UNSOLVED CA - Redding, Female, >45, Found in A.C.I.D. Canal, Mar'13

[CarlK90245]

This article references three UID's. But this thread is focused only on the third UID mentioned in the article:

http://www.redding.com/news/2013/ap...om-three-sets-of-bones-found/?partner=popular

The other two threads can be found here:

CA CA - Redding, WhtMale, 35-55, In Henderson Open Space-Screws in Hand, Jul'12 - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community


... and here:

CA CA - Salt Creek, WhtMale, >50, Prosthetic in Shoulder-Prior Facial Trauma, Feb'13 - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community

______________

The Shasta County Coroner’s Office is hoping the public can help identify three sets of bones found within the last year now that forensic anthropologists have gotten some clues from the remains.

The bones all were found between July and March, with one set uncovered in the Henderson Open Space area, another near the Old Millhouse Deli on Highway 299 and the most recent discovered near Locust Street and the Anderson Cottonwood Irrigation Canal in Redding.

BBM

The most recently discovered bones from the ACID canal are those of a woman, Breshears said, and she was probably at least 45 years old. She was about 4 feet, 10 inches to 5 feet, 4 inches tall, Breshears said.

Investigators believe the woman may have been missing for years, because the newest coins in her pocket were from 1999 and her clothing and glasses don’t look modern.

Breshears said she and other coroner’s employees did a test by pulling random change out of their wallets, and they all came up with coins more recent than 1999, making it seem more likely the woman has been dead since around then.

“Everything led us to believe this wasn’t 2010, 11, 12, and then the change on top of that,” Breshears said.

The woman was wearing a red halter dress with a tan trenchcoat-style jacket over it, as well as white Reebok sneakers. She also had glasses and a lottery game keychain from New Jersey, Breshears said.

This news article references three UID's

http://www.redding.com/news/2013/ap...om-three-sets-of-bones-found/?partner=popular

This thread is focused on the third UID referenced in the article.

Fortunately, Breshears said, the woman had all her teeth and had dental work, so she’ll probably be easier to identify once an odontologist examines her and then the results are sent to compare to the Department of Justice’s missing persons database.

“That’s going to be very helpful,” Breshears said.

Breshears is asking anyone who thinks they may know identity of the remains to call her office at 225-5551.

She said, it’s important to remember that guesses on a person’s age and other identifying traits are not rock-solid, so if someone thinks the remains could be those of someone who doesn’t perfectly match the above descriptions, it’s still a good idea to call the coroner’s office.

 

[CarlK90245]

Other items found with the remains:

 

[CarlK90245]

Other items found with remains (Continued)

 

[CherBearSTL]

Correct me if I'm seeing this incorrectly, but the 2 pictures of the ”tan trenchcoat” are 2 different garments. One looks like a dress and one looks like a coat. Does anyone else see that?

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[OkieGranny]

Correct me if I'm seeing this incorrectly, but the 2 pictures of the ”tan trenchcoat” are 2 different garments. One looks like a dress and one looks like a coat. Does anyone else see that?

Yeah, at first glance I assumed one was front view and the other back view but I think you're right. It does look like two different garments. One has a hood and one does not, and a trench coat does not open down both the front and back.

Odd combination of garments in any case. A slinky red halter dress with sneakers? Did she come home from a party and kick off her heels, then slip on a pair of tennies to run down to the corner store for a gallon of milk?

And that's quite a sewing kit to be carrying around. The usual portable sewing kit I'm familiar with has different colors of thread wrapped around a piece of cardboard rather than on spools. Perhaps related to her job or a hobby? Was she a crafter? Maybe a wardrobe mistress for an amateur stage production, something like that?

 

[fred&edna]

I'm guessing that since more than one body was found... these garments/items were not tied to just one of them (imo) :dunno:

 

[CarlK90245]

I'm guessing that since more than one body was found... these garments/items were not tied to just one of them (imo) :dunno:

The bodies were found in three different locations. And all of the images were referenced in the article as being found with the woman's remains.

 

[CherBearSTL]

Rose Mallen went missing from Pasadena, CA in 2002. She was last known to be wearing a long tan dress and a tan blouse. http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/mallen_rose.html

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[carbuff]

I'm thinking on her way to or from a Halloween party -- that's the kind of dress women wear when they're doing Marilyn Monroe, as for instance: http://t-shirtguru.com/2009/06/19/marilyn-monroe-red-dress-t-shirt-choiceshirts/

 

[OkieGranny]

Just took a second look at the sewing kit and noticed the pennies (those are pennies, right?), so size-wise I'm thinking it may not be significant after all. Did an image search and found several different kits with mini-spools and mini-scissors with orange handles.

 

[carbuff]

Just took a second look at the sewing kit and noticed the pennies (those are pennies, right?), so size-wise I'm thinking it may not be significant after all. Did an image search and found several different kits with mini-spools and mini-scissors with orange handles.

Yeah, looks like one of those little kits you can pick up at Woolworth's or whatever the modern equivalent is, or sometimes at better hotels and motels. I carry one when I'm traveling.

 

[toscaxyz]

Interesting to note that quite a bit of the thread on some of the spools seems to have been used in the sewing kit, but only certain colors. When I've had little sewing kits like that, it's the white and black threads that go first, then maybe the red and the gray. The spool there that is most used up might have been white and one of the others black, though one of the full spools looks black, too. A lot of blue was used, too. There's a threader there, but I can't tell whether there are needles.

 

[carbuff]

I'm not totally sure, but I think the needle might be stuck through the thread on the gray spool.

 

[toscaxyz]

I'm not totally sure, but I think the needle might be stuck through the thread on the gray spool.

I think you may be right.

I also noticed in the comments on the news article linked for the three bodies that this site is close to a homeless encampment. A homeless woman might well be wearing several layers of garments that don't necessarily go together and carrying a sewing kit or other items that she wanted to hold on to.

But we don't know if it was a homeless encampment at the times the three bodies ended up in the canal.

 

[carbuff]

The possible New Jersey connection made me think of this woman, who went missing in 1994.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/i/irizarry_elba.html

Not a lot of information about her, except that she had a drug problem and could easily have become homeless. There's plenty of time for her to have wandered to California.

 

[tatertot]

I tried to hone in on the lotto keychain as a clue and it's driving me nuts.

My dad had/still has a similar keychain that I played with as a kid in the early 1980s, except his wasn't branded to a particular state's lottery. It had a clear plastic cover and plastic balls inside. You'd shake it, the balls would settle into the slight indentations over the numbers and you'd choose those for your ticket.

NJ appears to be the only state that actually calls its six-number lotto game "Pick 6," at least currently:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_six-number_lottery_games

The photo is blurry, but Jane Doe's keychain has eight rows of six numbers:

1----2---3---4----5----6
7----8---9---10--11---12
13--14--15--16--17---18
19--20--21--22--23---24
25--26--27--28--29---30
31--32--33--34--35---36
37--38--39--40--41---42
43--44--45--46--47---48

That's a matrix of 48 numbers, and it's unclear whether NJ's Pick 6 game ever had exactly 48 numbers. It started with 36 numbers and currently has a matrix of 49.

History of NJ's Pick 6 Lotto game:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Jersey_Lottery#Pick-6_Lotto

NJ's Pick 6 lotto game began on May 9, 1980, originally with 39 numbers and progressing to a matrix of 49 numbers by September 2000.

The official NJ Lottery history page has slightly different information than Wikipedia:

http://www.state.nj.us/lottery/about/6-0_about.htm

May 1980: Pick 6 begins
June 1984: Matrix upgraded to 39 instead of 36 numbers
February 1986: Matrix upgraded to 42 numbers
January 1989: Matrix now has 46 numbers

So, did LE assume this keychain originated in NJ because of the "Pick 6" logo or does it actually have a NJ lottery logo on the reverse side? If "Pick 6" was just a generic name printed on these keychains, they'd presumably have been sold in states that had 48-number games at the time. It wouldn't make sense to make a keychain for a 49-number game if it never let you pick the 49th number.

 

[hannah1988]

So, did LE assume this keychain originated in NJ because of the "Pick 6" logo or does it actually have a NJ lottery logo on the reverse side? If "Pick 6" was just a generic name printed on these keychains, they'd presumably have been sold in states that had 48-number games at the time. It wouldn't make sense to make a keychain for a 49-number game if it never let you pick the 49th number.

Good question! I found a very similar key chain for sale from someone in Winnipeg, CA, but it had 49 numbers instead of 48. Am I allowed to post that link here?

It looks like there's a Canadian lotto game called 6/49 that requires you to pick 6. I'm not sure of the history of that game, but maybe this keychain is from Canada and not NJ.

 

[SpicySun]

Have they released any cause of death on the 3 found? This the area that Tera Smith disappeared from in 1998. I know they suspect the karate instructor and she's too young to fit any of these UIDs, but seems to be a lot of activity in this area during that time considering the entire county has only 177,000 people.

 

[Odyssey]

I just looked at Bettina Antone, who fit in every way except that Bettina had dentures.

She was missing from Redding, fits the height, and was supposed to have gone camping with 2 male friends.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/a/antone_bettina.html

I'm guessing they're sure the UID teeth are natural...

 

[Odyssey]

The bodies were found in three different locations. And all of the images were referenced in the article as being found with the woman's remains.

Meaning they're not thought to be connected?