TX TX - Austin, UnkFem 40-55, UP72619, surg clips in breast, clothes/shoes, Apr'20

[LastResponder]

The decomposing remains of an adult woman were found in Austin, TX, in April 2020. There has been no press release unfortunately. She was measured to be 5'2", and though she weighed 89lbs, this likely does not represent her weight in life. However, she was likely thin as she was wearing small-sized clothing:

Pink Express camisole, size XS
Hollister jeans, size 0S, 24x31
Adidas sneakers, men's size 7.5

Ancestry was not estimated scientifically, though she may have been White based on hair texture. Age was not formally estimated either but she was likely at least 30 years old.

More info + link to NamUs profile here: 1620UFTX

 

[YaYa_521]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
NamUs #UP72619 Female, Uncertain
Date Body Found April 12, 2020
Location Found Austin, Texas
Estimated Age Range--
Estimated Age Group Adult
ME/C Case Number ME 20-02098
Estimated Year of Death 2020
Estimated PMI--
Inventory of Remains--
Condition of Remains Not recognizable - Decomposing/putrefaction
Height 5' 2"(62 inches) , Measured
Weight Cannot Estimate
Hair Color Brown
Eye Color Unknown
Clothing -
Express brand top (pink), size XS; Hollister Boot Cut brand Jeans, size 0S (zero short) Waist 24, Length 31; Addidas Adult Male, size 7 1/2

Circumstances of Recovery - The decedent is an individual of unknown age and race, whose remains were located in a wooded area on 4/12/20. Just prior to 1445hrs, a resident of the nearby apartment complex was walking his dog along the trails in a wooded area when his dog began to walk off the trail down a decline in the trees and discovered the decedent. 911 was called.

 

[YaYa_521]

The decomposing remains of an adult woman were found in Austin, TX, in April 2020. There has been no press release unfortunately. She was measured to be 5'2", and though she weighed 89lbs, this likely does not represent her weight in life. However, she was likely thin as she was wearing small-sized clothing:

Pink Express camisole, size XS
Hollister jeans, size 0S, 24x31
Adidas sneakers, men's size 7.5

Ancestry was not estimated scientifically, though she may have been White based on hair texture. Age was not formally estimated either but she was likely at least 30 years old.

More info + link to NamUs profile here: 1620UFTX

Doe Network profile:
1620UFTX - Unidentified Female
Date of Discovery: April 12, 2020
Location of Discovery: Austin, Travis County, Texas
Estimated Date of Death: 2020
State of Remains: Not recognizable - Decomposing/putrefaction
Cause of Death: Unknown

Physical Description
Estimated Age: Over 30 years old
Race: Unknown
Sex: Female
Height: 5'2"
Weight: 89 lbs.
Hair Color: Brown and gray, long, no distinct curl
Eye Color: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Surgical clips in right breast; teeth lost antemortem; positive for methamphetamine

Identifiers
Dentals: Unavailable
Fingerprints: Unknown
DNA: Available

Clothing & Personal Items
Clothing: Hot pink Express camisole, size XS; Hollister bootcut jeans, size 0S, 24x31; Adidas sneakers, men's size 7.5
Jewelry: None
Additional Personal Items: None

Circumstances of Discovery
A resident of an apartment complex in South Austin was walking his dog along the trails in a wooded area when his dog began to walk off the trail down a decline in the trees and discovered the body of the decedent.

Investigating Agency(s)
Agency Name: Travis County Medical Examiner
Agency Contact Person: Jessica C. Galea, ME Investigator
Agency Phone Number: 512-854-9966
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: 20-02098

Agency Name: Austin Police Department
Agency Contact Person: Detective Rolando Ramirez
Agency Phone Number: 512-974-5000
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: 20-1030696

NCIC Case Number: Unknown
NamUs Case Number: 72619

Information Source(s)
NamUs
Austin Police Department

Admin Notes
Added: 1/20/21; Last Updated: 2/28/21

 

[Laughing]

Men's 7 1/2 shoe is a women's 9 or 9 1/2. My guess -- the shoes were too big and likely noticeable while walking.

jmho ymmv lrr

 

[ChloeA13]

Does anyone else find the surgical clips in the breast to be a little odd? If they are left in too long, the result can be fatal.

(source: "Surgical clips left in the body, needles left behind in patients, surgical sponges not removed, gauze left in the patient, scalpels left inside, all of these may be considered medical malpractice. In severe cases, objects left inside after surgery can be fatal.")

If they have her fingerprints, and a past use of substances, as well as a recent medical procedure, how hard is it for them to ID this poor woman?

My only suggestion may be Tammy Lynn Whitfield. (because of the location, missing tooth, similar height, etc.)

Her weight may be off, but unfortunately, amphetamines do induce weight loss.

Let me know your thoughts...

 

[Lexiintoronto]

Does anyone else find the surgical clips in the breast to be a little odd? If they are left in too long, the result can be fatal.

(source: "Surgical clips left in the body, needles left behind in patients, surgical sponges not removed, gauze left in the patient, scalpels left inside, all of these may be considered medical malpractice. In severe cases, objects left inside after surgery can be fatal.")

If they have her fingerprints, and a past use of substances, as well as a recent medical procedure, how hard is it for them to ID this poor woman?

My only suggestion may be Tammy Lynn Whitfield. (because of the location, missing tooth, similar height, etc.)

Her weight may be off, but unfortunately, amphetamines do induce weight loss.

Let me know your thoughts...

I don’t know what type of clips she had, but my guess is they were related to having tumours or calcifications removed from the breast. They can stay in indefinitely and are harmless.

I have surgical clips in one breast to mark where small tumours were removed. I have breast cancer on the other breast, and the clips serve as markers. They’re helpful as I have frequent scans. (Scar tissue from previous procedures are not mistaken for possible cancerous tumours with the clips.)

The clips should be a big clue in identifying this UID, in my opinion.

 

[Laughing]

Hhhmm, I have a titanium chip used to mark a breast lesion by the doctor who took the first biopsy sample. It is visible on my mammogram.

(The surgical team indicated that the titanium marker was not actually where it was supposed to be.)

I had clips after a C-section, and those were wicked lookin' things in the '90's!

Person writing the description may have confused or mis-typed the term?

And, found this image, possibly shows what this lady has/d?


eurekaselect.com

Part of the article abstracted, indicates that surgical clips are used to mark breast tumors in preparation for radiation therapy:

Abstract:
Introduction: Radiotherapy after Breast-Conserving Surgery (BCS) is a standard treatment for breast cancer. Currently, surgical clips are used to determine the tumour bed before radiotherapy planning. This study aimed to evaluate the migration of these clips on mammograms.

Methods: The study was conducted on 121 females who were treated with radiotherapy after BCS at their first radiologic control examination 6 months after the end of treatment. MLO and CC views of all cases were evaluated regarding the clips. The distance between the surgical scar centre and the centre of the area covered by the clips was measured on both MLO and CC projections and recorded separately. This distance was determined as the clip displacement. A displacement ≤10 mm was recorded as no displacement.

Results: The clips were out of the images and were not evaluated in 45 cases (37.2%) on CC and in 9 cases (7.4%) on MLO projections. There were no clip displacements in 37 (30.6%) cases on CC and in 43 (35.5%) cases on MLO views. The amount of displacement ranged from 11 to 56 mm with a mean of 24.38 mm on CC views, while on MLO projections, displacement ranged from 11 to 66 mm with a mean of 24.42 mm.

Conclusion: A clip displacement of greater than 10 mm was found in 64.5% of cases on MLO views. Therefore, we believe that the reliability of these clips for accurate delineation of the tumour bed in radiotherapy planning is controversial and other methods must be added.

So -- the clips found within this lady should match a tumor map in some medical center's collection! But the above article also mentions that the clips can move, so the tumor map will not likely be a 100% match.

Wonder if medical centers in Austin are checking records? On to M. W. Anderson in Houston next, I suppose.

Can anyone think of medical professionals to call? @meanmaryjean is a nurse, there is an anesthesiologist around here, let's hear a professional opinion!

jmho ymmv lrr

 

[victoriarobinson642]

Linda Christine Wheeler – The Charley Project
Linda Christine Wheeler seems like a good possibility for this Jane Doe - except that she doesn't seem to have any surgical procedures mentioned that would lead to clips.

 

[meanmaryjean]

Re: the tumor mapping. I think what is the missing piece here is a searchable database. While they exist for fingerprints and DNA, there would be no reason for one to be built for tumor mapping. So it would require manual comparison.

 

[Lexiintoronto]

Hhhmm, I have a titanium chip used to mark a breast lesion by the doctor who took the first biopsy sample. It is visible on my mammogram.

(The surgical team indicated that the titanium marker was not actually where it was supposed to be.)

I had clips after a C-section, and those were wicked lookin' things in the '90's!

Person writing the description may have confused or mis-typed the term?

And, found this image, possibly shows what this lady has/d?

View attachment 312007
eurekaselect.com

Part of the article abstracted, indicates that surgical clips are used to mark breast tumors in preparation for radiation therapy:

Abstract:
Introduction: Radiotherapy after Breast-Conserving Surgery (BCS) is a standard treatment for breast cancer. Currently, surgical clips are used to determine the tumour bed before radiotherapy planning. This study aimed to evaluate the migration of these clips on mammograms.

Methods: The study was conducted on 121 females who were treated with radiotherapy after BCS at their first radiologic control examination 6 months after the end of treatment. MLO and CC views of all cases were evaluated regarding the clips. The distance between the surgical scar centre and the centre of the area covered by the clips was measured on both MLO and CC projections and recorded separately. This distance was determined as the clip displacement. A displacement ≤10 mm was recorded as no displacement.

Results: The clips were out of the images and were not evaluated in 45 cases (37.2%) on CC and in 9 cases (7.4%) on MLO projections. There were no clip displacements in 37 (30.6%) cases on CC and in 43 (35.5%) cases on MLO views. The amount of displacement ranged from 11 to 56 mm with a mean of 24.38 mm on CC views, while on MLO projections, displacement ranged from 11 to 66 mm with a mean of 24.42 mm.

Conclusion: A clip displacement of greater than 10 mm was found in 64.5% of cases on MLO views. Therefore, we believe that the reliability of these clips for accurate delineation of the tumour bed in radiotherapy planning is controversial and other methods must be added.

So -- the clips found within this lady should match a tumor map in some medical center's collection! But the above article also mentions that the clips can move, so the tumor map will not likely be a 100% match.

Wonder if medical centers in Austin are checking records? On to M. W. Anderson in Houston next, I suppose.

Can anyone think of medical professionals to call? @meanmaryjean is a nurse, there is an anesthesiologist around here, let's hear a professional opinion!

jmho ymmv lrr

That’s what I have, but they’ve (in Toronto and Nova Scotia) always referred to them as clips…although they’re more like chips— like small sesame seeds.

Clips (and a wire) were placed in the tumour of the other breast prior to surgery, and removed the same day.

I didn’t have clips in during radiotherapy, what you quoted is interesting. They tattooed me (small dots) to map the area.

I have clips, but have never seen exactly what they look like. Maybe they have a number stamped on them (?)

 

[Laughing]

Re: the tumor mapping. I think what is the missing piece here is a searchable database. While they exist for fingerprints and DNA, there would be no reason for one to be built for tumor mapping. So it would require manual comparison.

Thank you!!!

@Lexiintoronto , yeah wow I remember seeing that wire on the prep tray; the radiologist placing that wire. Tiny little woman, Asian, fit between my ample self & the mammogram machine -- impressive while stomach churning.

BTW I had a really, really good surgical experience there, hope yours was as well.

Does LE have imaging, to know the clips are there? Send the images, with right/left information, to appropriate medical centers?

jmho ymmv lrr

 

[Lexiintoronto]

Thank you!!!

@Lexiintoronto , yeah wow I remember seeing that wire on the prep tray; the radiologist placing that wire. Tiny little woman, Asian, fit between my ample self & the mammogram machine -- impressive while stomach churning.

BTW I had a really, really good surgical experience there, hope yours was as well.

Does LE have imaging, to know the clips are there? Send the images, with right/left information, to appropriate medical centers?

jmho ymmv lrr

I was at Scarborough General and Sunnybrook, both were excellent!

It sounds as if the UID was too decomposed for proper imaging, IMO.

 

[carbuff]

Men's 7 1/2 shoe is a women's 9 or 9 1/2. My guess -- the shoes were too big and likely noticeable while walking.

jmho ymmv lrr

That's about the size I've been wearing since I got older--it leaves room for my poor arthritic big toes. Women with bunions do the same thing sometimes.

With the gray in her hair, this makes me wonder if she was considerably older than 30.

 

[ChloeA13]

I apologize for my misunderstanding of the surgical breast clips. I generalized from the NamUs description/my own reading and was uninformed on how broad that a surgical clip in medical terms is...that being said, I wish there was some kind of database to figure out where she is from, some kind of narrowing down.

 

[Lexiintoronto]

I apologize for my misunderstanding of the surgical breast clips. I generalized from the NamUs description/my own reading and was uninformed on how broad that a surgical clip in medical terms is...that being said, I wish there was some kind of database to figure out where she is from, some kind of narrowing down.

No! Don’t apologize. I only know about them because I have them. My mind would have gone to the same direction yours did—and your take may be right. She may have had something inserted that should have been removed or monitored.

 

[ChloeA13]

No! Don’t apologize. I only know about them because I have them. My mind would have gone to the same direction yours did—and your take may be right. She may have had something inserted that should have been removed or monitored.

Thank you for understanding. I only think about how this could have possibly been tracked, or at least narrowed down procedures/surgeries or doctors who treated her. Unfortunately, because of HIPAA, it would be difficult to do so, but just thought it may have been a possibility to narrow things if we had more information!

 

[ChloeA13]

Linda Christine Wheeler – The Charley Project
Linda Christine Wheeler seems like a good possibility for this Jane Doe - except that she doesn't seem to have any surgical procedures mentioned that would lead to clips.

This matches a lot, the timing and characteristics all match up... will look more into this -- also the clips possibly could have been something left out or maybe her loved ones weren't aware of? Maybe a newer procedure? Hmm...

 

[Laughing]

That's about the size I've been wearing since I got older--it leaves room for my poor arthritic big toes. Women with bunions do the same thing sometimes.

With the gray in her hair, this makes me wonder if she was considerably older than 30.

Well, men's shoes are generally wider than women's shoes, sometimes I can find a men's shoe that works great.

I used to be a 10 Wide, but with similarly aging feet -- like some mobile homes I'm a Double Wide! (Zappo's, I thank God for Zappos!)

Often, shoe size is related to height. I was 5'9", probably 5'8" now, if this lady was 5'2" as described I still think a 9 or 9 1/2 would be long on her feet.

Often, people experiencing homelessness or extreme poverty wear ill-fitting shoes.

Re: surgical clips. You can learn something new every day, just log into Websleuths! I thought of the clips holding my skin together after a C-section, pretty grim. I hope these marking clips help identify her, bring her home!

jmho ymmv lrr

 

[cvaldez1975]

That's about the size I've been wearing since I got older--it leaves room for my poor arthritic big toes. Women with bunions do the same thing sometimes.

With the gray in her hair, this makes me wonder if she was considerably older than 30.

i started greying at 23 lol.

 

[carbuff]

i started greying at 23 lol.

Well, what I meant to say is that I thought the combination of factors pointing to possible greater age meant that I thought Ms. Wheeler was a good candidate. Apparently I was having a tired brain day yesterday