FL FL - Watson Island, BlkFem 790UFFL, 16-26, in Japanese Gardens, Feb'81

[Bit of hope]

Interesting. Gap between teeth. Can't remember seeing that before (or I was sleeping....) Victim of sex trafficking?- Japanese Gardens Girl

Her body bore many injuries from being dragged by the vehicle and was barefoot and partially clothed from the waist down; what are presumed to be her jeans and high heels were found in two separate locations on Watson Island, apparently after being tossed from a vehicle.

She is believed to have been hit intentionally, as whoever killed her passed over her twice with their vehicle. Investigators at the time believed that she was a sex worker killed by an associate (perhaps a client or a pimp) in the vehicle that eventually ran her over after an argument which ultimately lead to the girl either leaving the car herself or being forcibly ejected.

It's not known if there is any evidence, such as witness accounts, supporting this theory, and her case file has since been lost.

Her age range has been changed several times; it was initially believed that she was between 15 and 20 years old, but later estimates put her age as being as young as 12 or as old as 26. The most recent estimation, as of 2016, narrows the age range considerably to between 14 and 16. As of March 2019, NCMEC still puts her at between 12 and 18.
She was 5ft2 and weighed around 90lbs, significantly underweight for an adult women, better suited for a girl around 13 years of age.

Characteristics-

• Age range 12- 26 years old, likely a preteen/teen
• Weighed 90 lbs
• Stood around 5ft2
• brown eyes.
• hair was medium-length, brown, kinky and had bleached streaks. Accounts differ as to what color the streaks in her hair were; they have been described as bleached blonde and also as being pink.
• Eyebrows were "arched", styled, or painted on.
• Gap between her front teeth.
• Some scars on her neck.

Clothing worn-

• a white or beige shirt or blouse
• Blue "Chic" jeans with the words "wet dreams" written in bleach on a back pocket (not found with body)
• A white bra
• Bikini underwear with words "Rest Area Visitors Welcome"
• Black and brown "Town and Country" high heels (not found with body)

Many people believe she was a victim of sex trafficking and was not local to the area she was found in.

 

[Aurora90]

I posted in another thread but possibly Christine James? It won't let me do a side by side photo comparison but the nose and gap tooth makes me wonder....

 

[victoriarobinson642]

I posted in another thread but possibly Christine James? It won't let me do a side by side photo comparison but the nose and gap tooth makes me wonder....

View attachment 371163

I submitted her a while back and I think she was ruled out.

 

[Caring1]

Christine James is one of the three that have been ruled out.

Missing Person / NamUs #MP78187Christine James
Date of Last ContactMay 16, 1983
StateFL
CountySumter

Missing Person / NamUs #MP14204Shirley Hyman
Date of Last ContactAugust 28, 1981
StatePA
CountyPhiladelphia

Missing Person / NamUs #MP26421Beverly Ward
Date of Last ContactJuly 04, 1978
StateKS
CountyGeary

 

[Hochman]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

Larger versions of composites

 

[NJEverCurious]

I was trying to find online resources, lists of missing persons from Haiti, the Bahamas... all of the islands near Florida... from the 1970s. I wasn't able to find any such lists online. Maybe the record-keeping on those islands wasn't great at that time, so maybe the lists of missing persons don't exist. I read that there was a huge influx of immigrants from the Caribbean into Florida in the 1970s, particularly from Haiti. I just have this idea that the UIP was never reported missing because she wasn't a legal US resident.

 

[citizen_sleuth]

"Woman crushed to death on Watson Island," Miami News, 3 February 1981, 4A.

The bloody body of the girl -- believed to be 15 to 20 years old -- was found today on a grassy field outside the Japanese Gardens on Watson Island off the MacArthur Causeway.

Her head had been crushed by the tires of a car or truck, which left a long, bloodstained track in the grass. At least two passes had been made at her body, which bore cuts as though she had been caught under the vehicle and dragged for a short distance.

"From the looks of it, there may have been a dispute in the car," said Miami detective Sgt. Richard Napoli, "over money or whatever. And somehow it looks like she was put out of the car and run over."

The girl's "Chic" brand bluejeans were found tossed from the killer's vehicle on NE Bayshore Drive near 13th Street, and her black and brown "Town & Country" high heels were in the next block near the Miami Herald-Miami News Building.

Written on the back pocket of the jeans in bleach were the words: "Wet dreams." She was found wearing only panties and a drab beige top. A purse was not recovered.

It was impossible to immediately determine whether the girl had been strangled or beaten prior to being crushed. An autopsy is scheduled to determine the exact cause of death.

Joan Fleischman, "Two women found slain Tuesday in separate incidents downtown," Miami Herald, 4 February 1981, 3B.

Shortly after 7 a.m., an attendant at a city park on Watson Island discovered the partially nude body of a young woman. She was lying near a road that runs through Japanese Gardens, a scenic tourist attraction.

The woman, who appeared to be in her late teens, had been run over, said Miami Homicide Detective Jim Boone. An autopsy performed Tuesday night showed she may have been beaten.

"This is a rough case," said Dade assistant medical examiner Dr. Roger Mittleman.

[...]

Boone, who said Japanese Gardens often serves as "a parking area for lovers," theorized that the victim may have been a prostitute.

 

[citizen_sleuth]

I’ve researched countless UID cases over the years, but this has to be one of the most brutal and horrific ones I’ve read about. This poor girl, possibly a young teenager, was likely beaten and then run over with a car repeatedly. She was possibly still alive when she was run over. She deserves justice and her name back.

 

[NJEverCurious]

"Woman crushed to death on Watson Island," Miami News, 3 February 1981, 4A.
View attachment 391494
The bloody body of the girl -- believed to be 15 to 20 years old -- was found today on a grassy field outside the Japanese Gardens on Watson Island off the MacArthur Causeway.

Her head had been crushed by the tires of a car or truck, which left a long, bloodstained track in the grass. At least two passes had been made at her body, which bore cuts as though she had been caught under the vehicle and dragged for a short distance.

"From the looks of it, there may have been a dispute in the car," said Miami detective Sgt. Richard Napoli, "over money or whatever. And somehow it looks like she was put out of the car and run over."

The girl's "Chic" brand bluejeans were found tossed from the killer's vehicle on NE Bayshore Drive near 13th Street, and her black and brown "Town & Country" high heels were in the next block near the Miami Herald-Miami News Building.

Written on the back pocket of the jeans in bleach were the words: "Wet dreams." She was found wearing only panties and a drab beige top. A purse was not recovered.

It was impossible to immediately determine whether the girl had been strangled or beaten prior to being crushed. An autopsy is scheduled to determine the exact cause of death.

Joan Fleischman, "Two women found slain Tuesday in separate incidents downtown," Miami Herald, 4 February 1981, 3B.
View attachment 391496
Shortly after 7 a.m., an attendant at a city park on Watson Island discovered the partially nude body of a young woman. She was lying near a road that runs through Japanese Gardens, a scenic tourist attraction.

The woman, who appeared to be in her late teens, had been run over, said Miami Homicide Detective Jim Boone. An autopsy performed Tuesday night showed she may have been beaten.

"This is a rough case," said Dade assistant medical examiner Dr. Roger Mittleman.

[...]

Boone, who said Japanese Gardens often serves as "a parking area for lovers," theorized that the victim may have been a prostitute.

Given the time period in which this happened and the subsequent advances in forensic science, I wonder if this UID might be a good candidate to be exhumed and checked for additional evidence.

 

[Aurora90]

There is a Jane Doe that is believed to be named Tanya Greene who was found in Ohio but was from Florida. She was trafficked to Ohio by some big time drug dealers and she ended up getting killed by them. She was also run down in a car after shot 11 times. (these same men later also ran over the man they ordered to kill her) Her NamUs profile has newspaper clippings regarding her death and the details of the trial for the men involved. It appears that a Jamaican gang brought young women from the Caribbean into the US via Florida and then trafficked them all over. They are also believed to be involved in over 20 slayings in Miami Florida since early 1980.

I have always wondered if those men might know who this Jane Doe is...

 

[Springrain]

Bumping for Japanese Gardens Girl this Christmas Eve...

 

[Moonwalker9]

I guess her photo looks alot like her PM. But since she had a recognizable face according to namus I wonder if her PM has ever been available to the public just like it was published recently for compton 1975 jane doe