Identified! NV - Washoe Co., WhtFem 156UFNV, 25-35, Sheep's Flat Trail, Jul'82 - Mary Edith Silvani

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I was at lake tahoe today. Drove by the scene and took some pictures. There is still plenty of snow on the ground. In 2 more weeks it will be 29 years.
 
I wish I could get a clearer scan of a photo I pulled from the paper around the same time as the murder. There are 2 people cross country skiing in the Sheep Flats. There is still a great deal of snow present.
 
29 years ago today, right about this time, our doe was discovered. One day we will find out who she is.
 
Detectives in New York are looking into whether he could be responsible for the so-called "Double Initial Murders" of three young girls who were abducted, raped and strangled in Rochester in the 1970s.

His MO was to abduct, rape then strangle the victim - she wasnt raped or strangled so Im not convinced that he had anything to do with her death.

Wow he looks creeeeepy! Picture here.

Updates:

Here
Here
His hit list
Ties to other murders in New York.

He lived in Rochester NY when the same thing was happening -several women with the same first and last name Initials matched were murdered.

As much as I want this case solved he really doesnt fit for me - the women we knowhe killed were all killed the same way, by choking them with lingerie or pantyhose after being raped, that obviously was his thing so Im doubtful he would kill someone without raping them or having any sort of struggle. It is interesting that her panties were on her head when he seemed to be really into lingerie when killing someone.

They are saying that the four women hes killed were prostitutes which was something I touched on with our Jane Doe a while back but its hard to make sense of the situation.

Im glad that they at least know hes killed the other women - its unbelievable that he was able to live his entire life with no consequence until now.
 
Namus updated her info, new scars.

An 11 cm well-healed scar on the abdomen consistent with a C-section scar. Small scar on the left knee, scar on upper right shin, and a scar on the right foot.
 
I says he kept news clippings of the murders, wonder if he had any of our doe?
 
I wonder what they had that made them feel he was involved? I didnt see anything in the news reports about a Jane Doe so Im not sure if they gave a reason. Something about him being involved with her death just doesnt fit for me.

Just thinking out loud:

Once a serial killer is comfortable in his role as a murderer they almost never change their MO and if something happens that doesnt allow them to control the situation as they expected they dont get the pleasure from the murder that they were seeking.

Dennis Radar is a prime example - just off the top of my head there are two of his victims that he felt cheated him because he didnt get to kill them the way he planned. One was Kathryn Bright - He broke into her home and waited for him but was taken by surprise when her brother came inside with her - He shot the brother and went into the bedroom with Kathryn not knowing the brother survived until he heard the front door slam shirt - he then stabbed Kathryn to death and fled. He later wrote in a diary about he was angry at her for ruining his fun and not being able to choke her to death - His MO was to choke someone until they would pass out then let go until they regained consciousness and he would repeat that as many times as he could before they died. He enjoyed watching people struggle to get bags off their heads while he was able to play God so the act of stabbing Kathryn did nothing for him.

He waited in a another womans house until she got home one night and he accidentally killed her by putting too much pressure on her neck when attempting to subdue her. He was outraged and felt the whole thing was a total loss. Its also worth note that those two murders are ones he didnt even bother to take credit for in the numerous mailings he sent the police to taunt them.

So to get back on topic - Its clear the Joseph Naso's MO was choking (typically using the womans undergarments) raping them and then leaving their nude body somewhere rural.

Clearly he could have done all of those things to her since they were in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night so why didnt he? What made her different than the other girls in his eyes?

On the west coast in the 70's to early 80's any man wanting to kill prostitutes would be in dire straights due to the huge influx of murdered prostitutes - the girls that would work the street were told to work in pairs and to take down license plate numbers and otherwise just look out for each other so the girls were very skeptical of the Johns - he also was a white guy and since it was thought the person(s) killing them was a white guy which made the girls hesitant to even bother with white men.

Men would react to this in different ways - Gary Ridgeway would leave his child's toys/car seat in the car knowing that the victim would see them and assume that he couldn't be a bad guy if he had children.

Another man used his wife and baby as bait - he was looking for someone to be his slave so while his wife and baby were in the car he picked up a hitchhiker knowing that nobody would ever expect anything malious if there was a baby and mother in the car - she later talked about how she actually felt relieved when she saw the mother/child because she had only been getting offers from men and didnt take them because she was scared she would be raped.

That makes me wonder if the Jane Doe was his bait - with a woman in the car most people wouldnt think twice about accepting a ride.

She obviously felt she could trust him since she went into the woods with him and had sex so the lack of struggle seems to imply there was some sort of trust between them.

Another issue is that he shot her from behind and covered her face - we know he has no problem killing people face to face (he actually liked it) yet he didnt do it to her.

It could be possible that if the above were true that something happened to make him feel that she was going to tell on him or endanger his 'fun' in some way.

There has to be a reason the murders were different if he was involved, its just hard to know what it is.
 
It's possible they have DNA evidence linking her to him (Naso). The it always seemed that the police were always a little wishy-washy on the question of whether or not she was sexually assulted.

Just my thoughts...
 
jackornaught said:
It's possible they have DNA evidence linking her to him (Naso). The it always seemed that the police were always a little wishy-washy on the question of whether or not she was sexually assulted.

Just my thoughts...
Click to expand...

I think they said that they felt rather certain she wasnt raped but that she had consensual sex with her killer - either way they could have his DNA. They also could test the mens shorts that were placed over her head for DNA.
 
Charlie99909 said:
Namus updated her info, new scars.

An 11 cm well-healed scar on the abdomen consistent with a C-section scar. Small scar on the left knee, scar on upper right shin, and a scar on the right foot.
Click to expand...

Every time someone brings up that c-section scar it makes me sick because there has to be a child (or children) somewhere that are missing their mother. You know they must feel like she abandoned them.

Its unbelievably cruel that the people that love her have spent the last 30 years wondering if shes hungry/safe/being harmed when shes been waiting all this time for someone to ID her.

I wonder how much effort the police put into trying to find her - I soured through dozens of newspapers from the area where was found and there was never anything about a Jane Doe being found. Ive always felt like there was a huge chance that she was a prostitute (or that they thought she was) due to the lack of urgency on the part of the police related to trying to ID her. Had they put her info in the newspapers its possible people would come forward and maybe even seeing the man she was with, if she was with him they had to stop somewhere to eat/get gas/stretch their legs which means its possible someone would have seen something that could be helpful.

Dont get me wrong, I get that it completely possible nobody saw anything but it should have been done.

Considering she had nothing identifiable on her you would think the very next thing they would do is put the info in the newspapers in hopes of someone recognized her. I dont think shes from that area because its almost certain someone ended up reporting her missing making the next step to look at the Jane Does in the surrounding areas.

Regardless of him killing her or not I find it absolutely repulsive that he was able to live his entire life without getting caught. Its actually quite the scary thought because the longer he could killer without getting caught the more cocky/daring he would be and I have no doubt there are more victims.
 
I am not sure if LE checked this out and I'm sorry if this is a duplicate post, but I wonder if there where any female tourists who did return to their hotel room in Tahoe or Reno during the time that she was murdered? She might be wearing the bathing suit like that because some of her luggage got lost or stolen (and she, for some reason, hasn't had the chance to buy underwear?)? I think it is possible that her killer somehow obtained her trust and told her how beautiful it is up on Mt. Rose, then something happened and he or she killed her.
 
Does anyone remember when the wave of mail order brides from the eastern block started?

Just food for thought, and I wonder how well those "arraingments" are tracked. I'm sure there are completely illegal ones that are un-tracked.
 
From what I've researched, Washoe county did a lot of research trying to find her. The current investigator went to Europe on a lead that didn't pan out. From what was available from the German consulates at the time and as well as currently, nothing is there.
What is interesting, the last heavy lead was a former US soldier who was stationed in Europe. He married a woman and she up and disappeared. Even though she wasn't the woman, it's a theory that they still hold onto.
What this poor girl has going against her is time. Say she was married to a soldier. Any family she could have would most likely be dead now. It was 29 years ago. The longer it takes, the harder it will be. Unless some child steps forward to find their missing mother, we man never know.

Thank you guys for keeping her memory alive. I have since moved away from Reno but am still keeping her in my thoughts and prayers.
 
Charlie99909 said:
From what I've researched, Washoe county did a lot of research trying to find her. The current investigator went to Europe on a lead that didn't pan out. From what was available from the German consulates at the time and as well as currently, nothing is there.
What is interesting, the last heavy lead was a former US soldier who was stationed in Europe. He married a woman and she up and disappeared. Even though she wasn't the woman, it's a theory that they still hold onto.
What this poor girl has going against her is time. Say she was married to a soldier. Any family she could have would most likely be dead now. It was 29 years ago. The longer it takes, the harder it will be. Unless some child steps forward to find their missing mother, we man never know.

Thank you guys for keeping her memory alive. I have since moved away from Reno but am still keeping her in my thoughts and prayers.
Click to expand...

Its not how the police are handling her case now that baffles me - anyone that has to deal with a Jane Doe case thats 30 years old has much more patience than I do.

Ive gone through a million archived (local and state) newspapers and have yet to find anything about a Jane Doe, even in the local areas around where she was found - why?

You find a dead body with no ID and nothing in her pockets and absolutely no way to know who she is or where she is from - why wouldnt you post something in the newspaper in hopes someone would either know who she was or perhaps even have seen her?

Thats another thing I dont get - she would found by hikers so wouldnt it make sense to post something somewhere asking people to come forward if they were in/around the area and might have seen something?

There are two big problems you can run into with witnesses - A person can see something that seems innocent and not realize what they have seen is important. Another issue is that sometimes someone will see something and be reluctant to come forward with any info, often times they make themselves feel better by saying they would tell what they saw if they were asked - of course thats silly but it happens.

Its incredibly sad that someone knows who she is, Someone saw something or knows something that could have allowed her to have the dignity of at least having a name.

Anyway, I cant remember so Ill ask - is her dental work the only reason they dont feel she was born in the US?
 
From her NamUs page:

"A blue Buntees Sportswear" t-shirt, size M, with bottom that had been cut away, blue Levi jeans, blue one-piece bathing suit. Light blue bikini underwear or bathing suit bottom found in front jeans pocket."

She had her bathing suit on and her underwear in her pocket so now we know she wasnt wearing the suit in place of underwear and that she was more than likely swimming (or intending to) at some point.

224 women have been ruled out as her, I cant even wrap my head around the idea of there even being 224 women that *could* match her. Are all the women on that list dead or is it possible they were just runaways and were ruled out due to finding them?

NamUs again:
"On 07/17/1982 at approximately 1330 hours, hikers found the decedent on the East side of Sheep Flats, south of Mt. Rose Highway. She was found lying prone on the ground with defects to the back of her head. Mens underwear had been used to cover the defects. She was clad except for being barefoot. Her livor mortis was still blanching when she was found."

I thought she had her shoes on? They have a couple huge photos of her on the NamUs page - could someone crop the mole on her left anterior neck and just paste that here? The mole looks like its in a place that you would be able to see it no matter what type of shirt someone was wearing. I would but I just cant stand looking at her; I know they have to take photos to help find her but looking at the photo of her teeth and her battered face makes me embarrassed for her, you know she would be horrified.
 
jackornaught said:
Does anyone remember when the wave of mail order brides from the eastern block started?

Just food for thought, and I wonder how well those "arraingments" are tracked. I'm sure there are completely illegal ones that are un-tracked.
Click to expand...

I think that was a little bit later, in the 1990s.
 
punklove said:
From her NamUs page:

"A blue Buntees Sportswear" t-shirt, size M, with bottom that had been cut away, blue Levi jeans, blue one-piece bathing suit. Light blue bikini underwear or bathing suit bottom found in front jeans pocket."

She had her bathing suit on and her underwear in her pocket so now we know she wasnt wearing the suit in place of underwear and that she was more than likely swimming (or intending to) at some point.

224 women have been ruled out as her, I cant even wrap my head around the idea of there even being 224 women that *could* match her. Are all the women on that list dead or is it possible they were just runaways and were ruled out due to finding them?

NamUs again:
"On 07/17/1982 at approximately 1330 hours, hikers found the decedent on the East side of Sheep Flats, south of Mt. Rose Highway. She was found lying prone on the ground with defects to the back of her head. Mens underwear had been used to cover the defects. She was clad except for being barefoot. Her livor mortis was still blanching when she was found."

I thought she had her shoes on? They have a couple huge photos of her on the NamUs page - could someone crop the mole on her left anterior neck and just paste that here? The mole looks like its in a place that you would be able to see it no matter what type of shirt someone was wearing. I would but I just cant stand looking at her; I know they have to take photos to help find her but looking at the photo of her teeth and her battered face makes me embarrassed for her, you know she would be horrified.
Click to expand...

The part about the underwear in her pocket an wearing a bathing suit makes me wonder if she was going to swim in Lake Tahoe or she had earlier that day. Was it possible to swim there at that time of year -- it was July, so that seems like she could? Maybe the killer told her that they had a hot tub and offered that she could use it? If she was staying at a hotel and swimming there, wouldn't she just go back to her room and change before going out?
 
Im not sure there was anything around that area - the road they were on was a scenic route people could take instead of the interstate. Charlie would know more about that than I do. Even though there was snow on the ground I think there were areas that they could swim if wanted, Charlie should know more about that.

NamUs says that her DNA hasnt be submitted yet - does anyone know why? Did they check the DNA on the male shorts that were on her face? It seems quite likely they were heading somewhere to swim - had they already been swimming I doubt she would have put a wet bathing suit back on when she could have just changed into her panties.

I think more than likely they were on the interstate and took the scenic route until they got to that rest area.
 
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