The first case we are going to discuss is the case of two does – a male and a female whose remains were found in 2020 in New Mexico.
These does are known as Pinos Altos John and Jane Doe.
On June 25, 2020, there was a forest fire in Pinos Altos, NM. The US Forest service had been working to clear brush in the nearby Gila National Forest in an effort to stop the fire from spreading further.
As some background into the Gila Forest, it has over three million acres of forested hills, majestic mountains, and range land. It is probably best known for its wilderness areas, in particular the Gila Wilderness – the first wilderness in the United States.
As the Forestry fireman employees were working, they came across human skeletal remains. Police and a medical examiner were called to the scene which was near the Ben Lilly Monument.
‘Benjamin Vernon Lilly or Ben Lilly (1856 – December 17, 1936), nicknamed Ol’ Lilly, was a notorious big game hunter, houndsman and mountain man of the late American Old West. He remains famous for hunting down large numbers of grizzly, cougars and black bears. “Ben” was the scourage of mountain lions and bears, even killing one rogue black bear with his Bowie knife.’
An article was released by the SC Daily Press in July.
Human remains were found in the Gila National Forest near the Ben Lilly Monument on June 24, according to a report filed by the Grant County Sheriff’s Office.
Authorities are not releasing any identifying information related to the discovery, which was reported by U.S. Forest Service personnel.
The remains were found “in the Pinos Altos area,” according to Grant County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Melvin Castillo, who shared a report with the Daily Press on Monday.
“The human remains were in rough terrain,” approximately a mile from N.M 15 near Ben Lilly, according to the report. It indicates that three hotshot fire crew members out of California led deputies to the body on June 25, along with Mike Barragree from the Office of the Medical Investigator.
Detectives recovered a Smith & Wesson revolver from the scene, but were unable to read the weapon’s serial number due to rust.
“Human bones were scattered all over,” the report added.
“Unfortunately, I have nothing to add at this time, other than our Criminal Investigation Division is working to identify the remains, and the case remains open,” Castillo told the Daily Press.
After the medical examiner investigated the remains, it was discovered that the bones belonged to two people – a male and a female.
The male is said to have been Black and was aged between 30-70 years of age.
There is even less info given for the deceased woman. She was estimated to be between 26-53 but more likely below the age of 50. No info has been given about her ethnicity or physical characteristics.
Some belongings were found along with the remains:
- A green backpack.
- A destroyed matchbox with matches in it.
- A cane that is thought to have been made out of wood.
- Two watches.
- One pair of binoculars.
- A pocket knife.
- A pen.
- A pair of glasses in a leather case.
- A blister pack for some pills with two pills missing.
- A small figurine/earring of a lizard.
- A smoking pipe.
- A walmart receipt was found in the backpack with a date of 5 August 2015.
- Female underwear and male clothing, as well as white/pink athletic shoes.
A notebook was also found and authorities said that it contained ‘suicide notes’, but the contents have never been made public. A loaded Smith & Wesson .357 was also found but the serial number was ineligible due to rust.
While researching this case, we came across some comments on Reddit with a suggestion as to the ID of these does.
Raquel and her boyfriend, Abraham Jimenez (MP #28680), were last seen in Hagerman, NM on 04/19/2015. The last known person to have contact with Racquel was her son on 04/19/2015 at their home. He reported Raquel missing about one week later.
Abraham and Raquel lived in the country outside of Roswell, NM but her van was found abandoned about one mile from their home. When it was located, it was in working order. The couple had a number of animals that were left without food or water. Law enforcement has not found any evidence of foul play but say the disappearance is suspicious. (Information retrieved from NamUs.gov)
Google maps says Roswell is around 300 miles/5 hours drive from where the remains were found.
There are no rule outs on NAMUS for any testing between Raquel and Abraham and the remains that were found.
The next Doe case is one that we have covered a lot on our social media as it’s fairly recent.
The skeletal remains of a woman were found in Wadesboro, NC in 2022. Her cause of death is currently unknown. Before her body was found, she was apparently seen on a trail camera.
This info about the woman is from NAMUS:
On 8/22/2021, a white female was observed on a trail camera set up in the area for hunters. Still photographs are attached. In February 2022, near where the remains were discovered, a backpack was found by rabbit hunters who removed an undisclosed amount of cash from it and left the backpack in the woods. It was not able to be located after the remains were found.
In January 2024, we posted the trail cam pics of this doe on our social media. Many people thought that the woman resembled April Reid, who has been missing since 2021.
Sgt. Stella January said the Lenoir Police Department received around 10 calls and multiple Facebook messages on Thursday after the crime podcast “True Crime Society” posted pictures of a woman spotted on a hunter’s trail camera near where the body was found in Wadesboro. Commenters said the woman in the photos resembled Reid.
Sgt, January asked NamUs to run a dental comparison on the body to prove that the unidentified woman was not Reid. The dental records were not a match.
In a recent article from the Anson Record, we learned some more information.
“We cannot confirm or deny that foul play was involved but I can tell you we are treating this as a homicide,” said Detective Brian Tice.
According to the Detective, it is currently unknown if the skeleton found belongs to a man or woman. Information such as a clear cause of death, hair color of the deceased, height, or race, cannot be determined from evidence found at the scene. The only confirmed evidence found was a bra, black in color, and material that may be consistent with a pair of leggings. Tice added, “You know in this day and age clothing is not a determining factor when assigning gender.”
The detective confirmed that the remains were relatively intact and most of the bones were found near to each other.
Detective Tice mentioned that, “No, no large walking stick was found located near the body or during widened perimeter searches of the area.”
When asked how confident investigators are the woman appearing on the trail camera photos is the deceased, Tice answered, “We really don’t know. We cannot say with 100% certainty.”
This is all very weird as it goes against what is stated on NAMUS.
Widely connected to the case is a report of rabbit hunters in the area coming across a backpack near the site of the remains and removing money from it before alerting authorities to its existence. Tice is quick to share this is a mistake, saying he is, “not sure how this information was leaked, it is not an accurate account. There was no large sum of money found… no wallet or identification.” While confirming that a backpack was indeed found, he adds that he is “not sure if it is related.”
Many people have speculated that the remains may belong to Amber Rae Johnson.
Amber Rae Johnston was last seen on Thursday, August 19, 2021 in Bullhead City, Arizona. Both of her ears are pierced. Amber has a tattoo in black ink on the inside of her wrist and a tattoo of a flower on the inside of her ankle.
On the day of her disappearance, Amber’s boyfriend left to go to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Amber was suppose to take a bus to Myrtle Beach on August 16. In her last Facebook post, on August 19, Amber was on live video in the bus. She has never been seen or heard from again.
Amber’s food stamp card was used by another woman after her disappearance. When questioned, the woman stated that Amber’s boyfriend had sold her the card.
In the months prior to her disappearance, Amber had been using drugs and acting paranoid. It remains unclear if Amber ever arrived in Myrtle Beach and who was the last person to see her. Circumstances surrounding her disappearance remain unknown.
It appears that Amber’s DNA and dentals are being compared to this doe.
This is a recent update from the Justice for Amber Rae Johnston FB page.
SOURCE LIST
https://uncovered.com/cases/raquel-rodriguez
https://www.namus.gov/UnidentifiedPersons/Case#/90754/details?nav
https://www.namus.gov/UnidentifiedPersons/Case#/91154/details
https://www.scdailypress.com/2020/07/21/human-remains-found-near-p-a