work of several Uinta County Sheriff’s Office employees led to the location of a full blooded biological brother, who resided in Utah, and a half-sister, who resided in California, to Timothy Morgan. The siblings provided DNA samples for comparison to the sample established from the unidentified body at the University of North Texas, resulting in a relative match to the biological brother…
…This case still remains active and unsolved. The Uinta County Sheriff’s Office is requesting anyone with any information regarding Timothy, his disappearance and/or his death, to please call in, 307-783-1000.
Johannes Hubertus Kwist was a man who disappeared after leaving his job in a car belonging to his company. He was identified in 2020.
Johannes was last seen on July 4, 2004, when he left his job in a car belonging to his company. The car was later found near Lyon, France with a flat tire. It is unsure how he ended up in France.
Johannes’s Interpol profile matched the profile of remains found in Dunkirk, France. There is little information regarding Johannes’s death and discovery.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Johannes_Kwist
Kraig Patrick King (May 20, 1961 – April/May 1982) was a young man found murdered in Wisconsin in 1982.
Loggers discovered King’s skeletal remains along Highway 25. They first believed they had found a “pile of clothes,” until further inspection. The site was described to be on private land on the outskirts of a wooded area.
King had been stabbed at least three times in the upper abdomen, based on the cuts in his shirt and injuries to the bones in that region. The time of death was estimated to most likely be April or May 1982. Authorities could not determine whether the murder occurred at the scene or elsewhere.
It is unknown why King, a resident of Minnesota, would have been in the area at the time of his death. Police continue to investigate his case and have asked for additional information about the victim.
According to his parents, Kraig had suffered from mental illness, did not have a car and was carrying a couple thousand dollars when he was last seen.
He was identified by the DNA Doe Project.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Kraig_King
James L. Hamm (April 9, 1949 – c. 1984) was a male whose skull and other partial remains were found in a wooded area of Giddings, Texas on November 17, 1984. He was identified in October 2020.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/James_Hamm
Tamara Lee Tigard (April 18, 1959 – March or April 1980) previously known as “Lime Lady” was a young woman found murdered in 1980 in Oklahoma. She received her nickname from the quicklime poured over her body in an attempt to quicken decomposition, which had actually mummified her and preserved evidence.
Tamara was born in California in 1959 and later moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. She was a veteran of the United States Army. Her parents had passed away in the 2000’s and her sister passed away in 2010, without ever knowing what happened to their loved one.
In March 1980, Tamara went for a walk near her home in Las Vegas, Nevada and never returned home. She was reported missing, but her report was cleared due to a woman in Ohio using her identity. The woman has never been named as a suspect and her true identity is unknown.
Her unclothed body was recovered on the shore of the North Canadian River on April 18, 1980. She had been shot three times with a .45 caliber revolver. Following her death, the responsible party poured quicklime on the remains in an attempt to quicken decomposition, which ended up preserving the remains. She was discovered on what would have been her 21st birthday.
When she was shot, one of the bullets hit a dime, which had been drawn into her body, indicating she was clothed when murdered, as there was also clothing fibers found along with the dime. The shooter was facing the victim and moving toward her when they fired.
Her case was taken on by the DNA Doe Project. After her DNA was uploaded to GEDmatch, the DNA Doe Project found a suitable candidate within a day and a half. After obtaining dental records from the United States Army, the match was able to be confirmed. They were unable to confirm the match through DNA as all of her immediate relatives on the west coast were deceased.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Tamara_Tigard
William Ernest Thompson (April 15, 1935 – 1983/1984) was a man found deceased in Pensacola, Florida in January 1985. His case is being actively worked as a homicide.
He was identified in October 2020 after a relative read about the case and recognized the victim’s belt buckle with the hand-engraved initials “W.T.” Law enforcement verified his identity through DNA.
“The last time William Thompson made contact with his family was on Sept. 23, 1983,” sheriff’s office officials said. “He called his mother from an unknown location on Pensacola Beach.”
Despite the lack of contact after that day, Thompson’s family never filed a missing person report.
“This is another example of the never-ending quest for justice,”
Escambia County Chief Deputy Chip Simmons said.
“While we haven’t yet solved the homicide, it is a step forward and can give the family some closure until the case is solved.”
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/William_Ernest_Thompson
Shirley Mae Cassel
In the morning of Saturday, July 28, 2018, a child found a semi-decomposed leg from the knee down floating in Buena Vista Lake in Kern County, California. After extensive search of the area, no other body parts were located. A forensic anthropologist found no evidence of trauma to the leg and no evidence the leg was severed by traumatic means. Cause or manner of death could not be determined. And other than that the person from whom the leg came was female and relatively small, no other descriptive information (such as race, age, height, weight, etc.) could be gleaned by the anthropologist. Registry of DNA of the leg tissue with DOJ did not reveal the identity of the person belonging to the leg.
On October 15, 2020 the Kern County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) announced the identity of a partial leg and, recovered at a different time, the body of a 63-yer-old African American woman found in a submerged car in Buena Vista Lake, California as Shirley Mae Cassel. The DNA Doe Project (DDP) had been working on the case since February 2019 to identify the leg through genetic genealogy.
Cassel was 63 when she went missing from her residence in Santa Ana, California on August 21, 2017, according to the Kern County Sheriff’s Office. Cassel’s landlord reported her missing weeks later.
Ginger Lynn Bibb (May 7, 1958 – c. 2003) was a woman whose remains were discovered on April 21, 2004.
Ginger Bibb was born on May 7, 1958, possibly in Houston, Texas. She graduated from Perryton High School in Perryton, Texas, in May of 1976. She would live in numerous residences for the next 27 years, mostly in Texas, but also in Florida, and Arizona. The last known place she resided in was in Glendale, Arizona. After 2003, she was never heard from again.
From June 1999 to December 2001, records show Ginger had committed multiple criminal acts, She had run past a stop sign, had overdue licenses, and had even been arrested for marijuana and narcotics possession. Ginger failed to appear at most of her court appearances and arrest warrants were often issued for her, even in 2011. However, it appears that her record had stopped after December 2001, which wouldn’t make sense as she had a warrant out for her arrest in 2011, and it’s thought she lived until 2003.
The circumstances of her disappearance are unknown, but her skeletal remains were discovered inside a rolled-up carpet on the side of the road near 43rd Avenue and Baseline Road in Phoenix, Arizona in 2004. Not much is known about her death, but the police do believe that Ginger’s death was a homicide. It does not appear that she was reported missing. A $1000 reward is being offered to anyone who can help answer what exactly happened to Ginger.
She was identified by the DNA Doe Project.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Ginger_Bibb
Peggy Ann Elgo was a woman who disappeared at an unknown date in 1983. Her remains were discovered later that year, but they remained unidentified for nearly 37 years.
Elgo disappeared under unknown circumstances. Her remains were discovered on June 7, 1983 near State Route 89. The cause of her death was not disclosed, but her head was not recovered.
The body was also decomposed and mistakenly determined to belong to a black woman; she was actually of Native American descent. The victim was estimated to be between 20 and 25, at a height of 5’2. Only a partial amount of hair was recovered.
At the time of her discovery, she was dressed in athletic-style clothing, including brown suede shoes and white socks with red and yellow stripes at the top. No other articles of clothing were apparently recovered.
Elgo was previously speculated to be Phoenix Jane Doe, until DNA ruled out the match. Afterward, a match in the CODIS database confirmed she was the decedent found near State Route 89. Elgo is survived by her living son today.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Peggy_Elgo
Howard Wesley “Kip” Evans (March 25, 1955 – c. 1984) was a man found beaten to death in Florida in 1986.
Kip was last seen in Volusia County in June 1984. Not much information is known about his disappearance.
Kip’s family attempted to report him missing to the police but no missing persons report was ever filed. Kip was declared legally dead six years later.
On the afternoon of January 14, 1986, Kip’s remains were found by a man cutting palmetto trees in Bulow Creek State Park, in Volusia County, Florida. The remains were located in a dense woodland area off of Pumphouse Road, which was near Ormond Beach. The area in which he was found in was a known biker campground.
The remains were likely dumped or left at the location, and had been there for an undetermined amount of time, however, it was believed he had died between 1985-1986.
An examination of the remains revealed that the man had suffered blunt force trauma in a violent attack, and his death was ruled a homicide.
Numerous leads and tips were followed over the years, however, they all came to dead ends
DNA testing was performed on the remains in 2006 and 2011, and two reconstructions were made, but there were no matches to missing person reports.
In 2019, a Facebook post surfaced from Kip’s mother, regarding his disappearance, and there was striking similarities between the two. DNA testing proved that Kip was Volusia County John Doe.
Kip’s family are unaware of any connection he may have had to the Ku Klux Klan, which his personal items indicated he may have been a part of.
His murder remains unsolved and police are still looking for the individuals responsible.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Kip_Evans
Maurice Freeman Long (born March 13, 1964) was a male found deceased in Georgia intersection on March 11, 1985. The location he was discovered was near Interstate 75
A man’s body was discovered on a dirt road by a school bus driver on March 11, 1985. He had been shot to death in a homicide, but his cause of death was never released until he was identified.
On May 21, 2020, he was confirmed to have been identified. The identification was made by comparing fingerprints to a 21 year old man named Maurice Long, who was arrested in Atlanta, Georgia, for criminal trespassing in January 1985.
Tragically, he was found dead 2 days after his 21st birthday. It’s believed that someone shot Long in a car, and drove along the Interstate to find a place to dump his body. Despite his identification, it doesn’t seem that anyone has attempted to look for Long after he vanished.
Investigators think his parents are dead, but that some of his relatives are still alive. They also suspect that one of his parents may have been in the military.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Maurice_Long
Edgar Arroldo-Gonzalez was a teenager or young adult found deceased in an alleyway on June 18, 2004 in Los Angeles, California.
He died between 1-2 hours prior to being found it’s believed he may have hung himself. He was identified via fingerprints in late August 2020. Despite this, next of kin yet to be located.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Edgar_Arroldo
Because his family have not been found he has been reclassified as a Unclaimed Person
Warning! Post mortem photo at link- https://www.namus.gov/UnclaimedPersons/Case#/73112/details?nav
Tattoos-
All tattoos appear to be “homemade”- Fingers of Left Hand – symbols, Chest – stick figure, Right Back – star, Left Forearm – small star and a human figure, Right Arm – small cross.
Zakia Mansour was a Tunisian woman found stabbed in December 1994 in Germany. She was found to have drowned in her own blood.
Zakia was found lying in a water hole, on an agricultural road in Gifhorn, Germany. She had been stabbed to death and had drowned in her own blood.
With the help of Hanover Medical School, German authorities conducted an ancestry DNA test on the body and they were positively identified as 28 year old Zakia Mansour, missing from the North African country, Tunisia.
Zakia hadn’t been reported missing until 2019. Zakia’s daughter in law filed the report, and when notified of similarities between the two, Gifhorn police became certain that the victim was Zakia. However, identification was delayed until DNA from Zakia’s relative’s could be obtained.
Little is known about Zakia and her disappearance, other than she took a plane to Hanover, Germany on December 13, 1994. She had met up with a currently unidentified female, who is believed to have information that would help solve Zakia’s murder. The woman may have been from the Wolfsburg area. Zakia had been staying in Salzgitter-Lebenstedt, and knew multiple people in that and the Wolfsburg area. Zakia had been seen at a resturant in the Braunschweig area, and is believed to have died on December 23 or 24.
Police are asking Zakia’s friends in the area she was seen in to come forward.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Zakia_Mansour
Interview with police involved, in German https://www.rtl.de/cms/kripo-chef-juergen-schmidt-konnte-nur-einen-fall-vor-seiner-rente-nicht-loesen-4562128.html
Patricia Parker was a woman discovered along a roadside on September 28, 1981. Samuel Little confessed to her murder. He claimed to have met her in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
The woman’s nude, decomposing body was found in a wooded area, near Interstate 24 and State Highway 299, in Hooker, Georgia.
In 2018, Samuel Little confessed to 93 murders. Enough confessions were verified to establish him as the most prolific serial killer in the United States.
Little’s stated he met a woman at a bar on 9th Street (later renamed MLK Boulevard) in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He claimed to have strangled the woman after driving her to a secluded area in Georgia and then rolled her corpse down a hillside. Police inferred the slope was steep, based on Little’s observation of the long distance the body stayed in motion.
Police were able to connect this confession to this Jane Doe, located in Hooker, Georgia. Although Little said he met the woman in Tennessee, authorities have also stated she was possibly from northeastern Alabama or northwestern Georgia.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Patricia_Parker
“The Georgia Bureau of Investigation continued working on the case, even after it had been cold for decades. On March 19, 2019, GBI and the the Hamilton County District Attorney’s Cold Case Unit held a press conference to reveal a facial reconstruction of their Jane Doe. They asked for the public’s help identifying the woman, and Patricia Parker’s family came forward. The family offered DNA samples, which they used to compare to Jane Doe, leading to their definitive identification October 9, 2020, according to a GBI press release.”
Cheyenne Partridge was a young woman who was last seen on November 26, 2016. She was found deceased in a rural area near Maymont and was identified through DNA. Her death is still under investigation.
Cheyenne was last seen near 141 Avenue and 22 Street at 7:30 P.M. She may have also been seen at midnight, where she was taking a bus from the Jasper Place transit terminal to downtown. Before her disappearance, Cheyenne seemed upset and left her residence without a jacket or shoes.
Police said they located partial human remains in a remote rural area near Maymont, Sask. on July 24, 2018.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Cheyenne_Partridge
Phillip Peterson was a young man found deceased in the Little Muddy River in 1982. Foul play is not suspected in his death.
He was identified in August 2020 after a family member read an article about the case and recognized his tattoos. Law enforcement verified his identity through fingerprints.
He had never been reported missing as his family had thought he left on his own accord and didn’t want anything to do with them.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Phillip_Peterson
Larry Joe Porter (1952 – April/May 1997) was a male who was found in the Great Miami River near Reigart Road in Fairfield, Ohio in 1997. He was likely the victim of a hit and run, or may have been thrown from the impact of the accident. His official cause of death was undetermined.
He was identified in August 2020, with assistance from the DNA Doe Project.
Larry was last seen in the fall of 1996. He often frequented the area where his remains were located. He had lost touch of his family and is believed to have died in April or May of 1997.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Larry_Porter
Video at link-
https://www.fox19.com/2020/09/14/coroner-confirms-identity-john-doe/
Anita Wiley left her home in 1987, Detroit to head to the store. Her son Antonio, then 13, said goodbye as he also left to spend the night at a cousin’s house.
“She kissed me, told me she loves me and would see me the next day,” said Antonio Wiley.
When family members brought Antonio home, his mom was gone. They filed a missing person’s report.
“Every day I hoped that would be the day that she would come home,” he said. “Days turned into weeks, to months, to years.”
Antonio says it became real to him on his birthday, which came a short time after she went missing. He knew his mom would never miss his birthday.
“A lot of people had a lot of opinions about what happened, but it didn’t give me answers. So one day I decided to start over,” Antonio said.
A few years ago he filed a new missing person’s report. It was a long shot after so many years, but Detroit police collected his DNA. Then last year Sgt. Shannon Jones launched Operation United, a one-of-a-kind partnership between Detroit police and the FBI to exhume bodies of Jane Does and John Does and collect DNA.
“Once the results start coming back giving us names and identifications, then we can start bringing closure to families,” said Sgt. Jones at the time.
“It took 33 years, but the time has come,” Antonio said.
On Wednesday, Antonio brought roses to his mom’s grave. She’s the first woman identified through Operation United. It didn’t just unite him with her remains, it united his family, as they came together to celebrate answers and her memory this year.
More at link https://www.wxyz.com/news/man-describes-finding-mom-more-than-3-decades-after-she-went-missing-in-detroit
Lilly Ann Prendergast was located on October 27, 1981 on the west side of Interstate 5, 1.7 miles south of Freeport Boulevard and 2.5 miles south of Pocket Road in Dallas Texas. She was last seen after a disagreement with her parents occurred at their residence.
…In 2019, her brother decided to submit his DNA to the FBI and discovered he was a “one hundred percent” match to the remains.
He said he was relieved to find out more about what happened to his sister, but now is seeking justice for her.
“Who and why? Why would they do such a thing?” he told the outlet.
https://nypost.com/2020/10/29/skeleton-found-39-years-ago-identified-after-dna-match/
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Lilly_Prendergast
Dolores Wulff (November 4, 1933 – c. July 1979) was a woman who disappeared from Woodland, California in July 1979. In October 2020, it was announced Wulff was identified as a female whose torso and legs were discovered in Benicia, California one month after her disappearance. Her husband, now deceased, is a suspect in her death.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Dolores_Wulff
Keri Lyn Wyant was a woman whose partial remains were discovered in a ditch and cornfield in Condit Township, Illinois on May 1, 1995.
Although her cause of death could not be determined, the Champaign County Coroner has ruled her death a homicide. It is possible that she died from gunshot wounds or had been beaten. She was initially believed to be 19 to 41 years old.
Recent isotope testing indicated she originated from southeast Illinois, Tennessee, Missouri, or Kansas. She had not spent a significant amount of time in Illinois during the last five years of her life.
A Radford University article has stated serial killer Larry DeWayne Hall is a suspect in her case, even though she was found after his arrest for the kidnapping and murder of Jessica Roach. It is not clear if Hall still remains a suspect currently.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Keri_Wyant
Jerry David Holbert was reported missing in August 2003 after he failed to arrive in Ohio. It is believed he left his residence in Charleston, West Virginia and boarded a bus for Ohio. He may have been in the Cambridge area.
At the time he vanished, he was suffering from dementia and it is believed he became disoriented.
On August 11, his body was recovered from the Holston River in Kingsport, Tennessee. According to investigators, there were no signs of foul play and it is suspected his body floated to its discovery location from upstream.
It is unknown how he ended up in Tennessee, however, as the Holston River does not run through in West Virginia, it is unlikely he died there.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Jerry_Holbert
Gina Renee Hall was a woman who disappeared after she went out dancing with friends at a Marriott nightclub. She was identified in July 2020, after being discovered in 2016. Hall was missing for a total of forty years.
Stephen Epperly was charged with her murder after forensic evidence linked Hall to his cabin. Additional evidence was found in her abandoned vehicle and on the bank of the river it was disposed near. Although he was convicted, despite the absence of her body, he still denies responsibility. This was the first bodyless murder conviction in the state of Virginia.
Some of Gina’s remains were found in 2016, and they were identified in July 2020 using DNA comparison.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Gina_Hall
Matthew Cecelich– DNA testing in Texas has put a name to the human remains found in Erie’s Frontier Park during several searches in the spring and summer of 2019.
Erie County Coroner Lyell Cook said Wednesday that authorities have determined through DNA testing done at the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification that the remains first found in the park in April 2019 are those of Matthew Cecelich, 44, who once lived in Erie.
The cause and manner of Cecelich’s death is undetermined as there is no way to determine them based on the remains that were found, Cook said. He noted, however, that no signs of trauma were found on the bones that were recovered, including the skull.
Also unknown is when Cecelich might have died. Cook said members of Cecelich’s family said they had not seen him in years. (more at link)
Emma Grace Cole was a girl whose remains were discovered in Smyrna, Delaware in 2019. While unidentified, she was known by the nickname “Baby Elle”. She was identified in October 2020, and two persons of interest were arrested in connection to her case. The pair have been identified as a couple that formerly lived in Smyrna, Delaware.
The child’s remains were discovered in a softball field on the afternoon of September 13, 2019. A man walking his dog came across the remains, which were located directly across from a junior high school. There appeared to be evidence of a fire at the scene, although it has not specified if it was intentionally set or was related to the case.
Police stated they would withhold certain details about the case. They did, however, state that the child may have died earlier than the postmortem interval that was determined.
In October 2020, Brandon and Kristie Haas were arrested in connection with Emma’s death. Emma was three years old when she died. Police are not sure what Brandon’s relationship with Cole is, but court records from Indiana indicated Cole was Kristie Haas’s daughter.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Emma_Cole
Doris Regina Chavers (April 4, 1957 – 1989) was a woman found murdered in Florida after an anonymous individual reported the location of her remains. She was last seen alive at her mother’s home in 1989. Doris was reported missing a year later. She was mistakenly identified as Asian or Pacific Islander prior to identification.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Doris_Chavers
On Aug. 19, 1991, Volusia sheriff’s deputies responded to a report from two fishermen who found skeletal remains in a heavily wooded area off the 400 block of Enterprise Osteen Road in Osteen. Due to the condition of the remains, identification was not possible. At that time, DNA technology was not what it is today.
In September 1991, an autopsy determined that the remains were of a female, potentially in her 30s or 40s, and that she had died from violent trauma. Jane Doe 1991’s death was subsequently ruled a homicide…
..In August 2018, the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office conducted further investigation into the Chavers missing person case. Seminole sheriff’s detectives were able to track down Chavers’ biological daughter and obtain a familial DNA reference sample. That DNA sample was subsequently sent to UNTCHI.
https://www.forensicmag.com/563509-DNA-Identifies-Two-Cold-Case-Victims-in-Florida/
Winston Richard Morris had been travelling around the New England states at the time of his murder and had been released from Vermont State Prison in May, 1969. He was last seen in Vermont on July 25, 1969.
Morris’ body was discovered on August 7, 1969, in a water-filled pit on the exit side of I-93 in Salem, New Hampshire. He had been shot twice in the head, once in the neck and once in the torso.
Efforts to identify the victim came up empty as fingerprint searches through databases turned up negative results. Eventually, a description of the fingerprints were entered into the FBI’s Automated Biometric Identification System by hand by New Hampshire criminologist Timothy Jackson, and Morris came up as a match.
‘Old School’ Technique Helps Identify Victim in 50-Year-Old Killing
A longtime criminalist in New Hampshire manually plotted the details of one of the victim’s fingers to find a match.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Skip_Morris
Gary Albert Herbst was a male whose partial remains were discovered in a wooded area of Barron County, Wisconsin in 2017.
On December 3, 2017, police were dispatched to a local residence in Dallas, Wisconsin after the property owner found a human skull fragment on his driveway. The property owner claimed his dog found it and brought it back. Further searches of the surrounding woods yielded skeletal remains, which uncovered more skeletal remains.
He was identified by the DNA Doe Project
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Gary_Herbst
John Michael Carroll was best known by the nickname “Mike,” was a man who initially disappeared in 2005 after his roommate said he had not been home for days. Investigators noted Carroll left behind his belongings, including his wallet and money.
At the time, investigators conducted searches for the 58-year-old man around his residence and in Rexburg, where he would frequently ride his ATV. Then, in 2010 and 2011, deputies enlisted the help of K9 cadaver teams to search the area near Carroll’s home. They never found any sign of him and the case became inactive.
He was recovered deceased in the summer of 2013 when a cattle owner found human remains on land he had leased for his herd. He was identified in October 2020.
The cause of Carroll’s death remains under investigation.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Mike_Carroll
About the DNA testing used- https://www.eastidahonews.com/2020/10/investigators-announce-big-break-in-case-of-man-who-vanished-15-years-ago/
Sue Ann Huskey (1972 – 1989) was a teenager found murdered in Jarrell, Texas in 1989. While unidentified, she was nicknamed “Corona Girl” due to a shirt she wore.
Huskey was born in Sulphur Springs, Texas in 1972. She was the youngest out of 7 children. She was described by her sisters as a “happy, bubbly, spoiled little girl,” and she enjoyed swimming out to the lake, hanging out with friends, and playing with her nephews and nieces.
Her family members had also stated that Sue Ann’s father had passed away in 2002, not ever knowing what happened to his daughter. In addition her older brother passed away in 2014, also not ever knowing what happened to his sister.
Sue’s body was discovered in a pile of brush along Interstate 35. She had been shot several times. Despite her young age, she hadn’t received a reconstruction by the NCMEC, but sketches by Natalie Murry and Karen T. Taylor.
It’s unknown how or why Huskey made it to Jarrell, a possibility being she might have hitchhiked.
In April 2018, after unsuccessful attempts to identify the victim, Williamson County authorities Cold Case Unit contacted the DNA Doe Project. Early attempts to extract DNA from Huskey’s remains failed.
In July 2019, bone and tooth samples were sent to the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) in The Hague. ICMP was able to extract sufficient DNA to allow the DNA Doe Project to create a GEDMatch-compatible kit and to proceed with genetic genealogy analysis.
In December 2019, Kevin Lord, DNA Doe Project Team Leader for the Corona Girl case, notified WCSO of a tentative identification which was confirmed by a DNA sample provided by members of the victim’s family.
The Sheriff’s Department is now focusing their attention on solving Sue Ann’s murder.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Sue_Ann_Huskey
“Lefty” is the nickname given to a man whose remains where found in a desert in Wyoming on August 20, 1988 . He was murdered after being struck in the head with a blunt object.
He was identified in 2020 but his name has been withheld
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Lefty
“Harry” was a man whose burned skeletal remains were found on a farm in Charleston, Missouri in 1979.
He underwent testing by Southeast Missouri State University, Redgrave Research and Othram, Inc. and was identified months later.
The remains, found on a farm, were initially believed to be female until confirmed by DNA testing in 2016 disputed the initial examination of the remains. The remains were reportedly in a charred condition and severely fragmented, with small amounts of tissue present. It is believed the burning occurred after the deterioration of the body.
The cause of death was ruled as an accidental drowning.
Upon the renewed investigative efforts, some objects were placed in the container that held the remains, although authorities are unsure whether they are affiliated with the decedent.
He was identified in April 2020. He drowned in the Missouri River in 1979.
His death was known to his relatives and the authorities but his body was unable to be recovered. The body eventually ended up on a farm as a result of flooding and was burned most likely by accident as a result of farm activities. His family requested that his full name not be released but it was publicized that he went by the name Harry and was in his mid-thirties at the time of his death.
His remains have been sent to his family.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Harry_(1979)
Wanda Ann Herr (1957 – c. 1976) was a young woman who disappeared from Oregon in 1976. In October 2020, it was announced Herr was later identified as a female whose cranium was discovered in Government Camp, Oregon a decade later. Although she was 19 when she went missing, the only available photographs depict her at age 12 and 7.
Details about Herr’s life remain unclear. It is thought that she was last heard from while she was residing in a group home. She had not been officially reported missing until over forty years had passed, and while speculations exist that she may have run away multiple times before her final disappearance, nothing has been confirmed.
Her upper skull and some miscellaneous bones were discovered on August 2, 1986 near two roads off of Highway 26. Initially, authorities were unsure whether the remains belonged to a young woman or a man, until a re-examination almost twenty years later confirmed the bones were of a female between 17 and 30.
The postmortem interval for the remains was consistant with Herr’s date of last contact, yet most sources reported the then-unidentified female had died during either 1985 or 1986. At first, artist Joyce Nagy created a clay rendering, which was later replaced by a forensic sketch.
Herr was reportedly identified through genetic genealogy research by the Parabon NanoLabs. A DNA phenotype report from the remains was also created, which provided estimations of her hair and eye colors, complextion, and freckle distribution, which matched Herr’s description.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Wanda_Herr
Alisha Ann Heinrich (May 24, 1981 – December 3 or 4, 1982), formerly known as “Delta Dawn” was a young girl located deceased in the Escatawpa River in Moss Point, Mississippi in 1982. She was last seen with her mother, who remains a missing person and her mother’s male friend, now a suspect in her death. Her identification was announced on December 4, 2020, nearly 38 years after her murder.
It is believed that Heinrich was seen alive with a woman who was carrying a child while pacing over a bridge. The woman, presumably Heinrich’s mother or abductor, was causing a disturbance and refused help from those who offered.
Her body was found after a man had called police to report a woman’s body in the river, but the child’s body was found instead. The adult has never been located. The caller stated that the victim was wearing a blue plaid shirt, possibly flannel.
Heinrich had been alive when she entered the water, as she inhaled water before dying. An apparent attempt to smother her had taken place beforehand. It is unknown why she had been disposed of in the water.
Another victim, the Jackson County John Doe was found after an additional search. He was not likely related to this case, as he had been shot and was deceased for a significant amount of time before.
Jackson County John Doe- https://www.missingkids.org/poster/NCMU/1219914/1/screen
Gwendolyn, Alisha’s mother, is still a missing person- https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/73713
They were last seen around Thanksgiving 1982, when they left their Joplin home with Clemons’ boyfriend.
Clemons said she wanted to start a new life in Florida, Jackson County Sheriff Mike Ezell said Friday. Neither she nor Alisha was seen again by family.
Clemons’ boyfriend, whose name was not made public, eventually returned to Missouri without them. The man, who has since died, is considered a suspect in the baby’s death, Ezell said.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Alisha_Heinrich
https://www.kiro7.com/news/trending/toddler-found-dead-river-mississippi-identified-by-dna-after-38-years-authorities-say/QC5AZHPIPRC7VNRT5LGYNTFUWU/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Alisha_Heinrich
Cheryl Pyne disappeared in August 2004, and although her body was not found, a man was convicted of manslaughter in her death in 2009.
Welner said her family had “moved on” and become resigned to never knowing where her body was.
Unbeknownst to them, her remains were actually discovered in Saint John in 2012. But they weren’t identified until recently.
RCMP spokesperson Const. Hans Ouellette said new developments in DNA technology allowed samples collected from a family member to be used to match a sample in the National Missing Persons DNA Program.
That’s not the only mystery that remains for Welner’s family. They’re still wondering who killed their mother less than a year after Pyne’s murder.
Kathryn Pyne-Welner was also the victim of a homicide. The 45-year-old Moncton woman last seen alive on the evening of May 12, 2005 on Lutz Street in Moncton. Her naked body was discovered on May 17, 2005 under an ATV bridge at the head of the Shediac River in Stilesville. Her case has never been solved and police continue to seek information about her death. Ouellette said the mother and daughter homicides are not related.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/remains-identified-as-moncton-murder-victim-1.5844340
“Baby Boy Horry” is the nickname given to an infant found deceased near Conway, South Carolina. The child’s mother was identified in March 2020 and has been charged with his murder following her arrest.
Utility workers found the infant’s body was found on December 4, 2008, in Horry County, South Carolina, near Conway. The location was in a wooded area off State Highway 544. He was wrapped in a blanket, placed in a Bath and Body Works tote bag, and then into a box. He likely lived between hours and a day after birth; the cause of death was exposure to the cold. He was later buried at a local cemetery, where services were held annually by the local coroner’s office.
In 2018, a woman from North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina was theorized to be the child’s mother, after she was charged with disposing of her two infants’ bodies in 2017 and 2018. DNA eventually ruled her out.
The child’s case was submitted for genetic genealogy. By March 2, 2020, his parents were conclusively identified through DNA evidence. His mother, Jennifer Sahr, had since moved to Pensacola, Florida and started a family with her husband (who is implied to not have been this infant’s father). At the time of his birth, Sahr was approximately 21 and working toward a degree at a nearby university, where she was recognized for academic honors. Hours after her arrest warrant was issued, she hired a lawyer and drove to South Carolina to self-surrender.
Had she provided shelter and nutritional care, he would not have died, which resulted in a murder charge. There was also a law in place allowing mothers to surrender infants legally at designated locations. A facility of this kind was miles away.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Baby_Boy_Horry
“Baby Eve” was an infant discovered in a dumpster in Calgary, Alberta on Christmas Eve in 2017. In January 2020, with assistance from the American-based company Parabon, the newborn’s mother was identified through DNA as Nina Albright.
The infant’s body was located in a dumpster in a parking lot at 11:30 PM. Police initially believed she had been at the scene between between a half hour and 7.5 hours. It was unclear how the baby, later known as “Baby Eve” had died, as no injuries were apparent. There was a possibility that she had been born alive and died from exposure. Police were initially unsuccessful with obtaining information after canvassing the area, and they did question whether the mother was local to the area. Nearly 100 tips were submitted but did not yield results.
After the body was autopsied, it was determined that Baby Eve was born alive on the day she was discovered and had no breathing abnormalities. The manner of death was undetermined, so investigators declined to label the infant’s mother beyond being a person of interest. At this point of their investigation, there was no evidence that she had specifically disposed of the body. It could not be verified whether Baby Eve was “abandoned alive.”
In February 2018, the Parabon Nanolabs released results of phenotype testing on the mother of Baby Eve, which were submitted in hopes to resolve the case. The phenotype results suggested Baby Eve’s mother was of European and Indigenous descent, with a light complexion, green or hazel eyes, few freckles, and dark hair. An accompanying composite image was developed, depicting Albright at ages of 18, 25, and 35.
DNA identified Baby Eve’s mother as Nina Albright, who was 21 at the time of her arrest. Security footage also provided sufficient evidence to support this finding. Albright was observed, with a male she was believed to have been dating, around the time the infant was born buying unspecified items associated with post-delivery care. The father of the baby had not been identified at the time of Albright’s arrest in late January 2020.
Subsequently, she was charged for the unlawful disposal of a body, as well as failure to provide proper medical attention to her newborn daughter.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Baby_Eve
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-police-baby-death-1.5438347
“Baby Michael” was a newborn infant found murdered in 1999. He had been severely beaten prior to being deposited alongside a road.
Twelve days before the 21st anniversary of his death, his mother was identified as Deborah Riddle O’Conner and was subsequently charged with his murder.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Baby_Michael
Lucas County John Doe (2017)
Two babies were found wrapped up in blankets under the dashboard of two separate cars. Baby Doe #1 which was a boy was discovered on Vaness Drive in May 2017.
In November 2019, the Toledo Police Department and the Cold Case Investigative Unit at the Lucas County Prosecutors Office submitted DNA samples to AdvanceDNA which is a genetic genealogy firm. The firm used ancestry databases to confirm the infant was genetically related to a person who lived on Vaness Drive and was a blood relative to Jacob Cisneros, Jenna’s husband. The database also revealed that Jenna Cisneros was likely the mother of the child.
The couple was arrested after DNA evidence confirmed Jenna and Jacob Cisneros were the biological parents of Baby Doe. It was during this investigation that detectives discovered the mummified body of Baby Doe #2, a girl, located in a car registered to Jacob Cisneros.
The babies’ cause of death couldn’t be determined.
During a search of the Cisneros mobile home, detectives found bedding matching the bedding that Baby Doe #2 was wrapped in inside Jacob’s vehicle.
Detectives also believe Jenna gave birth to the baby inside her home.
There were no birth records for either children.
The Toledo Police Department Investigative Services Division used the DNA from a distant cousin, who voluntarily uploaded their DNA to an online database, to solve the a case that started on May 11, 2017.
https://nbc24.com/news/local/police-match-toledo-couples-dna-to-abandoned-baby-who-died-in-2017
During his statement in court Frank Spryszak, a prosecutor for Lucas County, said if the case had gone to trial, the state would’ve proven that Jenna Cisneros carried both babies to full term, did not engage in prenatal care, and did not take any steps to ensure the health and safety of the babies when they were born. The lack and duty of care resulted in the death of each child.
In addition, Spryszak said Jenna Cisneros hid both babies bodies to evade law enforcement and when confronted, she lied about the pregnancies and giving birth to the children.
Jenna Cisneros, 34, was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter, endangering children, tampering with evidence, and obstruction of justice. As part of her plea, the two endangering children charges merged with the two involuntary manslaughter charges, which means she was sentenced on the involuntary manslaughter charges, she will spend 25 years in prison
https://www.wtol.com/article/news/crime/toledo-mom-pleads-no-contest-childrens-car-deaths/
Mr. Cisneros is out-of-custody on electronic monitoring as his case continues.
Phoenix Netts is a formerly unidentified woman whose body was found hidden in two suitcases in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, near the England–Wales border in May 2020
A 27-year-old woman from Birmingham appeared before Cheltenham Magistrates’ Court on 19 May 2020 and was charged with killing the woman between 14 April and 12 May 2020 at her home in Birmingham. She was remanded to appear in Gloucester Crown Court on 19 May 2020. A 38-year-old man from Wolverhampton was charged with assisting an offender between 25 April and 12 May 2020 and was also remanded to appear before Gloucester Crown Court on 19 May 2020.
Both were refused bail when they appeared before magistrates in Cheltenham via video-link
The judge set a provisional date of April 26 2021 for the trial, which is expected to last up to two weeks.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Phoenix_Netts
See more about that case in our blog here-
Mark was ID’d in 2019 but it was not made public until this year-
Mark Lawrence Ashland (c. 1954 – October 9, 1984) was a man who disappeared from Seattle in 1981. Three years after his last contact with family, he hanged himself in a wooded area in Carkeek Park,. Fingerprint comparison led to his identification in the fall of 2019.
Ashland, originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, moved to Washington five years before he disappeared. He generally took jobs involving driving. He had not contacted his family since September 4, 1981, despite their efforts to locate him. He was 27 at the time he was last seen.
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Mark_Ashland
And probably the most anticipated of the year- “Mostly Harmless”–
Two cases solved of short term Does-
David Graham– https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/David_Graham
King County John Doe– https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/King_County_John_Doe_(March_2020)
Historic army grave IDs-
Groups working on these cases for you to support in 2021 and beyond-
https://www.facebook.com/DNADoeProject/
https://www.facebook.com/transdoetaskforce
https://www.facebook.com/redgraveresearch
https://www.facebook.com/groups/WhoAreYouDoe
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Unidentified_Wiki
Great long read article from Wired-
DNA detectives are using new tools to solve decades-old cold cases
Other Doe cases we have covered-
Does that got their names back 2019 can be read here
Join our groups/Socials-
True Crime Society
Death After Dark
Instagram
This blog was published 23rd December 2020 and subject to updates