Identified! IL - Grundy Co, BlkFem UP17621, 18-23, body in ditch at U.S. Rte 6, Oct'76 JoAnn "Vickie" Smith

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Seems like she is a DoeFundMe case from DDP's most recent update:

DNA Doe Project

"DNA Doe Project Case Announcement:
Grundy County Jane Doe, Seneca, Illinois, 1976

Status: A sample from Grundy County Jane Doe is currently at the lab pending extraction, and will then proceed to whole genome sequencing, bioinformatics, upload to GEDmatch, and then analysis by our team of volunteer genetic genealogists.

About the 1976 Grundy County Unidentified Female Black Cold Case:
On the afternoon of 2 October 1976, a farmer and his young granddaughter discovered the nude body of an unidentified, black woman in a ditch on US Highway 6 a couple of miles east of the LaSalle County line in Erienna Township, Grundy County, Illinois near Seneca, Illinois
Local authorities determined her cause of death was homicide from a single .38 caliber revolver shot to the back of the head. Investigators were unable to identify the young woman and laid Grundy County Jane Doe to rest in an unmarked grave nearly two months after her death.
The victim had brown eyes and black hair, with an estimated age between 15 and 27 years old, a height of 5' 7," and a weight of 150 pounds. Authorities noted the presence of a multi-colored knit sweater wrapped around her head, covered with a green plastic bag, and tied off with black electrical tape.

NamUs ID: UP17621
Date Found: 2 October 1976
Race: Black
Gender: Female
Estimated Age: 15 – 27
Estimated PMI: one day
Location: Seneca, Grundy County, Illinois

Anyone who believes they have relevant information on this case should contact authorities directly:

Brandon J. Johnson, Deputy Coroner
Grundy County Coroner’s Office
815.941.3359 • bjohnson@grundyco.org

Links to More Information:
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
NamUs - Melissa Gregory
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1401ufil.html The Doe Network
Grundy County Jane Doe Fandom
Unidentified Wiki
EPISODE 161: Grundy County Jane Doe
The Vanished Podcast
Grundy County Coroner's Office exhumes Jane Doe | Morris Herald-News
Morris Herald-News
DNA Doe Project: Grundy County Jane Doe - DNA Doe Project Cases
Agency: Cold Cases

DoeFundMe Goal: $2300 (Matching funds of $1150 are available through the generous grant by the Dyer Family Foundation).

• To donate via Facebook, please select the option below associated with this post

• To donate via Paypal, please visit our website at: Grundy County Jane Doe - DNA Doe Project Cases and select the “Donate” button. A box will appear where supporters may enter their name as preferred for inclusion on our DDP Donor page. Leave the box blank to remain anonymous.

Many thanks to our thoughtful supporters for their continued support and interest in the DNA Doe Project. As always, we ask that commenters remain respectful to our Does and their families.

Our thanks to NCMEC for this facial approximation.

#DNADoeProject
#GrundyCountyJaneDoe
#GrundyCounty #Illinois
#SenecaIllinois
#DoeFundMe
Grundy County Sheriff's Office"
 
Ancestry Sites Employed To Crack 43-Year-Old Cold Case

Her story may very well rank as Illinois’ coldest case.

No one knows who she is but authorities in Grundy County are hoping new breakthrough technology could reveal her identity.

Officially, she is known as Jane Seneca Doe. When her body was found on a roadside in rural Grundy County in October of 1976, she carried no identification but was believed to have been between 18 to 23 years old.

And she had been shot once in the head.

“She had a multi-colored knit red and white black sweater wrapped around her head, as well as a plastic bag,” said Brandon Johnson, the deputy chief coroner of Grundy County. “And it appears she was dumped at the site.”

The only object found in the young woman’s pocket was a bottle of wine but the ensuing investigation yielded nothing.

On Thanksgiving Day of 1976, she was buried in an unmarked grave and she remained there for over 40 years.
---
The larger issue may be time. Jane Seneca Doe died in 1976. Had she survived, she would now be in her sixties. Potential relatives are getting older themselves.

“We’re fighting against the clock at this point,” Johnson said. “If her parents were still alive, they’d have to be in their eighties, maybe nineties. But I’m hoping we’ll still be able to connect with another relative.”

Johnson says he remains hopeful that his victim’s relatives may provide the key to unlocking questions which have eluded authorities for 43 years.
---
Johnson has made solving his Jane Doe case something of a mission. It’s a remarkable quest for a public official who was born 15 years after she died.

“It’s just bothersome that somebody could be dumped like that and buried in an unmarked grave for so many years, not to be missed or have any closure or justice,” he says. “I don’t think anybody deserves to be treated that way.”

Using DNA Kits To Crack 43-Year-Old Murder Mystery
 
Ancestry Sites Employed To Crack 43-Year-Old Cold Case

Her story may very well rank as Illinois’ coldest case.

No one knows who she is but authorities in Grundy County are hoping new breakthrough technology could reveal her identity.

Officially, she is known as Jane Seneca Doe. When her body was found on a roadside in rural Grundy County in October of 1976, she carried no identification but was believed to have been between 18 to 23 years old.

And she had been shot once in the head.

“She had a multi-colored knit red and white black sweater wrapped around her head, as well as a plastic bag,” said Brandon Johnson, the deputy chief coroner of Grundy County. “And it appears she was dumped at the site.”

The only object found in the young woman’s pocket was a bottle of wine but the ensuing investigation yielded nothing.

On Thanksgiving Day of 1976, she was buried in an unmarked grave and she remained there for over 40 years.
---
The larger issue may be time. Jane Seneca Doe died in 1976. Had she survived, she would now be in her sixties. Potential relatives are getting older themselves.

“We’re fighting against the clock at this point,” Johnson said. “If her parents were still alive, they’d have to be in their eighties, maybe nineties. But I’m hoping we’ll still be able to connect with another relative.”

Johnson says he remains hopeful that his victim’s relatives may provide the key to unlocking questions which have eluded authorities for 43 years.
---
Johnson has made solving his Jane Doe case something of a mission. It’s a remarkable quest for a public official who was born 15 years after she died.

“It’s just bothersome that somebody could be dumped like that and buried in an unmarked grave for so many years, not to be missed or have any closure or justice,” he says. “I don’t think anybody deserves to be treated that way.”

Using DNA Kits To Crack 43-Year-Old Murder Mystery
The last time I checked the DDP updated, she was in the bioinformatics stage. That’s the last stage before her DNA is uploaded to the GEDMatch website. Hopefully, we’ll have an identification this year or early next year!
 
Just wanted to update y’all.

Grundy County Jane Doe is now in the GEDMatch system.

DDP has expressed that the African American DNA in GEDMatch is widely underrepresented. They haven’t had any successes with any of the Black John/Jane Does so far.

So, please-if you have done a DNA test with 23andMe or Ancestry or any other site, please upload your DNA to GEDMatch and opt in! It is highly appreciated and I have personally opted in just in case I share any centimorgans of DNA with any of the Does.
 
It’s been 43 years since her discovery. I asked Mrs. Margaret Press of DDP about her and she replied and said that they do have matches but don’t think it’ll be a very quick identification.

Someone is commenting on DDP’s Facebook post about this Jane Doe possibly being her birth mother. It could be a good lead. Mrs. Press also talked to her about what to do next. She listed the agency’s contact information so hopefully the woman looks further into it. That would be really great!
 
Grundy County Coroner remembers unidentified murder victim 43 years later

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Forty-three years have passed since an unidentified woman was found shot to death in a field in rural Grundy County. Now, two years after Grundy County Coroner John W. Callahan reopened the case in an effort to finally identify the victim, the case remains active, but no identification has been made.

The woman's body was discovered on Oct. 2, 1976 by a farmer and his granddaughter in a field on west U.S. Route 6 in Erienna Township in Seneca, about 1.4 miles east of the LaSalle County Line.

The woman is referred to as "Jane Seneca Doe" in the case file.
---
On Dec. 18, 2018, the Grundy County Coroner’s Office exhumed the remains of the female to utilize the advancements in DNA. A Forensic Odontologist also examined the remains to determine the victim's age.
---
In June, Deputy Chief Coroner Brandon Johnson announced a partnership with the DNA Doe Project, which is an all-volunteer organization, which uses genealogical DNA to identify the unidentified. The DNA Doe Project remains hard at work in attempting to bring forward this female’s identity.

On Monday, the eve of the 43rd anniversary of discovery of the unidentified victim, Coroner Callahan, Chief Deputy Coroner Hintze-Symoniak and Deputy Chief Coroner Johnson placed flowers and an artist-rendered-image of how the female may have appeared in life near the site of her discovery.

“This victim was someone’s daughter, loved one or friend,” Johnson said. “We remembered and we will continue to remember this victim until she finally gets her name back.”
---
The victim was between 15 and 27 years of age, with black afro-type-hair, brown eyes, weighing approximately 150 pounds and standing 5-feet-7-inches tall, and was found wearing a red, white and black cardigan-style knit sweater.

Grundy County Coroner remembers unidentified murder victim 43 years later | Morris Herald-News
 
I came across a missing female from Indiana and I was going to mention on her WS thread that her age is listed incorrectly. I usually search for additional photos of someone if there’s aren’t many readily available on the various sites and the ones I did find immediately made me think of GCJD. I’m going to post her information here despite the one glaringly obvious detail that would exclude her from being a match to Doe.

The Charley Project
NamUs
IN - Michelle Ellis, 45, Indianapolis, 2 Aug 1978
  • Missing Since: 08/02/1978
  • Missing From: Indianapolis, Indiana
  • Classification: Endangered Missing
  • Date of Birth: 10/20/1954 (64)
  • Age: 23 years old
  • Height and Weight: 5'4, 115 pounds
  • Clothing/Jewelry Description: Blue jeans, a gray sweater with multicolored stripes and blue or black cuffs, and white sneakers.
  • Distinguishing Characteristics: African-American female. Black hair, brown eyes.
Details of Disappearance
Ellis was last seen leaving her home in Indianapolis, Indiana at 8:00 a.m. on August 2, 1978. At 9:00 a.m., her red 1973 Oldsmobile Omega was found in the 3700 block of Fall Creek Parkway, out of gas, about half a block from a service station.

The driver's side door was locked, but the passenger door was open. Inside the vehicle was Ellis's car keys and her purse, which contained her driver's license, identification, checkbook, credit cards and $2 in cash.

Ellis was part-time model and a student at the Herron School of Art at Indiana-Purdue University at the time of her disappearance. She had worked as a cashier in the automotive department at a Sears store at Castleton Square, but she quit on July 28 and never picked up her last paycheck. She lived with her parents in the 3700 block of north Drexel.

On December 11, 1980, two years and four months after her disappearance, Ellis's parents got a phone call from someone who said "This is Michelle." The caller then hung up and never called back. It hasn't been verified that the caller was in fact Ellis. She has never been heard from again; her case remains unsolved.

Investigating Agency
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5F2J9HEPX4miJhGMKW8Ghc24TkfYo0KsRE4g4jKyIHLBZJrrDYypN3InOlgZnwUWpKUqpuJcoxSsJoHjiQk9Qth9ySC63n67vq43Wzct5rX55vkExnrouVu2jfT_AuKzFZKLWwbq
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*ETA: WS link
 
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A new article on this case, that includes Carl K's picture ...

Illinois investigators believe homicide victim from 1976 could be from Alabama

Illinois investigators believe homicide victim from 1976 could be from Alabama

The body of an African-American woman was found in a ditch along U.S. Route 6 in unincorporated Seneca, Illinois on October 2, 1976. The woman is believed to have been between 15 and 27 years old at the time.

The case was reopened two years ago. Since then, genealogy DNA has helped investigators identify a fourth cousin and a first cousin or niece in Alabama.

...
 
Update from DDP!

"DNA Doe Project Case Announcement: Grundy County Jane Doe - Seneca, Illinois (1976)

Status: Reaching out to the public for help on our Grundy county Jane Doe with additional details:
The Grundy County Coroner’s Office is releasing an update into the cold case investigation of an unidentified homicide victim from 1976.

On October 2, 1976, the body of an African-American-Female, who was estimated to be between fifteen and twenty-seven years of age, was discovered in a ditch, alongside U.S. Route 6 near Holderman Hill, in unincorporated Seneca, Illinois. The victim had been shot in the head and discarded in this rural area. After being unidentified for approximately a month, the victim was buried without her name, in an unmarked grave at the Braceville-Gardner Cemetery in Braceville, Illinois, until investigators from the Coroner’s Office exhumed her remains in December of 2018, to utilize modern-day Forensic Science and DNA techniques.

Since May of 2019, the Grundy County Coroner’s Office has been working closely with the DNA Doe Project, an organization that utilizes genetic genealogy to assist in identifying the unidentified.
Throughout the course of months of efforts, the DNA Doe Project has successfully located a close match to Jane Seneca Doe.

Due to an extensive family tree, the Grundy County Coroner’s Office and the DNA Doe Project are requesting the public’s assistance in helping to finally identify Jane Seneca Doe.

The following is the information known at this time:
-Jane Seneca Doe was likely born between 1948 and 1960 and would have been missing by October 1976.
-Her parents may have come from Selma, Alabama. One set of grandparents were from Selma, Alabama.
-One of her grandparent’s was likely named Calhoun. One great-grandparent may have been named Harris.
-Other possible areas her relatives reside: Dallas Co. or Wilcox Co., Alabama.
-At least one branch of the family moved to Ohio.
-She may have siblings who were unaware of her existence.


Anyone with any information, which may lead to the identity of Jane Seneca Doe, is urged to contact Deputy Chief Coroner Brandon Johnson of the Grundy County Coroner’s Office at 815-941-3359 or e-mail: bjohnson@grundyco.org
1976 Grundy County Unidentified Female Black Cold Case

Links to More Information:
Grundy County Jane Doe - DNA Doe Project Cases
DNA Doe Project
DNA Doe Project

Image Credit: National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Many thanks to our thoughtful supporters for their continued support and interest in the DNA Doe Project. As always, we ask that commenters remain respectful to our Does and their families.

Please continue to advocate for transfers to FTDNA and gedmatch.com opt-IN.

For more information on the DNA Doe Project and our other cases, visit our website: DNA Doe Project
For more information and help on uploading to GEDmatch:
Public Education – How you can help forensic genealogists

#DNADoeProject #GrundyCountyJaneDoe #GrundyCounty #Illinois #SenecaIllinois "

(Edited by Mod to emphasize key points)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
FWIW, anyone interested in genealogy especially, seeing this update reminded me of a missing girl from South Carolina since 1971. She was 11, so born in or near 1960. I tried looking into her disappearance to see if she could possibly be GCJD and didn’t get much information at all.

I do recall the name Harris(s), both forename and surname, coming up during my research. IIRC, I found a Harris/Gilliam connection but didn’t make it past that. I couldn’t determine at first glance if I found a European family or African American family.

May be absolutely nothing but I know if anyone could find a connection, it’d be one of you all!

Phyllis Gilliam – The Charley Project
 
Sounds like they're close, but perhaps a NPE in the tree (which sounds to be quite large) is throwing things off. Hopefully someone who those surnames sound familiar to may provide them a lead that will allow them to zero in on an identity. That being said, it's looks like it's pretty important that this update gets shared and disseminated in the Alabama area.
 

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