ME ME - Portland, Fore River, AsianFem 30-50, UP15135, tattooed brows, $500, 'Bride' sweatshirt, May'15

[Alleykins]

Thanks. I wasn't aware of any in the area, but since I'm not a casino-type person, that doesn't mean much.

I've only been to the Bangor casino two or three times. It's nothing like Vegas, LOL. Not even close.
Some major cruise lines with casinos have cruises from New York and Boston to NS and other parts of eastern Canada, too. Norwegian stops in Portland, for example. However, I wasn't able to find if any of them were running in May. I think investigators may have thought of this angle, though. I will have to keep checking around.

 

[Beekarina]

You could be at Foxwoods in a few hours.

 

[carbuff]

You could be at Foxwoods in a few hours.

Yeah, and several companies run buses from Portland (and other major cities) to Foxwoods/Mohegan Sun.

 

[Melt71]

You would hope that eventually one of the biggies like GED Match would see the potential in working on an agreement to allow uploads from the Chinese consumer DNA companies. I saw a recent TV report that said the demand for genealogical testing is growing massively in China.

 

[Susikatze]

I believe she was Chinese.
Her gedmatch estimate suggests Japanese first, but id take it with a grain of salt and after that, many different Chinese ethnicities, which may be closest imho.

 

[Susikatze]

Has the Chinese expat community been asked?

 

[Alleykins]

Yeah, and several companies run buses from Portland (and other major cities) to Foxwoods/Mohegan Sun.

I took a bus trip to Foxwoods with some coworkers, and we stopped in Portland on the way and picked up a couple of folks. Was like a 5 hour long trip from my neck of the woods.
Based on the items found with her, it sounds like she was either with a group/at a group event or was supposed to meet up with a group and go to some sort of event. If that be the case, I'm surprised no one she was supposed to be with missed her being there, especially if she were the bride (she wore a white zip up sweatshirt with "Bride" in white rhinestones on the back). And if she were the bride to be, why did no one in the wedding party or her family think it odd when she didn't show up?

 

[Melt71]

Has the Chinese expat community been asked?

No idea about the expat community in the US but there are quite a few big MP sites in China - however one needs to be able to write Mandarin to post on them.

 

[Susikatze]

The Bride hoodie does nit mean so much. She could have gotten it years ago when she married and continued to wear it. It was expensive stuff. She also may have gotten it as a hand me down from a relative or friend. She may not even have been able to read English and just wore it because she liked it. We occasionally wear clothing with foreign characters and we are not always careful to figure out what exactly they mean.
She wore nice, clean and expensive clothing and nice jewelry. She was not a transient but someone who had access to some funds.

I took a bus trip to Foxwoods with some coworkers, and we stopped in Portland on the way and picked up a couple of folks. Was like a 5 hour long trip from my neck of the woods.
Based on the items found with her, it sounds like she was either with a group/at a group event or was supposed to meet up with a group and go to some sort of event. If that be the case, I'm surprised no one she was supposed to be with missed her being there, especially if she were the bride (she wore a white zip up sweatshirt with "Bride" in white rhinestones on the back). And if she were the bride to be, why did no one in the wedding party or her family think it odd when she didn't show up?

 

[Alleykins]

The Bride hoodie does nit mean so much. She could have gotten it years ago when she married and continued to wear it. It was expensive stuff. She also may have gotten it as a hand me down from a relative or friend. She may not even have been able to read English and just wore it because she liked it. We occasionally wear clothing with foreign characters and we are not always careful to figure out what exactly they mean.
She wore nice, clean and expensive clothing and nice jewelry. She was not a transient but someone who had access to some funds.

Perhaps, but it can't be discounted that she could have been part of some sort of celebration, either a bachelorette party or bridal shower. Plus, there is the large amount of cash she had on her. Do we know what denominations the bills were in? I can't remember if that was ever disclosed.

 

[djanga]

According to the new article, she could be a recent immigrant from Korea.

Genealogy experts try to identify woman found dead in Portland in 2015

"They now believe she has extended family in the tri-state area, likely New York, and she might have traveled to Maine.

“From the first couple of months in, we started to get a pretty good indication that this person may have been a recent immigrant from Korea," Chan said."

Genealogy experts try to identify woman found dead in Portland in 2015

by WGME

Wednesday, May 19th 2021



A group of genealogy experts is trying to find the identity of a woman who was found dead in a Portland park in 2015. (WGME)

PORTLAND (WGME) – A group of genealogy experts is trying to find the identity of a woman who was found dead in a Portland park in 2015.
The DNA Doe Project has been able to solve dozens of John and Jane Doe cases nationwide.

On May 22, 2015, someone passing by spotted a body in the water along the Eastern Promenade Trail.

"She was very well dressed,” Chief Medical Examiner’s Office Administrator Lindsey Chasteen said. “She had on her jewelry, which was nice jewelry. She has fairly extensive and expensive dental work."
The woman was between 30 and 50 years old with tattooed eyebrows and a scar like she had a cesarean section. Her death appeared to be a suicide.

“What we know about her at this point is not very much,” Chasteen said. “Which is unfortunate."

She had no ID and there were no hits from FBI fingerprint or DNA databases. So in 2018, they brought in the DNA Doe Project.
"We said, ‘Well yeah. Why not? Nothing can hurt at this point,’" Chasteen said.

"It just really grabbed me and it felt like a purpose that I could apply my skills to," DNA Doe Project Volunteer Elias Chan said.

Thousands of miles away in Seattle, Chan has been working on the case. They uploaded the woman's DNA data to a website that could help them find her relatives using results from genetic test kits.

"If you feel like you want to match with other individuals, you can upload it to GEDmatch and it will allow for cross-company matching," Chan said.

They now believe she has extended family in the tri-state area, likely New York, and she might have traveled to Maine.

“From the first couple of months in, we started to get a pretty good indication that this person may have been a recent immigrant from Korea," Chan said.

With every lead, they can narrow down the search for Jane Doe's name and get answers for her loved ones.

“I’m hopeful that we can make this identification,” Chasteen said. “We can get her reunited with her family."

If anyone thinks they recognize the woman, they should contact the Portland Police Department.

A group of genealogy experts is trying to find the identity of a woman who was found dead in a Portland park in 2015. (NAMUS)

There's another way you can help. If you've used one of those DNA test kits, upload your information to websites like GEDmatch.

That can help them find more connections for this case and others.

 

[djanga]

I believe she was Chinese.
Her gedmatch estimate suggests Japanese first, but id take it with a grain of salt and after that, many different Chinese ethnicities, which may be closest imho.

Honestly, looking at her admixture and O4 I would think she is Chinese too, but I don't know how Korean admixtures look like...
I have checked missing Korean women from New York and did not find any who disappeared around this time. I also wonder if she was a recent immigrant if she needed to give her fingerprints for USA visa

 

[Susikatze]

Honestly, looking at her admixture and O4 I would think she is Chinese too, but I don't know how Korean admixtures look like...
I have checked missing Korean women from New York and did not find any who disappeared around this time. I also wonder if she was a recent immigrant if she needed to give her fingerprints for USA visa

Agree, i am certain they do not have a category for Koreans in Gedmatch. The Korean theory is substantial, imho.

 

[ntt1]

I wonder if there's a possibility she may have also been adopted as an infant/orphan from Korea and raised in the US. In that case it would likely make things extremely difficult.

 

[djanga]

I wonder if there's a possibility she may have also been adopted as an infant/orphan from Korea and raised in the US. In that case it would likely make things extremely difficult.

According to the article she has an extended family in New York, so I don’t think she is an adoptee.

 

[MarziPanda]

According to the article she has an extended family in New York, so I don’t think she is an adoptee.

I think the article means that she has distant genetic relatives in New York. That could be the case whether she's adopted or not. A lot of people around the world will have distant relatives in the US. Whether she was adopted or was a recent immigrant wouldn't have any influence on whether she has distant family in the US or not. I saw a programme here on British TV that tried to trace a foundling's family. She was found abandoned in Hong Kong and was adopted in the UK. She didn't have any relatives in the DNA databases close enough to trace her birth parents, but they did get her together with a bunch of distant cousins. Most of them lived in the UK, and a few lived in the US.

But I don't think she's an adoptee, either. Most people adopted from Korea are younger than this doe is predicted to be, though not all.

 

[carbuff]

According to the new article, she could be a recent immigrant from Korea.
...
"She was very well dressed,” Chief Medical Examiner’s Office Administrator Lindsey Chasteen said. “She had on her jewelry, which was nice jewelry. She has fairly extensive and expensive dental work."
The woman was between 30 and 50 years old with tattooed eyebrows and a scar like she had a cesarean section. Her death appeared to be a suicide.

...

snipped by me

Going out on a limb here, but I wonder if the "bride" sweatshirt might mean she was recently widowed or divorced?

 

[John/Jane Doe]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[Via Marple]

Just looking into the "Bride" sweatshirt again... And found it looks very much like a Victoria Secret hoodie sweatshirt, with very similar looking rhinestone lettering, and very similar zip pull ring.

The Namus photo and description doesn't show a hood, or collar branding, but those may be intentionally hidden?

Victoria's Secret I Do White Bride Wedding Zip Up Satin Hoodie Jacket Size S | eBay
It seems quite easily available second hand. I guess it is pretty useless to keep.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[Beekarina]

Good find. Looks like they had a line of "I Do" items at one point. The hoodie could have been picked up in an outlet too. Maine has loads of outlets.