Authorities: Jane Doe found in 1995 likely grew up, lived in Midwest
(New sketch released - click on image to enlarge)
It’s been 24 years since a man who was about to spray some weeds in a farm ditch southwest of Thomasboro found a human bone and clothing, which led to the discovery of almost an entire female skeleton.
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Champaign County Coroner Duane Northrup now knows that Jane Doe is from the Midwest.
“We never knew that before,” Northrup said Wednesday. “We are fairly hopeful we are going to get her identified in the not-too-distant future.”
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They presented updated information on the woman to reporters Wednesday in hopes that it will spread and they can learn who she is.
Knowing that is the first step in learning who killed her, either by blunt-force trauma or multiple gunshots, information they’ve known for years. They are not sure if she died in the field or was put there after her violent death.
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The latest development, one of many in the last two years, involved the testing of isotopes taken from her remains, a relatively recent procedure.
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Based on what analysts came up with from isotopes taken from Jane Doe’s tooth enamel, they believe she was
“most likely” born in Urbana; southeastern Illinois; Nashville, Tenn.; Springfield, Mo.; or the area north of Topeka, Kan.
From isotopes developed from her rib, they believe
the last areas where she may have lived long-term are northern Arkansas; Huntsville, Ala. (northern Alabama); Springfield, Mo. (southwestern Missouri); or Topeka, Kan. (eastern Kansas).
“She definitely seems to be in the Midwest primarily,” Northrup said. “
We do not believe she had been living in Illinois in the five years prior to her death.”
(click on image to enlarge)
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Northrup said Jane Doe’s jawbone and teeth, which were substantially intact, revealed she never had any major restorative teeth work, but there was damage or substantial staining to a lower left tooth. That damage could have been present before her death or happened after.
Northrup is hoping that if she had the defect while living, someone might have noticed. The odontologist estimated her age,
based on her teeth, at between 16 and 25.
Other experts who built on earlier facial reconstructions and skeletal analyses now believe that she was white and primarily of European or possibly Hispanic descent, between
18 and 29 years old, and between 5-foot-1 and 5-foot-9.
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She also had
overextended forearms on both sides, a condition she may not have been aware of but that family members could have, had she been medically diagnosed.
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Linda Klepinger, a University of Illinois forensic anthropologist involved when Jane Doe’s remains were first found, opined that she may have been a gymnast, ballerina, dancer, figure skater or some other athlete based on the structure of her leg bones, and that she may have given birth.
The more recent analysis couldn’t confirm those opinions based on today’s methodologies, Northrup said.
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Given the regions of the country where the isotopes suggest Jane Doe may have lived long-term, Roelfs has developed a list of several school districts in those states to which he’d like to send her updated composite.
His thinking is that a teacher or fellow student might recognize her, because the isotopes suggest areas where she may have lived some five years before her death, a time when she could have been in high school.
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In addition to the new information based on the isotope analysis, Northrup said his office is also awaiting results from specialists in genetic genealogy in hopes that that method could lead authorities to relatives of Jane Doe.
Authorities: Jane Doe found in 1995 likely grew up, lived in Midwest
