Identified! CO - Boulder Co., WhtFem 'Boulder Jane Doe, 17-20, Mar'54 - Dorothy Howard

[UMfanforever]

I was not aware of Katharine Dyer until 2004, two years after Jimmie Dyer died. Too bad, as he would have been able to give me the answers. He married his second wife, however, in 1955, a year after Katharine disappeared, and he never even told his 2nd wife of his first wife's name. I've discussed this with her, and she thinks Jimmie and Katharine went their separate ways, and he just decided to move on (without any record of a divorce). Jimmie graduated from what's now Northern AZ Univ. in Flagstaff AZ, but Katharine was NOT a student. Yes, colleges keep their paperwork, and we have official confirmation from the Univ. that Jimmie's spouse was "Katharine E. Farrand Dyer." While he was in class, she worked as a waitress at a truck stop on Route 66.

Dang. I appreciate your dedication.

 

[Silvia]

Good questions! I found out about Emily Adams from relatives of Katharine's late husband Jimmie Dyer. And I found Emily Adams in the Denver City Directory for 1947. However, Emily is now deceased. Katharine lived next door to Emily ca. 1947-1948. Then they both moved to Flagstaff, and Katharine married Emily's brother Jimmie. Then Katharine and Jimmie moved to Denver and lived together from 1950 to 1953. In 1953, they separated. Katharine was one of 4 tenants in a family's home, i.e. the boarding house, but no one there is still alive. WITHIN ONE BLOCK was the Clara Lane Friendship Society, one of two "lonely hearts" or dating clubs in Denver. Yes, absolutely, I think that's where she met up with serial killer Harvey Glatman.

 

[MaryLiz]

Here is an article from last week in the Cleveland Examiner about Harvey Glatman and BJD.

http://www.examiner.com/a-1384316~_Lonely_Hearts_Killer__confessed_to_3_murders.html

 

[WholeLottaRosie]

Bumping up for BJD. Anything new? Silvia - what happened to the forum on the BJD site?

 

[Silvia]

Thanks for asking about www.boulderjanedoe.com. The website is still there, but I had to deactivate the message board, as it was getting 10-20 spam messages per day. I'm sure there is a way around that problem, but the message board served its purpose, and people with questions are welcome to email me directly.

 

[WholeLottaRosie]

Arghh. I hate spammers.

What could someone be doing now to help you?

 

[shadowangel]

On November 8th, 1961, 16 year-old Sandra Lee Smith was walking from her home in Aurora, CO, to a baton-twirling class. A man in a red and black Ford sedan with Wyoming plates stopped and offered her $5 for her help in locating an address. The man, calling himself "Dr. Allen", then forced her into his car. He drove a short distance into the country and beat her savagely. The man then forced her into the trunk of his car, drove another short distance, and again beat Sandra. He then shot her twice in the head with a .22 handgun, once in the eye and once in the temple.
Miraculously, Sandra survived the attack. She crawled from the field where she had been left, and along a roadway. She was later found by hunters, and taken for medical attention. Sandra lost her eye and all her toes due to frostbite, but survived the ordeal.
Sandra was able to give police details of her attacker. Another girl in the area also reported being approached by a man meeting the same description, calling himself "Dr. Truman Allen".
Through the information given by Sandra and other details not released, police were able to indentify a suspect.
Alfred Wesley Ratzloff, 42, originally from Kansas, was living in the Casper WY. He had been arrested for robbing a bank in Kansas in 1957, but was ruled incompetent to stand trial and placed in a state hospital. Police in the Denver area put out an all-points bulletin for Ratzloff. A car meeting the description of the one he was operating was reported in Kansas. As police closed in, a house in a residential area of Witchita exploded on November 30th. Inside, severely injured but alive, was Alfred Ratzloff.
Ratzloff eventually confessed to the attack on Sandra, and was the state hospital in Pueblo in May of '62.

Before and during the time of the trial, authorities from Colorado, New Mexico and Texas questioned Ratzloff about other murders that were similar in nature to the attack on Sandra. He was not charged in any of the cases.

Boulder is some 35 miles from Aurora.

 

[Silvia]

Medusa kindly asked what people could do to help in the Boulder Jane Doe case. We would love to find a blood relative of Katharine E. Farrand Dyer, born 14 Oct 1926 in San Antonio TX. However, this information that she provided on her marriage affidavit may be false (or she could have been using a fake name, or been adopted, or her birth not recorded), as no one "fits" as her family. We have eliminated so many names that were close, etc. I now believe that she didn't have a family when she disappeared, and that's why her body never was claimed. However, anyone who thinks he/she may have found a connection, please email me at pettem@earthlink.net. Thanks.

 

[WholeLottaRosie]

Thanks, Silvia! Will keep trying on it. Question, do you have a subscription to Newspaper Archives? I am working on searching there, but, if someone else is already doing so, hate to waste time duplicating efforts?

 

[Silvia]

Thanks for offering to search on Newspaper Archives. I appreciate it! I do have a subscription to Ancestry.com that includes newspaper searches, but I don't know if that's the same as subscribing directly to Newspaper Archives. Is it? Anyway, I am glad for any help to find the family of Katharine E. Farrand who married Jimmie Dyer. Thanks again.

 

[shadowangel]

The more people look in the archives, the better...Different search terms can yield vastly different results. Keep in mind, the search engine hits on direct matches....If the copy is of low quality (one of the 'r's in 'Farrand' doesnt show up in the newsprint) the search engine may not return a hit. Likewise, different wording on search phrases will result in different hits.

 

[shadowangel]

Has it ever been mentioned or discussed as to whether there was indication that BJD had even given birth?

 

[Silvia]

In Boulder Jane Doe's original autopsy, on the day her body was found, the pathologist said that there was "no indication of a past pregnancy." Also, after exhumation, when a forensic anthropologist reassembled her remains, he said he could tell from her pelvic bones that she had not given birth. (FYI: Katharine E. Farrand Dyer did not have any children.)

 

[shadowangel]

Thanks, Silvia. I found another missing woman, last known to be in Casper Wyoming in early '54, but she had had a child in '50. (Then again, I'm assuming the child mentioned was hers by birth and not marriage).

 

[Silvia]

Can you provide more info on the WY woman (with the child)? Name, etc.? I am keeping a list, whether they seem like good candidates for Boulder Jane Doe or not. Thanks.

 

[shadowangel]

Her name was Donna Lowe. There wasn't a lot of info I could find, it was an article from the '70s about her mother in MI still looking for information on her.
Donna left her husband in SC in early '54, enroute to WA to stay with her father. Her husband was supposed to follow her sometime later, but it appears he never did. Donna was known to have been in a hotel in in Casper WY in early '54. At some point, and it isn't specified where, she left her 4 year-old son at a police dep't and told him to tell the police that his mommy couldn't care for him anymore.
Donna was though to have taken up with an unnamed Korean War veteran. According to the article, her mother never heard from her after she left SC.

 

[MaryLiz]

I have a subscription to newspaperarchives.com. I looked briefly for info on Katharine under Farrand and Dyer but couldn't find anything yet. I will look again a little later when I have some more free time.

 

[Silvia]

The problem with newspapers.com is that they don't include the Denver CO papers of the early 1950s, which is where Katharine disappeared from in 1954. I've read months of the actual papers on microfilm and never found any mention of her again, after having disappeared shortly before Jane Doe's body was found.

 

[MaryLiz]

The problem with newspapers.com is that they don't include the Denver CO papers of the early 1950s, which is where Katharine disappeared from in 1954. I've read months of the actual papers on microfilm and never found any mention of her again, after having disappeared shortly before Jane Doe's body was found.

I know..they only have certain papers and if you do happen to find a paper you're looking for, then they don't have the dates you need! Sometimes I think about cancelling my subscription but I always keep it just on the slim hope I'll find something!

 

[WholeLottaRosie]

I have a subscription to newspaperarchives.com. I looked briefly for info on Katharine under Farrand and Dyer but couldn't find anything yet. I will look again a little later when I have some more free time.

I have spent HOURS and have found nothing. But, I really believe this will be solved, so I keep on when I have time.