Identified! AR - El Dorado, Whitehall Motel, WhtFem 18-21, 81UFAR, Jul'91 - #3 - Kelly from VA

[Gardener1850]

They have Identified the father, he is deceased and no one has a clue who the mother was as he was married 2x and neither was her mom

She could be anyone who ever had a brief relationship with him and he may not have even known she was pregnant. I hope they are tracking down all the women he went to high school with (in case this was a teen pregnancy that was hidden and given up for adoption). I would try to make contact with every person he ever worked with too-- just to ask if any of them knew if he ever had a girlfriend or dated anyone. If the baby was a result of a one night stand or some sort of criminal activity then likely no one in the dad's circle would know the mom's name. Hopefully they will eventually get more close DNA matches on Mom's side and be able to track her down that way. MOO.

 

[Darianne]

I believe I found the mother, just by happenstance, the menus gave away the clue. I reported my findings to law enforcement. They thanked me and I haven't heard back since. That was about 6 months ago.

 

[Melt71]

at last check that's what we were waiting to hear but if there were I would think they would say by now but who knows maybe not !

Yes that is what made me wonder if Mother was from an ethnic group that is not well represented in the data; we know that those of African, Hispanic and Asian heritage don't do familial DNA in the same numbers as those of Anglo heritage. I wonder if Mum could be native American as they are also underrepresented in the data.

 

[Darianne]

Yes that is what made me wonder if Mother was from an ethnic group that is not well represented in the data; we know that those of African, Hispanic and Asian heritage don't do familial DNA in the same numbers as those of Anglo heritage. I wonder if Mum could be native American as they are also underrepresented in the data.

As a genealogist, the problem we face, in addition to the ones you brought up, is that tracking people when you know a 2nd cousin, is very difficult—If the great grandparents (that's how you get 2nd cousins, shared Great grands) had 3 kids and each of those kids had 3—and so on, you would find there are 81 1st cousins in your generation. If the only thing you know is you share great grandparents, you can see that it can be a lot of work. Even in your own family, if you have a sibling, you can't be sure that's your only sibling, there may be another one out there that your family is unaware of and that makes canceling out a whole family impossible because you just never know. Just as you can't be sure, unless you do genetic testing that the sibling you think is your blood, actually is. I've been doing genealogy for over 30 years—it's fascinating and often sad how much deception is running through families—siblings who are actually your nieces or nephews because a young aunt became pregnant and her older sibling adopted her child, or siblings who are cousins because a parent adopted their daughter's child as their own. I have seen it all and have had to unfortunately report back to folks that they're lives have been a lie (I don't say it that way, but that's really what it amounts to)

 

[mp_1989]

I believe I found the mother, just by happenstance, the menus gave away the clue. I reported my findings to law enforcement. They thanked me and I haven't heard back since. That was about 6 months ago.

Out of interest, how did the menu give it away?

 

[Darianne]

Out of interest, how did the menu give it away?

The woman I had been tracking as her mother, is from a family with the same name as one of the restaurant menus. I suspect EDJD may have learned the connection and was visiting either her mother or family or asking about her. I have tracked missing people before and one thing that seems to be common is saving a memento from their past that doesn't seem connected to them in their present. The fact she saved restaurant menus was a tip off and I had found a possible woman who could be her mother that all of a sudden I then found the same name in the family. Lots of coincidences or maybe not—including some of EDJD's aliases—the same first names were found in the potential mother's family.

 

[Darianne]

Out of interest, how did the menu give it away?

The one thing I've learned over the years is people crave connection, if to bad circumstances, if it's all they ever knew. Just like criminals often take 'souvenirs' so do people who are 'missing' or trying to hide their identity. Menus are funny things—we usually only keep those that have a special meaning. Her menus were in very good shape for someone who didn't stay anywhere for very long—that told me that they were probably more meaningful to her than anything else except her bible. Why would she only keep a bible and few menus and live a transient lifestyle?
Of course, my theories have not been proven as of yet, but I hope they gave law enforcement a direction to go. I guess we'll see. If it pans out, I'll go into more detail about the other clues I found. I don't want people interrupting the investigation and possibly throwing up more false flags if this is legit.

 

[Owutatangledweb]

They have Identified the father, he is deceased and no one has a clue who the mother was as he was married 2x and neither was her mom

Sloane, do you have a link for this information? I think I've missed something!

 

[Bit of hope]

The one thing I've learned over the years is people crave connection, if to bad circumstances, if it's all they ever knew. Just like criminals often take 'souvenirs' so do people who are 'missing' or trying to hide their identity. Menus are funny things—we usually only keep those that have a special meaning. Her menus were in very good shape for someone who didn't stay anywhere for very long—that told me that they were probably more meaningful to her than anything else except her bible. Why would she only keep a bible and few menus and live a transient lifestyle?
Of course, my theories have not been proven as of yet, but I hope they gave law enforcement a direction to go. I guess we'll see. If it pans out, I'll go into more detail about the other clues I found. I don't want people interrupting the investigation and possibly throwing up more false flags if this is legit.

Very interesting read about your experiences with genealogy and of course your findings. I think you have a point about the menus. I still have a Christmas menu from ages ago when my family was still complete. They must have a special meaning. Also in my family tree I have a person who changed her name and after picking the brains of a few family members who were still around I found out she used another name. It turned out that the woman was buried with only her changed "given" name without a surname on the grave stone. I would have never found that out without help.

 

[Darianne]

Very interesting read about your experiences with genealogy and of course your findings. I think you have a point about the menus. I still have a Christmas menu from ages ago when my family was still complete. They must have a special meaning. Also in my family tree I have a person who changed her name and after picking the brains of a few family members who were still around I found out she used another name. It turned out that the woman was buried with only her changed "given" name without a surname on the grave stone. I would have never found that out without help.

I have found a couple of missing persons and located 'found' relatives after people realize they had siblings from a parent's previous relationship that no one knew about. This may sound odd, but it's happened to me so much, it can't be coincidence—I often get a 'vibe' that points me in certain directions with amazing precision. I can't describe it. I hesitate to say it's 'psychic' because I don't know if it comes after an accumulation of data, that my brain puts all the pieces together, or some other thing. When I discovered what I think might be her mom or a connection to her family, I was doing something completely different and out of the blue the menus popped into my head. I had never examined them, I didn't even know where to find them, but remembered people talking about them at one time. I found them online and examined them, feeling they held a secret. I kind of followed my brain when it told me to look at a couple of people and sources—within an hour the pieces seemed to fall into place. I hope I'm right for the sake of EDJD and her family. I really just want to reunite them in some meaningful way. The woman I believe to be her mother is dead, unfortunately, but there would be surviving half siblings. Holding out hope.

 

[scruffydog]

Sloane, do you have a link for this information? I think I've missed something!

Me too!!

 

[Gardener1850]

This was from Aug 21, 2019:

Genetic Genealogy

There was a massive break in the case in 2019 when law enforcement was finally able to track down Mercedes’ paternal family using a combination of genealogy and DNA matching. Sadly, the family did not recognize her, although they do acknowledge a strong family resemblance. One of the matches was a female first cousin. In short, this first cousin match would share grandparents with El Dorado Jane Doe. Those grandparents were a couple named Mamie Carter and Daniel Wood of Virginia. Mr. And Mrs. Wood had nine children between 1916 and 1936. They could exclude the 1st cousin’s father since the two women didn’t share enough DNA to be half-sisters or closer. The family has chosen to call her Memory until they can reclaim her actual name. Since the family has recently requested privacy on social media, I will not be printing any living family member’s name here or elsewhere. That is their story to tell.

Who Was El Dorado Jane Doe?

 

[sloane7777]

Sloane, do you have a link for this information? I think I've missed something!

No I'm sorry, I don't this is all conversation with the peeps working on it so ....this is all chatter I don't have any solid facts I was contacted by a filmmaker and after speaking with him I'm starting to suspect they know more than they are saying .

 

[Gardener1850]

This was from Aug 21, 2019:

Genetic Genealogy

There was a massive break in the case in 2019 when law enforcement was finally able to track down Mercedes’ paternal family using a combination of genealogy and DNA matching. Sadly, the family did not recognize her, although they do acknowledge a strong family resemblance. One of the matches was a female first cousin. In short, this first cousin match would share grandparents with El Dorado Jane Doe. Those grandparents were a couple named Mamie Carter and Daniel Wood of Virginia. Mr. And Mrs. Wood had nine children between 1916 and 1936. They could exclude the 1st cousin’s father since the two women didn’t share enough DNA to be half-sisters or closer. The family has chosen to call her Memory until they can reclaim her actual name. Since the family has recently requested privacy on social media, I will not be printing any living family member’s name here or elsewhere. That is their story to tell.

Who Was El Dorado Jane Doe?

I wanted to add to the above that we cannot sleuth the family members here (it's against TOS) but if you do research the family it is not difficult to make an educated guess on which son of Mamie Carter and Daniel Wood is most likely to be EDJD's father. Look at things such as their ages and where they lived, where they died, etc. and look at the facts of where EDJD was known to have lived/traveled and her approximate age/DOB. But I think the father's identity is speculation only for most of us here. I don't think any official announcement has been made as far as naming her father. MOO.

 

[TmmEye]

I wanted to add to the above that we cannot sleuth the family members here (it's against TOS) but if you do research the family it is not difficult to make an educated guess on which son of Mamie Carter and Daniel Wood is most likely to be EDJD's father. Look at things such as their ages and where they lived, where they died, etc. and look at the facts of where EDJD was known to have lived/traveled and her approximate age/DOB. But I think the father's identity is speculation only for most of us here. I don't think any official announcement has been made as far as naming her father. MOO.

I don’t think EDJD’s father was their son; it was most likely their grandson due to timing.

 

[TmmEye]

Reading the article, there is only one person whom could’ve been EDJD after it says that EDJD’s grandmother is Mamie Carter, but I can’t say whom.

 

[Melt71]

Just as you can't be sure, unless you do genetic testing that the sibling you think is your blood, actually is.

I love this! As a mother of two adoptees (they have contact with various birthfamily members) we are far more certain about their parentage and first family than I am about many people on my own tree that hasn't had any genetic testing!

 

[T rex]

This one here I'm not sure about. The date of last contact is 1996 but it seems a little fuzzy to me. It says someone talked to a woman on the side of the road that claimed to be her but I don't know if it was ever confirmed or if this is considered the last contact.
I also noticed that three out of the four cases she's been ruled out of are in Virginia. I was wondering if there's some particular reason for this.
Here it is. Christina Lynn Roof.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[wmm85]

This one here I'm not sure about. The date of last contact is 1996 but it seems a little fuzzy to me. It says someone talked to a woman on the side of the road that claimed to be her but I don't know if it was ever confirmed or if this is considered the last contact.
I also noticed that three out of the four cases she's been ruled out of are in Virginia. I was wondering if there's some particular reason for this.
Here it is. Christina Lynn Roof.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Her profile on the Charley Project says she was denied entry into Canada on March 2, 1996. So unless someone stole Christina's ID/passport, I would say she is unlikely to be EDJD.

Christina Lynn Roof – The Charley Project

 

[carbuff]

This one here I'm not sure about. The date of last contact is 1996 but it seems a little fuzzy to me. It says someone talked to a woman on the side of the road that claimed to be her but I don't know if it was ever confirmed or if this is considered the last contact.
I also noticed that three out of the four cases she's been ruled out of are in Virginia. I was wondering if there's some particular reason for this.
Here it is. Christina Lynn Roof.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

A couple of years back, the Virginia cold case people went through all their unidentified cases and tried to match them to missing people. They compared every possibility--and took the time and trouble to update Namus for every one, too. I wish every state would do that.