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

[Bit of hope]

The isotopes said that she was from the Michigan area and they turned out to be wrong.

I'm really getting annoyed at how inaccurate isotopes seem to be. I thought that they'd be a revolutionary breakthrough, but now it seems that any victim who had isotope testing could be from the planet Jupiter for all I know.

You are totally spot on...isotopes are not very useful, especially in USA.

 

[Liv27]

The isotopes said that she was from the Michigan area and they turned out to be wrong.

I'm really getting annoyed at how inaccurate isotopes seem to be. I thought that they'd be a revolutionary breakthrough, but now it seems that any victim who had isotope testing could be from the planet Jupiter for all I know.

She was born in Detroit.

 

[Gardener1850]

The isotopes said that she was from the Michigan area and they turned out to be wrong.

I'm really getting annoyed at how inaccurate isotopes seem to be. I thought that they'd be a revolutionary breakthrough, but now it seems that any victim who had isotope testing could be from the planet Jupiter for all I know.

But she was from Michigan:

Based on the GEDMatch results, the DNA Doe Project was able to determine that Jane Doe was the biological daughter of John and Blanche Silvani of Detroit, Michigan.

This focused the investigation on the Silvani’s only daughter, Mary Edith Silvani, who was born in Pontiac, Michigan on September 29, 1948.

Based on a set of fingerprints provided by the Detroit Police Department from a 1974 misdemeanor arrest, Washoe County Sheriff’s Office detectives and criminalists were able to confirm the identity of Sheep’s Flat Jane Doe as Mary Silvani.

The only known photo of Mary is a photo of the Class of 1966 from Detroit’s Mackenzie High School’s yearbook.

New DNA information in 1982 cold case killing at Lake Tahoe; woman and suspect identified

BBM.

I do agree, however, that isotopes are not nearly as useful as DNA and most the other cases I have seen the isotopes have been wrong. MOO.

 

[wildhorses]

I’ve never put much faith in isotope testing because usually it doesn’t really seem to narrow down much
I saw a case today where isotope predicted The unidentified was from central Florida, central Texas, Midwest, Rockies or pacific coast-that doesn’t really narrow it down much for me. As for Mary and her isotopes coming back Michigan that would be right because she grew up in Michigan and had left there after growing up so that still should show up in her teeth /hair along with California which I don’t think was showing up. I just don’t have much faith in the isotope but I guess it’s better than nothing sometimes

The isotopes said that she was from the Michigan area and they turned out to be wrong.

I'm really getting annoyed at how inaccurate isotopes seem to be. I thought that they'd be a revolutionary breakthrough, but now it seems that any victim who had isotope testing could be from the planet Jupiter for all I know.

 

[Liv27]

But she was from Michigan:

Based on the GEDMatch results, the DNA Doe Project was able to determine that Jane Doe was the biological daughter of John and Blanche Silvani of Detroit, Michigan.

This focused the investigation on the Silvani’s only daughter, Mary Edith Silvani, who was born in Pontiac, Michigan on September 29, 1948.

Based on a set of fingerprints provided by the Detroit Police Department from a 1974 misdemeanor arrest, Washoe County Sheriff’s Office detectives and criminalists were able to confirm the identity of Sheep’s Flat Jane Doe as Mary Silvani.

The only known photo of Mary is a photo of the Class of 1966 from Detroit’s Mackenzie High School’s yearbook.

New DNA information in 1982 cold case killing at Lake Tahoe; woman and suspect identified

BBM.

I do agree, however, that isotopes are not nearly as useful as DNA and most the other cases I have seen the isotopes have been wrong. MOO.

Yeah, an example of a case where isotope testing was wrong was a 10-year old boy killed about twenty years ago. He was identified this year. Bobby Whitt. The isotope testing said he was from Alabama-Georgia area but he was born in Michigan and lived in Ohio.

 

[Bit of hope]

It's not that isotopes are totally off base. The thing is it's not much of help because the region is to brought....for example UID found, probably from the South-East region of the USA....thughhhhh how many states are considered to fall into this region.....?

 

[wary]

It's not that isotopes are totally off base. The thing is it's not much of help because the region is to brought....for example UID found, probably from the South-East region of the USA....thughhhhh who many states are considered to fall into this region.....?

Also—people’s habits are different.

Compare someone who grew up on a farm drinking well water and eating locally raised food, (ideal isotope situation), with someone who got most liquids from soft drinks and ate supermarket food shipped from all over the nation.

 

[folieadeuxnola]

So happy she has been identified!

 

[Earth]

Yeah, an example of a case where isotope testing was wrong was a 10-year old boy killed about twenty years ago. He was identified this year. Bobby Whitt. The isotope testing said he was from Alabama-Georgia area but he was born in Michigan and lived in Ohio.

Sorry, I made a mistake.

 

[4SAM]

Can I post who they suspect is her murderer?

 

[Gardener1850]

Details how they traced her killer James Richard Curry:

===

Last year, the Sheriff’s Office worked with Dr. Fitzpatrick, an internationally recognized forensic genealogist, in an effort to identify the suspect’s family.

The suspect’s DNA was sent to a private DNA lab and uploaded to GEDMatch. Dr. Fitzpatrick and a group of dedicated genealogists from Identifinders International performed what would amount to more than two thousand hours of research.

The Identifinders team found that the suspect was the grandson of a couple who lived in the Dallas, Texas area. The couple had three sons but only one known grandson. Additional investigation cleared that grandson of being the suspect in the Sheep’s Flat case and indicated the suspect was an illegitimate child fathered by one of the sons.

Through the tenacity of genealogist Cheryl Hester, the suspect’s mother was identified as one of two sisters who lived in the same neighborhood in Dallas, had a son out of wedlock, and raised him under a different family name.

Investigators now had a possible suspect, James Richard Curry.

Curry was born in Texas in 1946. During his time in Texas, he was arrested for robbery and sentenced to prison in Huntsville. He was released in 1977 and moved to Waukena, California where he was reported to have worked at J & M Locksmith.

In early January of 1983, just over five months after the murder of Mary Silvani, Curry was arrested and confessed to three other murders. Two of these occurred on January 2, 1983 in the San Jose area; the third occurred in early January of 1982 in Santa Clara.

Based on evidence found at the scene where the Santa Clara murder victim was located, investigators suspected Curry may have also murdered a coworker from Waukena however, that victim’s remains have not been located.

Curry attempted suicide after being taken into custody and was pronounced dead January 7, 1983.

Curry’s two children voluntary provided DNA samples to a Washoe County Sheriff’s Office detective. The Forensic Science Division determined their DNA was consistent with children of the Sheep’s Flat murder suspect and identifying the suspect as James Richard Curry.

New DNA information in 1982 cold case killing at Lake Tahoe; woman and suspect identified

Official release by Sheriff Office - DNA, genealogy, and good detective work solve 37-year-old murder investigation

Can I post who they suspect is her murderer?

It's already been posted. See above post by Al Ka.

 

[AliceInPain]

Yeah, an example of a case where isotope testing was wrong was a 10-year old boy killed about twenty years ago. He was identified this year. Bobby Whitt. The isotope testing said he was from Alabama-Georgia area but he was born in Michigan and lived in Ohio.

I look away whenever isotopes are mentioned.Been wrong too many times.

Wanted to add, it's an insult to the victims, adding random areas out there. Please. DDP and there stuff. REAL science.

 

[carbuff]

Can he be the Sand Run John Doe?

Probably not. Sand Canyon John Doe (his subforum is here: Sand Canyon John Doe) was found in 1992. Curry died in 1983 and it's unlikely the Sand Canyon remains are that old.

 

[Earth]

Well, Marilee Bruszer's remains were suspected to have been there for two to three years when they'd only been out in the Utah sun for a month. It's extremely unlikely, but I'd say it's worth a try.

 

[Bit of hope]

OT can somebody give me more insights where the name James Robinson is coming from. I probably missed the connection.....................

 

[wary]

OT can somebody give me more insights where the name James Robinson is coming from. I probably missed the connection.....................

He’s the missing man that Mary’s murderer is suspected of killing.
Imgur

I think he was mentioned in the press conference, too—or somewhere in the recent reporting.

 

[Gardener1850]

OT can somebody give me more insights where the name James Robinson is coming from. I probably missed the connection.....................

See the bolded part below:

Forensic genealogists identified Silvani and her killer, James Richard Curry, using decades-old DNA evidence recovered from a rape kit. Curry committed suicide in 1983 while in jail on another murder charge.
...
Balaam said Curry, Silvani's killer, was born in Texas in 1946. He served time in prison for robbery before moving to California in 1977.

Six years later, he was arrested for the murders of Gerald Novoselatz, 39, and his wife, Sharon, 34, according to a 1983 report published by The San Francisco Examiner.

Curry, then 36, managed a storage lot in Santa Clara. He admitted killing the couple, who owned a rival storage facility in San Jose. He shot and killed Gerald Novoselatz and then kidnapped and raped Sharon Novoselatz.

The San Francisco Examiner also reported Curry confessed to murdering his 38-year-old friend, Richard Lemmon Jr., whose body was found inside a wooden crate.

Investigators in California also linked him to a fourth murder victim, James DeWitt Robinson. Robinson's handgun, legal documents, and checkbooks were discovered in a locker at Curry's storage facility, but his body was never recovered.

"Shortly right after that, he committed suicide … that's why he was never fully charged in those cases," Bishop said. "We were never able to link how (Silvani and Curry) knew each other."

How DNA solved a decades-old case of woman found murdered near Lake Tahoe

BBM

 

[Gardener1850]

Some quotes from Mary's surviving family members:

For Silvani's cousin Angel Capriles, the revelation left her with more questions than answers. Her DNA was used to track down Silvani's other relatives.

Capriles, who lives in New York City with her mother, said Tuesday that the investigation turned her life "upside down."

"I just feel so heartbroken because it's like this woman was completely forgotten about on her side of the family," Capriles, 43, said. "It's tragic. It's really just tragic."

She said her mother, Joan Silvani, 78, remembers her cousin Mary as "a really sweet girl."

"It was a shock for my mom, especially," Capriles said. "She's the last living one of the Silvani children."

"For her, it's hard," she said. "This isn't knowledge that you want."

Capriles said she had hoped the murder suspect would still be alive so that the family could see justice for Mary Silvani's murder.

Robert Silvani Jr., 53, said he never met his aunt; his father was Mary Silvani's brother.

"It’s not closure, but it’s better than what I had because I only heard of Mary one time in my life," Silvani Jr. said.

Silvani met Capriles through the investigation. He said he learned about his aunt's murder through Capriles.

"I’m so happy that they solved it because now I know more about my family," he said.

Silvani said he hopes to visit his aunt's grave site.

"The fact is I wasn’t close to her," he said. "I just want her to get what she deserves because that’s a horrible way to die. She should have a proper headstone or flowers or an engraved granite, not just a plaque with the name 'Jane Doe.'"

Capriles said she'll raise money for a headstone for her relative's unmarked grave in Reno. She started an online donation site on .

"I thought I knew my family," she said. "We just figured those cousins were out there living their best life."

How DNA solved a decades-old case of woman found murdered near Lake Tahoe

 

[carbuff]

Well, Marilee Bruszer's remains were suspected to have been there for two to three years when they'd only been out in the Utah sun for a month. It's extremely unlikely, but I'd say it's worth a try.

Without knowing more about this Robinson dude, it's impossible to say whether he's a likely candidate.

Sand Canyon John Doe has some circumstantial evidence pointing to a death date only a few months before he was found. I looked through the SCJD forum and Robinson wasn't one of the men who had been suggested. I passed the possibility on to @mmarty anyway.

 

[carbuff]

Article from the NYTimes, with a picture of the place where she was found and lots of details about the search: How Volunteer Sleuths Identified a Hiker and Her Killer After 36 Years