Identified! CA - Cauc or Hisp Female, 30-50, (Vineyard), Arvin, Kern Co, Mar'11 - Ada Beth Kaplan

[Bit of hope]

Rest peacefully now Ms. Kaplan. May justice be served soon.

Wonderful work DNA Doe Project!

 

[JovanSrna]

This case meant a lot to @Susikatze

 

[djanga]

Not surprisingly as Ada was of ashkenazi ancestry, Kaplan is a very ashkenazi last name! I met a few Ashkenazi with the family name Kaplan.

I am not sure if Ada is the first Ashkenazi identified via genetic genealogy but it it thought that Ashkenazi genealogy is a complicated one, many close matches which are actually more distant than it seems at the first sight. The DDP have among their cases at least 2 other Does with Ashkenazi origin. Ada’s identification gives hope for identification of other Ashkenazi Does.

 

[MarziPanda]

Yet again, the age estimate is way off. 30-50! She was 64.

RIP Ada.

 

[PinkButtercup]

Kern Co Jane Doe 2011 - DNA Doe Project

 

[victoriarobinson642]

Not surprisingly as Ada was of ashkenazi ancestry, Kaplan is a very ashkenazi last name! I met a few Ashkenazi with the family name Kaplan.

I am not sure if Ada is the first Ashkenazi identified via genetic genealogy but it it thought that Ashkenazi genealogy is a complicated one, many close matches which are actually more distant than it seems at the first sight. The DDP have among their cases at least 2 other Does with Ashkenazi origin. Ada’s identification gives hope for identification of other Ashkenazi Does.

She's definitely not the first, but there certainly aren't too many. I can barely untangle my own and I know definitively who all the people are related to (me).

 

[djanga]

Interesting detail’s about the DDP hard work on Ada’s identification from her page on the DDP website:

DNA matches to the Jane Doe’s genetic profile were distant cousins with common surnames, making building Kaplan’s family tree a time-intensive task to identify ancestors spanning 8 generations and place them in an extensive family tree. Three of her four grandparents were immigrants, meaning researchers were searching Eastern European records to connect her matches to each other.

“Our team worked long and hard for this identification,” said Koski, “Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry is often complicated to unravel. When we brought in an expert in Jewish records and genealogy, that made a huge difference.”

Kern Co Jane Doe 2011 - DNA Doe Project

New pending case announcement from DNA Doe for a decomposed body found out of Arvin, California. Please visit our page to learn more.

dnadoeproject.org

 

[John/Jane Doe]

https://www.facebook.com/100068121797204/posts/681268587487195

 

[Susikatze]

That is the best news ive read in a long time! "Returned to her family and community", i guess it implies a jewish burial. It makes me so happy.

Now we have to find who did that to her. Murdered in such a dehumanizing brutal manner. I hope they find her killer

 

[Susikatze]

She's definitely not the first, but there certainly aren't too many. I can barely untangle my own and I know definitively who all the people are related to (me).

Yes its a huge bowl of spaghetti, the same surnames and often first names over and over and people marrying at least 3rd to 5th cousins on a regular basis. Also, high mobility and records that span many countries whose borders and languages often are different now. Also frequent aliases and name changes, many of them forced. It is very hard unless you can connect to a family tree and/or have closer relative matches. It makes it easier if you can follow some rabbinic line, which have usually been very well documented.

 

[Susikatze]

How do we move this to the "identified" section?

 

[Seattle1]

Headless body drained of blood posed like mannequin in 2011 identified

The naked body was drained of blood and posed like a mannequin in a 'sexually degrading position' in a vineyard near Arvin, California , on March 29, 2011, and only now identified.

www.dailymail.co.uk

1/8/24

A woman whose headless body was found in one of the creepiest crime scenes police had ever seen has been identified a decade later.

The naked body was drained of blood and posed like a mannequin in a 'sexually degrading position' in a vineyard near Arvin, California, on March 29, 2011.

Beyond the macabre positioning of the body, flat on her back lying on a dirt road surrounded by grapevines, the killer was also meticulous about concealing her identity - cutting off not just her head, but both thumbs.

[..]

All there was to go on at the time was a C-section scar, indicating the victim had at least one child, and a scar on her left breast from a mastectomy.

[..]

After two-and-a-half years of painstaking research, the body was identified as Kaplan.

'Our team worked long and hard for this identification... but they never gave up and their perseverance paid off in the end,' team leader Missy Koski said.

DNA established Kaplan was Ashkenazi Jewish, making the process of identification even more difficult.

'Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry is often complicated to unravel. When we brought in an expert in Jewish records and genealogy, that made a huge difference, Koski said.

The researchers initially only found distant cousins with common surnames, and had to work through a web of ancestors from eight generations.

[..]

Finally last July they found two potential relatives living on the east coast, including in Forest Hills in Queens, New York, who provided DNA samples.

Interviews with Kaplan's family discovered another reason she was difficult to identify - no one ever filed a missing person report.

 

[HmmMysterious]

I believe she is 64 today, not in 2011 when her body discovered on the road-- so the age was estimated correctly at 50ish.

Post #75 by @victoriarobinson642 states that Ada's birth year is 1947, so she actually was 64 in 2011

 

[Seattle1]

It's believed ABK was a mother. Cases where the decedent was never reported missing are the most difficult for me. I lost my mum a year ago and I still mourn her daily. Don't think I'll ever adjust to life without her.... and we lived a country apart from each other!

 

[HmmMysterious]

It's believed ABK was a mother. Cases where the decedent was never reported missing are the most difficult for me. I lost my mum a year ago and I still mourn her daily. Don't think I'll ever adjust to life without her.... and we lived a country apart from each other!

It could be that Ada was estranged from her family, so they didn't report her missing. Or maybe her killer was a spouse or a partner who purposely cut her off from family. This killing seems extremely personal imo

 

[Seattle1]

Post #75 by @victoriarobinson642 states that Ada's birth year is 1947, so she actually was 64 in 2011

Thanks -- I just saw the photo from class yearbook date estimated at 1963 (and est dob 1947). Not seeing an official confirmation.

 

[Seattle1]

Woman found in prone position with no head or thumbs and blood drained from entire body is ID'd

Nearly 13 years after cops found a woman without her head or thumbs and with her blood drained from her body, they now know her name.

lawandcrime.com

 

[Seattle1]

Headless, drained of blood and missing thumbs, cold case victim ID'd after nearly 13 years

Investigators identified the body of a woman missing her head and thumbs and drained of blood after more than 12 years through DNA analysis.

www.usatoday.com

1/8/24

The case went cold for nine years until investigators brought on the DNA Doe Project, a non-profit dedicated to solving cases using DNA analysis, to help tackle the case.

A group of volunteer investigative genetic genealogists with the project spent three years piecing together Kaplan's family tree after they hit on a DNA match to several of her distant cousins, according to a press release.

“Our team worked long and hard for this identification,” Missy Koski, the team's leader, said.

When they found that three of Kaplan's grandparents were immigrants with an Eastern European background, they enlisted the help of an expert in Ashkenazi Jewish genealogy.

“Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry is often complicated to unravel," Koski said. "When we brought in an expert in Jewish records and genealogy, that made a huge difference.”

The team finally found two possible relations of Kaplan's on the other side of the country. When DNA samples from the relatives came back as a match, the team knew they had uncovered the identity of the body.

Law enforcement officials later learned through interviews that a missing persons report on Kaplan had never been filed.

Although the mystery of Kaplan's identity was solved, the person responsible for her death and the place where she died remain unknown.

The Kern County Sheriff's Office did not immediately return a request for comment.

 

[silvernblack]

Ok....so riddle me this.... if this is the same Ada Beth Kaplan why is she already recorded as having died in 2011 in familysearch.org? 2 entries, march 2011 and dec 2011....and born in 1947? FamilySearch.org

 

[Seattle1]

Ok....so riddle me this.... if this is the same Ada Beth Kaplan why is she already recorded as having died in 2011 in familysearch.org? 2 entries, march 2011 and dec 2011....and born in 1947? FamilySearch.org

I'm not registered to use FSO but I'd first confirm the date stamp when the two entries were actually made. Reportedly, volunteers were working with her family tree and distant cousins for three years so there are many possibilities here. However, if somebody made the entry on or near 3/29/11 -- that would be a huge red flag! JMO

A group of volunteer investigative genetic genealogists with the project spent three years piecing together Kaplan's family tree after they hit on a DNA match to several of her distant cousins, according to a press release.