WA WA - Seattle, WhtFem 30-50, 159UFWA, alias 'Mary Anderson', copper IUD, breast surgery scars, Oct'96

[FiveFelines]

My first thought was "she's too young" but she's actually right in the age range. I keep thinking Mary Anderson was much older than she actually was.

 

[Ambercat]

Shoshanna is Hebrew for "lily." Is there any hint of Jewish-ness in the case? Or complete avoidance?

(Yes, this name could have been selected by this woman in adulthood.)

Could relate to the no-jewelery pointed out by Glo.

I would guess that if she had changed her name later in life, the LAPD would have listed her original name as an aka, yet they say that she had received a driver's license under an assumed name and they don't disclose what it was.

There is something about her makeup, too, that reminds me of "Mary." I searched the internet to see if I could find out anything else about Ms. Shambi, yet all I have been able to locate so far is the LAPD website.

 

[carbuff]

Side by side of Mary and Shoshanna. The thing that jumps out at me is the lopsided mouth on both women. Two of Mary's three sketches show it. They're on opposite sides in the two photos but maybe one of them was flipped?

Mary weighs 170 lbs so it's not unreasonable to think she might have gained more weight. She had the money from the insurance fraud to live on.

I found this article about Shoshanna that makes it sound like the alias she used was LaToya Jackson. If so, she's a woman with a lot of gall: http://www.losanjealous.com/2005/09/28/on-the-lam-shoshana-shambi/

 

[Ambercat]

Side by side of Mary and Shoshanna. The thing that jumps out at me is the lopsided mouth on both women. Two of Mary's three sketches show it. They're on opposite sides in the two photos but maybe one of them was flipped?

Mary weighs 170 lbs so it's not unreasonable to think she might have gained more weight. She had the money from the insurance fraud to live on.

I found this article about Shoshanna that makes it sound like the alias she used was LaToya Jackson. If so, she's a woman with a lot of gall: http://www.losanjealous.com/2005/09/28/on-the-lam-shoshana-shambi/

Wow! I hadn't noticed that both women have asymmetric mouths! I sort of thought if her weight was taken from her driver's license, Shoshana might have underestimated it on purpose (not that I would know about doing that sort of thing :blushing. Stress can also cause people to gain weight, too, and if she was hiding from authorities, that would definitely be stressful. From her photo, Shoshana Shambi looks like she is wearing obvious makeup. I know that Mary has Estee Lauder makeup with her and was wearing it when she died -- was it ever reported what products/shades she had?

So far, the only information about Shoshana Shambi I have been able to find is just what is on the LAPD site...that's something else if she was calling herself LaToya Jackson.

 

[GloSeattle]

Wow! I hadn't noticed that both women have asymmetric mouths! I sort of thought if her weight was taken from her driver's license, Shoshana might have underestimated it on purpose (not that I would know about doing that sort of thing :blushing. Stress can also cause people to gain weight, too, and if she was hiding from authorities, that would definitely be stressful. From her photo, Shoshana Shambi looks like she is wearing obvious makeup. I know that Mary has Estee Lauder makeup with her and was wearing it when she died -- was it ever reported what products/shades she had?

So far, the only information about Shoshana Shambi I have been able to find is just what is on the LAPD site...that's something else if she was calling herself LaToya Jackson.

Yes, here's more information on the colors she wore: http://meyahna.tripod.com/pg19.html

 

[Natasha (Tash) Simp]

the "I have no relatives" bit in her note in an obvious lie. Some woman had to have birthed her and, given her age, "Mary" likely had one or more siblings as well.

 

[GloSeattle]

I was looking through the LAPD's Wanted Persons (http://www.lapdonline.org/all_most_wanted) thinking about a completely different UID and noticed a woman, named Shoshanna Shambi who committed insurance fraud in 1994. She is the same height as Mary Anderson and weighs less (but if her weight was taken from her driver's license, I could understand giving the DMV a lower estimate). Maybe it is just me, but when I look past the big hair, I can really see a resemblance between Shoshanna and Mary. I wish that they provided more information about the wanted person.
View attachment 57423
http://www.lapdonline.org/all_most_wanted/most_wanted_view/12706

Wish there were more information on this woman, like did she have upper teeth issue? Our Mary had an upper plate she took out and disposed of so she couldn't be id'd ... also had some sort of breast augmentation perhaps breast enlargement then removed later as these could have been used to id her too. There was no id with Mary, no jewelry (which I found very telling - even in 1996 there was mass jewelry pieces and the fact she had none says more than had she had a cheap costume jewelry item on at her time of death - it's a huge clue), also the iron and the bowl... the bowl I get for the cyanide fumes, but the iron? Was that in case she couldn't die from the cyanide and then she'd planned electrocution in the tub? The absence of jewelry though, and then the note saying there was an absence of family says there is a family and jewelry has something to do with this. I wish her DNA would have been entered into a data base. There are so many people out there with missing family members... I wonder if King County would ever exhume her body to do a DNA sample? So many questions... No answers.

 

[ebonydarkness]

the "I have no relatives" bit in her note in an obvious lie. Some woman had to have birthed her and, given her age, "Mary" likely had one or more siblings as well.

Perhaps all her relatives are deceased and that's why no one is looking for her.

 

[GloSeattle]

Perhaps all her relatives are deceased and that's why no one is looking for her.

That may be... or many will give up especially if there was turmoil in the relationship (already problems and estrangement), there's a host of reasons why someone wouldn't look for someone who has been missing for a long time.

 

[carbuff]

That may be... or many will give up especially if there was turmoil in the relationship (already problems and estrangement), there's a host of reasons why someone wouldn't look for someone who has been missing for a long time.

I know a woman who hasn't been in touch with her family for 30 years. They threw her out when she came out as a lesbian, and she has never forgiven them. Not that they've asked her to. As far as she's concerned, they're dead, and they probably don't know whether she's alive or dead.

 

[Ambercat]

Last week, before the holiday, I contacted the King County Medical Examiner and the Los Angeles Police Department about a possible match between Shoshana Shambi and Mary Anderson. I haven't heard back from either, though. While I know a lot of times makeup doesn't go on the way it looks, from the photo Shoshana looks like she might be wearing the Estee Lauder lipstick "Rich and Rosy" (one of the cosmetics "Mary" was found with).

 

[sloane7777]

yes I have a friend who has not seen her sister in 50 years , neither are interested sadly

 

[GloSeattle]

Last week, before the holiday, I contacted the King County Medical Examiner and the Los Angeles Police Department about a possible match between Shoshana Shambi and Mary Anderson. I haven't heard back from either, though. While I know a lot of times makeup doesn't go on the way it looks, from the photo Shoshana looks like she might be wearing the Estee Lauder lipstick "Rich and Rosy" (one of the cosmetics "Mary" was found with).
View attachment 58097View attachment 58096

I sure hope this mystery can be solved. Do you know if Shoshana's parent's or family is looking for her? Obviously the law is for the fraud, but... Also, when you contact the LA PD be sure to mention this one in Seattle has an upper plate (false teeth) which was removed as she wasn't wearing it, and also breast augmentation, either a former implant being taken out as those have serial numbers or was removed due to the problems in the 90's with them leaking/seeping. She wore an IUD but it had been in so long and/or the number was corroded or it was before they had numbers, at any rate no information was found with that. Mary also never had children, as far as the Medical Examiner's report stated. (We have Chip Coffey, the medium coming to Seattle next month doing a program just a few blocks away. It would be wonderful if he was able to extract a clue. Sometimes the mediums can do some pretty good work that helps detectives. Other times it's of no value - but it's a hope!) I think Mary deserves a proper funeral with a head stone. We might feel at times we don't make an impact on anyone in a positive way and that we are unloved, and in reality we are very loved and have influenced many people we didn't even know as friends; the clerk at the grocery store, the lady in the elevator asking for directions, a mechanic fixing our car...

 

[GloSeattle]

Oh and another thing... Shoshana looks like she has pierced ears. King County Medical Examiner didn't mention anything about piercings. Could have been an oversight, but that would be one thing, even if grown back in 2 years, would show in an autopsy. So, that would be a qualifier for if this woman is Shoshana or not.

 

[GloSeattle]

I believe a BIG clue was no jewelry and another reason for this is that cyanide was used as a wash in many gold mines and processing - such as in Nevada - in the 90's. It was used to extract gold from ore's. They have quite the quantity of it at the mines, so if she worked for a mining company she could have had easy access to it. She may have stored it in the medication bottle with the label peeled off of it, and used the quantity in her Metamucil. Since Metamucil is used for irregularity, it actually would help speed up the process of cyanide poisoning. Florida also produced cyanide for Iraq in the 1990's for Sadam Hussein's regime to drop on people in poison gas bombs. If she worked for the company there that manufactured cyanide she'd have access to it there easily as well. If she did come from Florida it would explain the "winter like" clothing she had with her. People in Florida always freeze in Seattle during the spring, fall and winter... She wouldn't have known it was 80 degrees that day. While she planned well for her anonymity, she did not plan for the weather. This leads me to believe she wasn't from here, but from a distance away from us. In addition, since the clothing labels were from a Pac NW area I am thinking she may have been here a few days before this, got rid of her clothing, bought new clothing here, and then checked into this hotel after she disposed of her older clothing. She might have utilized many of the drop off bins for charity in all areas of Seattle. Cyanide is also used for developing of film for sepia tones. So, she may have worked as a photographer, or for a large photo processing center where they did a lot of sepia work. Those are my only theories as to what she did before she was found in her room.

 

[carbuff]

I wonder if she had had good jewelry but had been selling it or pawning it to get money to live on.

 

[kemo]

As I have mentioned before, Cyanide is easily obtained by anyone. Suicide web sites or "Hemlock Society" type publications give full instructions on how to get it and how to use it. That is interesting about Metamucil, it may have been part of the suicide plan. I suspect this was all figured out with great care taken to conceal her identity. Obviously, she wasn't from Seattle since no one id'ed her. It is a good bet she came from somewhere else expecting cold weather.

Nordstroms is nationwide but it is headquartered in Seattle. It is my understanding that it is particularly big in the North-East and the Pacific Coast and less so in the South. They are generally located in higher income areas and are considered oriented to higher income customers but not to the really rich.

The lack of jewelry may be explained by the fact that many people planning suicide make provisions for or otherwise give away all of their possessions of value. It is also possible they could be used for identification.

It appears that made an effort to conceal her identity and cover her tracts. She did not want to be identified and she did not want her friends and relatives to know what happened to her (and she did have them or she would not have had to go to that kind of effort).

 

[Irish_Eyes]

Random thoughts from reading the WHOLE thread again from the beginning. Hoping one of them will move us in a promising direction:

A page or two back it talks about a golden or yellow ring around her iris. Where did we get that from? Was that speculation or is that real?

I ask because it could be a Keyser-Fleischer ring. It's one of the hallmarks for Wilson's disease. Wilson's disease is a rare genetic condition where the body can't process the normal amounts of copper in our diets, so it builds up and essentially poisons the body. One of the telltale signs are the cop perish yellow rings that often show up around the iris.

I'm not saying that Mary had Wilson's. I'm wondering if her copper IUD was long overdue to be removed. That might explain the wearing down of the serial number, and the copper starting to essentially decay and leech into her blood stream. I have found lots of articles on line where women talk about experiencing copper toxicity with IUDs but few actual medical articles. I found a NIH study from 1980 that said that there seemed to be no elevated copper levels in blood for women who used copper IUDs, but the study only went out two years, so who knows. But copper does affect the brain, and can cause depression, and other mental/emotional/neurological symptoms.

So can we confirm that iris ring?

******

Also, I found this article, http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/holiday-in-hell/Content?oid=25739

which is a bit weird, lol, and 99% not relevant to our purposes. But this part is:

That night I faced my penultimate task: Spending the night at the Hotel Vintage Park, a luxury downtown hotel. At first it sounded like I was getting a little reward for making it all the way through the Christmas mind-(expletive) I'd been subjected to—until I heard the details of my assignment. I would be checking into room 214, a dismal room tucked away in a back corner of the building, where a mysterious woman calling herself Mary Anderson committed suicide by drinking cyanide in the fall of 1996.

"Why room 214?" the desk clerk asked when I checked in. "We get a lot of requests for it, which is strange because it's the worst room in the house."

"Sentimental reasons," I replied.

I wound my way to the back of the hotel until I came to room 214. The room was indeed cramped and dark. The window showcased a stunning view of a stone wall.

Perhaps Mary got this room because she booked at the last minute. Perhaps she did request this particular room. But I thought knowing it faced a stone wall may help us figure out roughly where the room might be, and also kill any theories we might have been entertaining that she wanted to look out on a view of something particular.

****

Also, bankruptcies are heard at federal courthouses as well. Just a thought in case some kind of financial despondency drove her to this.

*****

Finally, there is a crazy cool looking building across the street from the hotel that intrigued me, and I found out it's the Seattle Public Library. It wasn't there when Mary was there, I think I read it was built in 2005 or something. But what was there before? Was it the library and they just totally redid it, or was it totally something else. I ask because if there was an "old" library there or nearby before the new one was built, could that be where Mary might have stopped to pick up the newspaper?

Just some thoughts. Great work everyone, let's keep it up!!

 

[GloSeattle]

As I have mentioned before, Cyanide is easily obtained by anyone. Suicide web sites or "Hemlock Society" type publications give full instructions on how to get it and how to use it. That is interesting about Metamucil, it may have been part of the suicide plan. I suspect this was all figured out with great care taken to conceal her identity. Obviously, she wasn't from Seattle since no one id'ed her. It is a good bet she came from somewhere else expecting cold weather.

Nordstroms is nationwide but it is headquartered in Seattle. It is my understanding that it is particularly big in the North-East and the Pacific Coast and less so in the South. They are generally located in higher income areas and are considered oriented to higher income customers but not to the really rich.

The lack of jewelry may be explained by the fact that many people planning suicide make provisions for or otherwise give away all of their possessions of value. It is also possible they could be used for identification.

It appears that made an effort to conceal her identity and cover her tracts. She did not want to be identified and she did not want her friends and relatives to know what happened to her (and she did have them or she would not have had to go to that kind of effort).

I would agree with you except for this... 1996 was just a few years after the Tylenol poisonings and cyanide, while easier to get ahold of back then, it still was not as available to people like you or me unless we knew where to look and who to ask. In addition, with a limited internet back then it would be difficult to search for it unless you already knew where to go. But it is entirely possible that she obtained it without being in the gold, jewelry or manufacturing industry. (All you need is a rounded teaspoon full in water and you'd be unconscious in 30 seconds, and dead within 30 minutes so it doesn't take a lot, it's VERY quick!) I just thought maybe this was an easy way to get the cyanide and not arouse any suspicion since she was so meticulous in her planning. (Meticulous right down to having the correct area code for NY and an address that was plausible.) I completely concur with your observation on Nordstrom's and the fact she was from a warmer climate (far away so she didn't realize there was unusually hot weather forecast). I was thinking that the jewelry was gotten rid of because of identification to the extent she did work with gold/jewelry perhaps again in manufacturing or in a jewelry store, so getting rid of it before she died meant it was valuable. If it was just costume jewelry there'd be no need to give it away or sell it. I agree she went to great lengths not to be identified. Purchasing new clothing that would not have hair or fibers from any other location. She had several outfits, though so I'm wondering if she thought she wouldn't be able to go through with it right away, or there might have been another reason why she selected so many for such a "quick job" of it. So her having 6 (half a dozen) velour outfits... that's 7 days worth if you add what she was wearing when they found her. And a new jacket and gloves - did she plan on being outside? With a selection of such a fast acting poison why would you have that many articles of clothing with you... She purchased somewhere a family Bible with of course nothing in it... she had an iron - velour doesn't require ironing. Did she think she may not be able to die from the cyanide she brought with her so she brought an iron to plug in the bathroom, fill a tub and die from electrocution? And a bowl...why a bowl? Did she at one time have a pet with her? Maybe she gave one away right before she got there. If she rid herself of personal possessions that were valuable like jewelry maybe she gave away a pet too? In that case she may have traveled here by train or even plane with a pet. Just all speculation, but maybe someone remembers an older woman giving away her jewelry, or finding some jewelry, or having someone give them a cat or a dog back then?

 

[GloSeattle]

Random thoughts from reading the WHOLE thread again from the beginning. Hoping one of them will move us in a promising direction:

A page or two back it talks about a golden or yellow ring around her iris. Where did we get that from? Was that speculation or is that real?

I ask because it could be a Keyser-Fleischer ring. It's one of the hallmarks for Wilson's disease. Wilson's disease is a rare genetic condition where the body can't process the normal amounts of copper in our diets, so it builds up and essentially poisons the body. One of the telltale signs are the cop perish yellow rings that often show up around the iris.

I'm not saying that Mary had Wilson's. I'm wondering if her copper IUD was long overdue to be removed. That might explain the wearing down of the serial number, and the copper starting to essentially decay and leech into her blood stream. I have found lots of articles on line where women talk about experiencing copper toxicity with IUDs but few actual medical articles. I found a NIH study from 1980 that said that there seemed to be no elevated copper levels in blood for women who used copper IUDs, but the study only went out two years, so who knows. But copper does affect the brain, and can cause depression, and other mental/emotional/neurological symptoms.

So can we confirm that iris ring?

******

Also, I found this article, http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/holiday-in-hell/Content?oid=25739

which is a bit weird, lol, and 99% not relevant to our purposes. But this part is:



Perhaps Mary got this room because she booked at the last minute. Perhaps she did request this particular room. But I thought knowing it faced a stone wall may help us figure out roughly where the room might be, and also kill any theories we might have been entertaining that she wanted to look out on a view of something particular.

****

Also, bankruptcies are heard at federal courthouses as well. Just a thought in case some kind of financial despondency drove her to this.

*****

Finally, there is a crazy cool looking building across the street from the hotel that intrigued me, and I found out it's the Seattle Public Library. It wasn't there when Mary was there, I think I read it was built in 2005 or something. But what was there before? Was it the library and they just totally redid it, or was it totally something else. I ask because if there was an "old" library there or nearby before the new one was built, could that be where Mary might have stopped to pick up the newspaper?

Just some thoughts. Great work everyone, let's keep it up!!

I haven't seen any documentation on her eyes other than they were dark but that this is a common occurrence after death and that it's hard to determine eye color accurately after a bit of time as the pigment leaves the iris. Her copper IUD id number had been worn away according to the medical examiner, so no id was able to be found on it. The new library was built on the same site as the old library which was built 1960. (http://www.spl.org/locations/central-library/cen-about-the-central-library/cen-history) Perhaps her search of cyanide occurred there, or she decided to stay in the hotel because she had been at the library and saw it across the street? She didn't ask for the room it was just given to her. The magazine with the maple leaf was complementary of the hotel and not something she had purchased from what I read. If she was from a warmer climate having the magazine there with a maple leaf pressed (she pressed it with the iron) was something unique as warmer climates don't have the colors in fall we have. (Would she have actually bought an iron just to press a maple leaf? And velour outfits don't require ironing...). Yes, there were several investment firms within walking distance back then, from this hotel. And the Court House is there... but the "winter wear" makes me think she wasn't local and thought she'd be freezing in Seattle in October, hence gloves and a Himalaya Outfitters jacket. Good points on depression though, and combine that with "change of life" hormone's going wacky... she obviously was quite overcome by sadness. It would be interesting to know also what other Psalms were on that page of her Bible. Without the font size, and the book size, etc... they're assuming she was reading the 23rd Psalm since it's one everyone knows, but what if it were another she was reading and that was a clue? We've had a few people here try to contact our Medical Examiner's office about those records, and the autopsy reports and to date I've not seen any success with it. I could always try unless someone already has?