So picking up the story...
Around 1974, Uncle John Gifford passed away early from a heart attack while hunting with his friends. That left Aunt Ogee to raise up three children by herself.
In 1976, having no strong father figure in her life, 14yo Judy began misbehaving. According to Aunt Ogee, Judy's school grades were dropping, she was rebelling against her adoptive mother, she was sneaking out of the house at nights, and she was getting herself into trouble with law enforcement.
So Aunt Ogee felt that it was time for Judy to now return back to her biological father, as originally agreed upon that the adoption would only be temporary - to give time for my father to find a new wife and settle down. So my Aunt Ogee and Judy flew out to San Francisco in the Summer of 1976. After a brief stay, Aunt Ogee flew back to N.J., leaving behind Judy under her biological father's care.
I have only two event memories of Judy when she was with us in S.F.
- A trip to the S.F. Zoo, where an argument had occurred between my father and Judy.
- A phone call of Judy crying to Aunt Ogee that she wanted to fly back to N.J. to be with Aunt Ogee. And Aunt Ogee telling her that she needed to learn to love her biological father.
And on October 1, 1976, according to
Doe Network,
Unidentified Wiki, and
namus.gov, a body of an Asian female was found. For 43 years, nobody linked the two together.
For me, I was told that "Cousin" Judy flew back to Aunt Ogee. My parents never told me that Judy was my half-sister. In 1988, when I was 18yo, I visited Aunt Ogee. It was the first time we had seen each other since 1976. I asked her where was "Cousin" Judy, her daughter? That is when she told me the story of Judy Gifford. But she thought Judy had ran away.
She had lived in that same house just outside of Fort Dix, NJ for over 40 years with the same house phone number because she hoped and prayed that Judy just might somehow show up at her house or call her. She was afraid that if she moved or changed her phone number, that it could prevent Judy from ever knowing how to get a hold of her. And during the last 40+ years, Aunt Ogee has lived with deep regret and remorse over the phone conversation that she had with Judy. She wishes that she did not rebuff Judy's cries of wanting to fly back to N.J. and live with her, but instead would have said, "Yes, come on back. I'll buy the airplane ticket right now."
This is the tragic story of the short lived life of Judy Shin / Gifford.
Unfortunately, the story remains an unfinished tragic story. The chapters of "Whereabouts Unknown / Missing Persons" and "Identifying S.F. Jane Doe #40" have now concluded. A final chapter of Judy's story has begun: "Whodunit? Who killed Judy Gifford and Why?" SFPD has shared their thoughts with both my sister and me. Both my sister and I are fully supportive of SFPD's efforts to finding justice for Judy. Until then, at least my family has closure knowing