Subject: Attn: Stephen Cina - Connie Converse/NamUs Unidentified Female, Case number 1974-0266 - Please see attached spreadsheet
To: Med_Exam_Trauma@broward.org
MI MI - Elizabeth 'Connie' Converse, 49, Ann Arbor, Aug 1974
- Thread starter Houston Mom
- Start date
Subject: Attn: Stephen Cina - Connie Converse/NamUs Unidentified Female, Case number 1974-0266 - Please see attached spreadsheet
To: Med_Exam_Trauma@broward.org
Whoa, good sleuthing! I registered just so I could congratulate you on the promising lead. The date discrepancy is concerning, though. Unless it was transcribed incorrectly (e.g. a 09/23 becoming a 04/23), this could be a dead end. I couldn't find any digitized newspapers from the time period with police logs or anything like that, so I couldn't confirm the date through a second source.
From what I've been able to discern, the family had received letters from Connie around August, however I could not find anything stating that she had actually been seen in person then. It seems like Connie lived alone, and it seems no one knows exactly when she left - just that it was 1974. But yeah, I submitted everything to the Homicide Investigator and the Medical Examiner, and they're going to be evaluating DNA now (they have DNA from Connie's father), so I guess it's just wait and see...
Does anybody have direct, objective evidence of the exact date Connie left Michigan? Even the PD did not know, and I couldn't find anything either...
From a confidential source:
Connie was, unambiguously, known and seen in Ann Arbor up until the second week of August, 1974. At least until August 10th. I saw your question about the date she left vs the April discovery of the body in question, and wanted to clear that up ASAP.
The family anecdote is that Connie was planning to leave the first week of August (the week of her 50th birthday) but she got caught up in the Nixon impeachment and hung around to watch the TV coverage, his resignation, etc. The first draft of her farewell letter was annotated 8/10/1974.
I notice that all of the photos of Connie on these forums are very old, showing her as a 20/30-something, younger woman. By the time of her disappearance in 1974, she had put on considerable weight and looked very different from the photos of her younger self. I presume that it would be helpful to you and everyone else pursuing, so I'll send you one or two in short order. Some are unflattering so we didn't want to use them publicly and have them circulated via the Web, but I can see the benefit they would have to your research.
Connie was, unambiguously, known and seen in Ann Arbor up until the second week of August, 1974. At least until August 10th. I saw your question about the date she left vs the April discovery of the body in question, and wanted to clear that up ASAP.
The family anecdote is that Connie was planning to leave the first week of August (the week of her 50th birthday) but she got caught up in the Nixon impeachment and hung around to watch the TV coverage, his resignation, etc. The first draft of her farewell letter was annotated 8/10/1974.
I notice that all of the photos of Connie on these forums are very old, showing her as a 20/30-something, younger woman. By the time of her disappearance in 1974, she had put on considerable weight and looked very different from the photos of her younger self. I presume that it would be helpful to you and everyone else pursuing, so I'll send you one or two in short order. Some are unflattering so we didn't want to use them publicly and have them circulated via the Web, but I can see the benefit they would have to your research.
Thank you, all the proper parties have been notified however biometrics needed for conclusive comparison are needed and it is unclear if they will be available any time soon. Please keep in contact with the Florida case as they would be the agency to issue an identification if one can be made.
Sincerely,
Lori
Lori Bruski
Regional Systems Administrator
National Missing & Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Web: www.NamUs.gov
NamUs @ UNT Health Science Center
3500 Camp Bowie Boulevard, 6th Floor
Fort Worth, TX 76107
Sincerely,
Lori
Lori Bruski
Regional Systems Administrator
National Missing & Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Web: www.NamUs.gov
NamUs @ UNT Health Science Center
3500 Camp Bowie Boulevard, 6th Floor
Fort Worth, TX 76107
Both the Michigan State Police and Broward County Medical Examiners are currently in the process of matching the DNA of the UnSub found in Florida in 1974 to that of Connie Converses' father. The process is expected to take a minimum of 6 months, and is being coordinated by Florida.
https://identifyus.org/en/cases/1340 I cannot find the actual police report regarding the find of this UID that looks a lot like Connie. Also, I tried to determine if the canal where this woman was found had ever been dredged, but could not locate any data in this respect. Help? Advice?
Ozoner
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There is virtually no chance that the Broward County Jane Doe is Connie Converse. As someone else said, the date the body was found would have to be very wrong. The age doesn't match, either.
The age was off by only a few years. As for the date, when I worked as a LEO in Florida, bodies and vehicles were found in canals so often that the vehicles were not even recorded nor investigated for being stolen, etc. There were cases where a car would be towed to a junkyard, and the workers would be parting it out and find bodies inside. The other issue with the date is that in the interviews I conducted, some people claim that Connie left Michigan "in 1974" but could not say when. Some said it was in late 1974. The one that really caught my interest is that the UID was wearing a L/XL men's t-shirt; some people claim that Connie was lesbian, and she had gained some weight just prior to 1974. Anyway, it's just a wait and see situation now as the Medical Examiner and Homicide Investigators both thought there was enough to send all the DNA out for comparison testing, which should be complete in 6-months to 1 year. At the very least, it'll R/O both.
jpo74
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maybe in a body of water or in some deep brush somewhere
SpanishMossAntiques
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The UID I submitted is buried, and they do have plans to reclaim her body sometime in the near future (it costs the county $10,000 for this). Because the UID does not have an DNA on file, an exact match cannot be made, but the case is currently being investigated by the ME as a possible match. We'll know for sure several years from now.
SpanishMossAntiques
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I believe her car is in the canal in Broward County Florida - I could not find any evidence of that particular canal ever having been dredged.
leilarose68
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As a lesbian, reading Connie's family speak about her sadness and personality that was my thought as well, that she was lesbian and desperately alone as a result. And the whole 'sexually unfulfilled' part seems to hint at that. Connie reminds me a lot of myself somehow.
leilarose68
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I also feel that Connie saying she was 'moving out west' was to protect her family from finding her body and also to generate a creative mythology around herself, or continue a poetic way of seeing herself
sydneysuzanne
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Any update?