Jane Ellen Wakefield
Missing since September 5, 1975 from Iowa City, Johnson County, Iowa.
Classification: Endangered Missing
Vital Statistics
Date Of Birth: November 19, 1948
Age at Time of Disappearance: 26 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'2; 112 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Brown hair; green eyes. Wakefield wore eyeglasses at the time of her disappearance.
Dentals: Missing tooth #14
Circumstances of Disappearance
Wakefield was last seen on September 5, 1975 by friends in the north section of Iowa City on a bicycle. Some reports list she was last seen at her mobile home at the Bon-Aire Mobile Home Lodge, in Iowa City, Iowa.
She was reported missing on Sept. 8, 1975, by Penn school principal Larry Sharp, where she was a teacher.
A police check of her trailer revealed her bicycle at its usual place beside the trailer and clothing in a location suggesting she had recently taken a shower. The trailer was orderly and nothing was missing or out of place.
At the time, a series of lie detector tests narrowed the list of suspects. However, one major suspect had refused to take such a test questioning the validity of such tests.
On Sept 10, 1975, Iowa City police drained two city lagoons near the victim's trailer court but no evidence pertaining to the case was uncovered.
In January of 1976, police armed with search warrants went to an Iowa City tavern where the woman had worked, an Iowa City apartment house and a billiard parlor, both managed by her estranged husband, John A. Wakefield.
Ashes sifted from an incinerator at the apartment in question were sent to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation Laboratory in Des Moines: Lab analysis of bone fragments found in the incinerator were found to be inconclusive.
Subsequently, a stretch of 1-80 north-of Iowa City was also searched by some 20 officers. No official explanation for the search has ever been released. Jane has never been seen again.
Investigators
If you have any information on Wakefield's whereabouts, please contact:
Iowa City Police Department
Lt Sid Jackson
319-356-5276
E-Mail:
investigations@iowa-city.org
OR
Iowa Missing Persons' Clearinghouse
800-346-5507
E-Mail:
mpicinfo@dps.state.ia.us
All information may be submitted on an anonymous basis.
NCIC Number: M-703329643
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.
Source Information:
Iowa Missing Persons' Clearinghouse
GazetteOnline
Iowa City Missing Persons
Gazette
The Doe Network: Case File 55DFIA
LINK:
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/55dfia.html