Here's an interesting tidbit regarding the van. I've been surfing the web looking for more obscure sites regarding the murder. This one:
Mystery of the Sumter County Does - Caleb and Linda Pirtle
At the end of the blog there's the following (bolding by me):
"Melba was bothered by all of these questions. Days of research on the Worldwide Web had not provided any more answers. Was she searching in the wrong place?
Hmmm. What would happen if I contacted the Sheriff’s Department? That would be kind of nervy of me. They don’t have time to mess with the “merely curious.” After a few hours of thinking it over she decided to send the Sumter County Sheriff’s Department an email. A phone call would be too disruptive. There were three questions she wanted answered—answers that she had not found in her research, that they should know by now. She was shocked when Lt. Robert Burnish sent a speedy reply and answered all three of her questions:
- DNA testing has proven that John and Jane Doe were NOT siblings or otherwise related by blood.
- There was no indication of European descent through DNA
- As far as the quote “they stepped from a VAN”* there is no idea why that is quoted in web accounts. There was no vehicle, (van or otherwise) in the area.
Lt. Robert Burnish also stated, “if your readers have, or pass on, any information, we would love to hear from you.” "
Lt. Robert Burnish
Criminal Investigations
Sumter County Sheriff’s Office
1281 North Main Street
Sumter, S.C. 29153
803-436-2017