Found Deceased MI - Paulette Jaster, 25, Davison, 12 May 1979

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Jeana (DP)

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Long gone
Decades drag on for family, friends of missing woman
DAVISON TOWNSHIP
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Sunday, April 30, 2006
By Ron Fonger
rfonger@flintjournal.com • 810.766.6317

Anyone with information about missing person Paulette Jaster of Davison is asked to call state police Detective Sgt. Stephen Sipes at (810) 732-0740.


Getting help
To talk to a professional about mental illness, contact Genesee County Community Mental Health at (810) 257-3740. Calls are answered around the clock.



DAVISON - Paulette Jaster was a homecoming queen candidate and one of the best female players ever to lace up a pair of Converse hightops for Davison High School.

She was smart - a National Honor Society member - and heartbreakingly attractive, with flowing dark hair and brown eyes.

And for nearly three decades, she has been missing - presumed neither dead nor alive - leaving her family to assume the worst even though they hope they are wrong.

"I think she's dead, ... a body that's been buried," said Paulette's father, Edwin, sipping a cup of coffee as he thumbed through old papers that remind him of his daughter's story.

There is a court petition to commit her to Ypsilanti State Hospital in 1977, an ad from a Florida newspaper offering a reward for information, letters to television shows desperately asking for help.

In May, it will be 27 years since Edwin Jaster, 85, last saw his daughter. His ex-wife, Caroline, died last year, still chasing rumors about Paulette sightings. His other children are scattered throughout the country, and he still hopes Paulette, who would be 52 now, is somewhere out there, too.

"Wouldn't it be nice if she was found someplace?" he asked.

Jaster's eyes brightened at the thought - the same possibility that drives Paulette's sisters to keep recalling the sometimes painful memories about their sibling who started showing signs of mental illness almost overnight and walked away from home early one morning, never to return.

Paulette faded away, never using her Social Security number after 1980, never contacting her family or her closest friends and still suffering from the schizophrenia that hit her hard at about the time she graduated from Davison High School.

Paulette was 25 when she left Davison on foot May 12, 1979, headed toward I-69, carrying an old Army backpack, wearing jeans and a favorite turquoise ring.
"She may be with the Lord by now," said Pam Atkinson, a younger sister who lives in the Bridgeport area. "I believe she was alive (as recently as) 1989. I believe (that) in my gut."


more at:

http://www.childseeknetwork.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3839
 
Paulette's sister stopped by in another thread, the one in COLD CASES about a Jane Doe case in Blue Earth County, MN. There are going to be DNA tests done to discover if this unidentified female is her missing sister.

Blue Earth Jane Doe

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1069909

Pbuck said:
I am Paulette Jaster's sister, and a newbie to this forum. According to SS, she was working at two restaurants (probably as a waitress) in AZ in January and February of 1980. If you would like to read the recent article published in the Flint Journal here's a link:

http://www.mlive.com/news/fljournal/index.ssf?/base/news-36/1146396012121210.xml&coll=5&thispage=8

Thank you for your interest.
Click to expand...

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1069909
 
The Doe Network: Case File 108DFMI
The Doe Network: Case File 108DFMI. 1 2 Left:Jaster, circa 1979 Right: Age progression by Sgt Mark Krebs. Paulette Susan Jaster Missing since May 5, ...
http://www.doenetwork.us/cases/108dfmi.html


Missing Woman: Paulette Jaster - MI - 1980? [Archive ...
Paulette Jaster is one of two long-missing women from Genesee County listed on ... 480-644-2019 NCIC Number: M-320682217 Source: NCMA Source: Doe Network ...
http://www.truckingboards.com/trucking/upload/archive/index.php/t-763.html


PAULETTE SUSAN JASTER MISSING, DAVISON, MI - MAY. 1979 ... Paulette Jaster is one of two long-missing women from Genesee County listed on the Michigan Does ...
http://www.angelsmissing.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=6558&view=getlastpost


Michigan Does - Paulette Susan Jaster
Paulette Susan Jaster Davison, Genesee County, Michigan; May 5, 1979; Classification: Endangered Missing; Left: Jaster circa 1979 ...
http://www.michigandoes.com/MP/PauletteJaster.html


Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community - Unidentified White Female ...
http://www.doenetwork.us/cases/images/40UFCA.jpghttp://www.doenetwork.us/cases/images/ ... Paulette Susan Jaster Missing since May 5, 1979 from Davison, ...
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-34977
 
Cops look to DNA in 1979 case

Data banks to be checked to locate missing woman
DAVISON
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Friday, May 19, 2006 By Ron Fonger
rfonger@flintjournal.com • 810.766.6317
QUICK TAKEStill searching

<LI>Paulette Jaster disappeared from her parents' home in Davison on May 12, 1979. She would now be 52.

<LI>State police are restarting their investigation of her disappearance, hoping DNA from Jaster's father and sisters will help them close the case. Until now, Jaster's DNA information has not been entered into a national FBI databank that helps match missing persons with unidentified human remains.

<LI>If you have information that might be helpful to police, call state police Detective Sgt. Jason Teddy at (810) 732-1111.



***

DAVISON - Police have restarted an investigation into the disappearance of Paulette Jaster, a former Davison High School homecoming queen candidate who vanished 27 years ago.

State police plan to collect DNA from the father and sisters of Jaster, who walked away from home carrying a green dufflebag in May 1979 and never was seen again by her family.

State police Detective Sgt. Jason Teddy of the Flint Township post said he plans to use the DNA in an effort to match Paulette to unidentified remains in a nationwide FBI database, including a body found in Blue Earth, Minn., one year after Jaster disappeared.

"It could help. The window is not closed," said Teddy, who took on the case just days ago. "I plan to use the technology available today to reanalyze the information that's been collected over the years."

Jaster's story was profiled by The Flint Journal last month. The April 30 article generated calls to state police, but no leads have paid dividends, Teddy said.

Her disappearance has troubled her family for decades, partly because the former honor student and high school basketball star had developed schizophrenia before she left home without warning.

Family members and police have since followed false leads, offered rewards and traveled around the country to find out whether Jaster is alive or dead, in trouble, or only interested in being left alone.

Before her mother's death in 2005, Jaster's parents both gave blood at the request of police, a family member said, but that information was only used to eliminate her from consideration in another Jane Doe case in Arizona.

"If she's out there ... we want her to know her family loves her," said Peggy Sperlich, one of Jaster's sisters. "This makes me more hopeful."

Police are interested in the possible connection between Jaster's disappearance and the unidentified remains of a Jane Doe whose body was found in a drainage ditch a few miles east of tiny Blue Earth on May 30, 1980.

The woman found in Blue Earth was nude, her head partly shaved, and a rope was around her neck. She was buried in a rural cemetery with a headstone marked "unidentified person."

Jaster was 25 at the time she disappeared, and her age and physical description generally match the description of the Jane Doe.

"I've always thought (Paulette Jaster) was a good candidate to be our Jane Doe," said Deborah B. Anderson, a Blue Earth resident who started a Web site devoted to identifying the woman found in her town.

Anderson said she has read about Jaster on Web sites dedicated to missing persons and calls the possible match between the two women a "very, very, very huge longshot," but believes it's worth pursuing.

"I would hope to God somebody would do the same thing if my daughter was buried somewhere under a stone," she said. "You can't say it doesn't matter just because she died in a ditch."

***
 
Just the other night on TV they were saying that on CSI, the DNA test results always come back, right after the third commercial, but in real life these DNA testings can take many many many months before the results return.
 
I would like to see this family do a photo age progression in case Paulette is still alive. The old artist-type sketch does not reflect a 52 year-old woman. Project Edan will do one for free.

If the family would like to contact me for additional assistance, please email kelly.jolkowski(at sign)projectjason.org.
 
Yes I will be pursuing a photo age-progression through Project EDAN. What a wonderful service! Thank you for the good information.
 
I am looking forward to seeing the photo age-progression as well, when it comes through. Please keep us updated.
 
http://www.mlive.com/news/flintjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-48/120262089621980.xml&coll=5

10 Feb 08

Edwin Jaster updated his last will several times before he died in January, changing parts of his final bequest but never removing his daughter, Paulette, who disappeared nearly 30 years ago.

"He always had that hope, and until someone proves otherwise, I still believe she's out there (too)," said Peggy Sperlich, Paulette Jaster's older sister. "If she's gone to the Lord, I just want to know what happened to her."

Eighteen months after police restarted one of Genesee County's oldest missing person cases, however, the whereabouts of the former high school homecoming queen candidate apparently remain a mystery.

Family members haven't seen Jaster since May 12, 1979, when one of her sisters saw Jaster carrying a green duffel bag and walking toward I-69 in Davison.

Now family members hope they'll get help in finding her from two new age-progression sketches that show what she might look like if she is alive today.

Sperlich said DNA from her mother and father, both of whom have died, has been collected and filed as part of a nationwide FBI database to aid in identifying Jaster.

Police have ruled out the possibility that an unidentified body found in Blue Earth, Minn., might have been Jaster, Sperlich said.

and

Family members have chased leads about the disappearance to Florida. Social Security records indicate Jaster may have worked at a Walgreens lunch counter and a restaurant in Mesa, Ariz., in 1980.

Elizabeth Sinor of michigandoes.com said cases of people who have been missing as long as Jaster become harder and harder to solve as new cases demand attention from police, and evidence trails dry up.

much more at link

no pics or age progressions at link
 
My best guess is that she's dead, somewhere in the United States or Canada, maybe hundreds or thousands of miles from where she disappeared. Maybe they haven't found her yet, or maybe they have and she's one of those legions of Jane Does all around the country.
 
I would like to know more about the social security records indicating she was in Mesa, Arizona. Does anyone know anything about this? If anything came of it? What the records indicated?
 
Thanks Meggily. That is very interesting and frustrating. Surely the authorities interviewed co-workers at these restaurants and got a description of this employee to see if it matched Paulette. The phone call made to her sister in '89 is very curious too.
 
One would hope the police in Michigan sent someone to Arizona to investigate the lead. However I don't know whether they did or not. It's possible that they didn't. Missing persons cases were treated lightly back then (even worse than now). Take the example of http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/n/nedd_oscar.html The cops never bothered to send any personnel to pick up the prime suspect in his case.
 
Do you think she could be a "cat" lady? I know an older woman, who calls herself Carolyn. She drives a light blue van and lives in a small travel trailer, without heat or electricity, on someone's property.

I think she is older than Paulette - I put her age at closer to sixty, however, I could be way off. Her hair is similar to Paulette's, only it is now white. She keeps her hair long and wrapped up in a bun. She is very thin, probably about 5'6" or 5'7" and maybe 100 pounds. Very thin. And she smokes "roll your own" ciggerettes.

She has some mental issues, I'm not sure just what kind. She takes care of the feral cats in our community and is well known by the folks at the local cat shelter.

Carolyn told me she used to be a nun and "retired" from the Catholic Church. The Church stole her pension from her and she now works as a janitor at a local gym. I don't know if the "nun" story is true, but she does have a job at the local gym. She has said she has sisters but she never talks to them because they do not approve of her life style. She has also indicated that she has money but she will never touch it. Her reasoning for this had something to do with the Church. She is very intelligent and for the most part can carry on a conversation, but it is hard to tell how much you should believe. She "trained" me to take on a litter of newly born kittens so that they would survive. She also indicated that she is under a doctor or doctors care. However, she is very withdrawn and it is very difficult to keep in touch with her. Unfortunately, she now thinks I am the "plague" because of some cat problems near where I work, so she will no longer talk to me, which actually makes me sad because I did enjoy her company. I will say though, she was very demanding and you had to be very careful what you said or she would take it as an insult. I do still see her around quite a bit.

I mention her, not because I seriously think she is Paulette, but because it struck me how easily this could be Paulette given her circumstances.

I would love to see a picture of the sisters. I think that would be the best way to get an idea of what Paulette might look like now.

Salem
 
meggilyweggily said:
One would hope the police in Michigan sent someone to Arizona to investigate the lead. However I don't know whether they did or not. It's possible that they didn't. Missing persons cases were treated lightly back then (even worse than now). Take the example of http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/n/nedd_oscar.html The cops never bothered to send any personnel to pick up the prime suspect in his case.
Click to expand...

Wow - absolutely unbelievable. They 'denied the charge of racism'. Yeah right, if that would of been a white middle to upper class man who was missing you better believe the cops would of gone down there to pick this guy up. Instead it was a poor black man and not worth the money the PD would have to spend to go down there and pick the suspect up. Imagine how his family must have felt.
Hopefully this case will be further investigated and they can charge this guy before he gets out of prison.
 
I wonder if Paulette actually had what would nowadays be called schizophrenia. Back in the sixties and seventies, schizophrenia was a catch-all diagnosis and many people who were called schizophrenics back then would now be diagnosed as bipolar, various personality disorders, etc.

I read an article in the New York Times which talked about various memoirs written by people who were treated for "schizophrenia" decades ago. (I Never Promised You a Rose Garden and The Eden Express were both on there as well as others.) A psychiatrist had a look at the memoirs and the description of symptoms. The doctor concluded that NONE of those people were actually schizophrenic.
 
Sketch hoped to heat up cold case
DAVISON
FIRST
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Staff Report
DAVISON - Edwin Jaster updated his last will several times before he died in January, changing parts of his final bequest but never removing his daughter, Paulette, who disappeared nearly 30 years ago.

"He always had that hope, and until someone proves otherwise, I still believe she's out there (too)," said Peggy Sperlich, Paulette Jaster's older sister. "If she's gone to the Lord, I just want to know what happened to her."

Eighteen months after police restarted one of Genesee County's oldest missing person cases, however, the whereabouts of the former high school homecoming queen candidate remain a mystery.

Family members haven't seen Jaster since May 12, 1979, when one of her sisters saw Jaster carrying a green duffel bag and walking toward I-69 in Davison

Now family members hope they'll get help in finding her from two new age-progression sketches that show what she might look like if she is alive today.

Sperlich said DNA from her mother and father, both of whom have died, has been collected and filed as part of a nationwide FBI database to aid in identifying Jaster.

Police have ruled out the possibility that an unidentified body found in Blue Earth, Minn., might have been Jaster, Sperlich said.

Jaster, who would have turned 54 last month, was last profiled by The Flint Journal in April 2006. The story generated calls and tips to police, but none have panned out, Sperlich said.

Anyone who thinks they may recognize Jaster from the new age-progression sketch can contact Teddy at (810) 732-1111.

Family members have chased leads about the disappearance to Florida. Social Security records indicate Jaster may have worked at a Walgreens lunch counter and a restaurant in Mesa, Ariz., in 1980.

The Web site michigandoes.com features information about missing Michiganians, including Jaster, in an effort to bring attention to their cases. Elizabeth Sinor of michigandoes.com said cases of people who have been missing as long as Jaster has become harder and harder to solve as new cases demand attention from police, and evidence trails dry up.

"Cases aren't necessarily closed, they are just sort of put in a file," Sinor said. "A lot of these cases just sort of fall into the cracks by default."

Sinor said the chances of finding a long-term missing person alive are slim, and families have to push for publicity and police attention if they ever hope to resolve their cases.

Sperlich said her sister has one year to claim her part of an insurance settlement with their father's estate, or the payment will be lost.

"I just wish we could do something to bring (her case) to light again," Sperlich said. "It might be just one thing that leads to the answer."

***

http://www.mlive.com/news/flintjournal/ind...8390.xml&coll=5
 
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