Identified! OH - Troy, Miami Co., 'Buckskin Girl' WhtFem 133UFOH, 15-25, Apr'81 - Marcia King

[cybervampira]

I stumbled across something interesting while researching Iowa (not Ohio) cold cases.

A young woman named Sandra Jo Pittman was found murdered in September 1980 (about eight months before Marcia's death). https://iowacoldcases.org/case-summaries/sandra-jo-pittman/ Her body was left in a highway rest area. This is the part that caught my attention:

An autopsy concluded the young woman died from blows to the head from a heavy object such as a claw hammer or crowbar, with time of death estimated as sometime late Tuesday the 16th or early Wednesday between midnight and 7 a.m.

The autopsy report indicated the victim may also have been strangled, but was not sexually assaulted.

It's probably nothing but I thought the similarities were interesting.

Dean Ray Tumey was tried and acquited many years later.

Some more similarities:

Investigators believed the young woman was killed elsewhere and dumped at the rest area.

Mrs. Pittman also said her granddaughter was known to hitchhike and might have been killed by someone she accepted a ride from.

http://www.iowaunsolvedmurders.com/...thrown-away-murder-of-sandra-jo-pittman-1980/

 

[MelmothTheLost]

She was wearing it as an outer garment, over a sweater. If that's how you planned to wear it, you'd want it to have some extra room, wouldn't you?

Yes, but if a woman is a size 12 she doesn't usually buy a size 20 jacket. There's "roomy" and there's "swamps the wearer". If, as some here have now suggested, this is a man's jacket its whole scale would be too big all round for a typical woman - long in the body, long in the sleeve, too broad in the shoulders. If it had been made for a teenage boy the fit for a young woman would almost certainly be much better.

It would be interesting to have the measurements of the jacket and see what it would have looked like on a woman of Marcia's height, size and proportions.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

Pollen doesn't have a time frame. She could have been there a year or two previous.

This is a good point. I could imagine that the texture of the buckskin would hold onto pollen grains for a long time.

Do we know how much wear was on the jacket, especially areas like the elbows which would get disproportionate wear? I'm wondering how likely it is that she might have picked it up from goodwill rather than it being given to her.

 

[folieadeuxnola]

Huh, I didn't know that. I need to educate myself more!

Makes two of us ... :dunno:

All I can say is the jacket IMO is unusually large for a woman her size wether it truly was Marcia's or someone else is a questionable


....please forgive my typos .. my tablet does not keep up with my typing brains thoughts.. darn

 

[Roselvr]

I'm just catching up - I was out of town with no internet access since Sunday. Sorry for not responding earlier Roselvr, but looks like you found the articles.

Her family will not be moving her at any point, just to clarify. They are replacing her headstone.

From what I hear, her family will be fund raising to add the new headstone.

To bring back the buckskin jacket discussion: this is a screenshot of the jacket being held up from a video a few years ago. It sure looks too big for a 5'6, 130 lb. woman.

I agree it looks big. Wish I knew how large LE was. Could be she bought it from a 2nd hand store as she was known to shop there. Could be she had long arms like me, needed the bigger jacket to fit right on the arms. Could be she just liked it, didn't care that it was large.

 

[Gardener1850]

To bring back the buckskin jacket discussion: this is a screenshot of the jacket being held up from a video a few years ago. It sure looks too big for a 5'6, 130 lb. woman.

It does look large for her. Was there blood on the jacket? I can't see any but with her forehead injury it seems like there should have been more blood spots if she was wearing the jacket while murdered. Could the jacket have been placed on her after her death? I can't imagine why someone would do that but the jacket looks too clean and it looks large enough that she could have fit inside it twice-- or perhaps balled up inside it in the fetal position that she was said to have been found in? The person who found her said at first he only saw her poncho and then he noticed her body. Maybe she was mostly concealed inside the jacket? IDK, just some thoughts.

 

[dotr]

From what I hear, her family will be fund raising to add the new headstone.



I agree it looks big. Wish I knew how large LE was. Could be she bought it from a 2nd hand store as she was known to shop there. Could be she had long arms like me, needed the bigger jacket to fit right on the arms. Could be she just liked it, didn't care that it was large.

MK had been described as large chested and may have needed to wear a larger sized jacket to accommodate that even if it meant the jacket was loose in other areas.
Noting that all her clothing seemed a little large.
imo, speculation.
rbbm.
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/133ufoh.html

Clothing: Patterned brown and orange turtleneck sweater (size L), white bra (size 32D), Wrangler jeans (size 30L), and a distinctive handmade buckskin hoodless poncho with a purple satin lining. No shoes were located.

 

[carbuff]

Some more similarities:


http://www.iowaunsolvedmurders.com/...thrown-away-murder-of-sandra-jo-pittman-1980/

Thanks, I hadn't noticed those. Shudder.

Sent from my SM-T560NU using Tapatalk

 

[AggieLou]

Thank you for finding that Carl... I guess I’m not crazy lol.
I thought if this sighting had merit, it might not be so difficult to find a man with stubs for arms, maybe he has information. Could she have been in the area and been hired to be a caregiver? Maybe he was a family member of her significant other if she had one? As it’s been said in here, because of the location of her remains, there is a high probability that the person that killed her was from the area or at least familiar with the area. I don’t believe a man without hands could beat and strangle her, but he might know something.. and yes, the 1/2 crazy remark is.... crazy lol



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Isn't that notation implying the person calling in tip to Fairborn PD is what the "1/2 crazy" refers to? And it is saying sighting was 3 yrs prior. So wouldn't be even close in time or place to when she was murdered. I don't think they took it seriously but Fairborn had to report it to the investigating agency.

 

[AggieLou]

From what I hear, her family will be fund raising to add the new headstone.



I agree it looks big. Wish I knew how large LE was. Could be she bought it from a 2nd hand store as she was known to shop there. Could be she had long arms like me, needed the bigger jacket to fit right on the arms. Could be she just liked it, didn't care that it was large.

I don't think it is tremendously big. That looks like really heavy leather and compare his right hand which you can see all fingers and judge width of his hand to jacket shoulder and cap of sleeve. Also compare his hand width to width of yoke inset which is almost the entire front of jacket in chest area. I was young though just a few years older in that era and a bit earlier in late 70s. I am familiar with garments like that as lots of places I was and people we hung out with had things like that. They appear big until you put them on. They are not tailored to fit a body shape which would make them look smaller. They are heavy, and need to be roomy so you can move in them.

 

[GoBuckeyes]

MK had been described as large chested and may have needed to wear a larger sized jacket to accommodate that even if it meant the jacket was loose in other areas.
Noting that all her clothing seemed a little large.
imo, speculation.
rbbm.
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/133ufoh.html

Could she have purchased the poncho to wear as a dress? I'm thinking about the distinctive purple silk lining. Dresses are often fully lined. Just a thought. But I agree... no matter how you look at it, that poncho is huge!

 

[Gardener1850]

I stumbled across something interesting while researching Iowa (not Ohio) cold cases.

A young woman named Sandra Jo Pittman was found murdered in September 1980 (about eight months before Marcia's death). https://iowacoldcases.org/case-summaries/sandra-jo-pittman/ Her body was left in a highway rest area. This is the part that caught my attention:

An autopsy concluded the young woman died from blows to the head from a heavy object such as a claw hammer or crowbar, with time of death estimated as sometime late Tuesday the 16th or early Wednesday between midnight and 7 a.m.

The autopsy report indicated the victim may also have been strangled, but was not sexually assaulted.

It's probably nothing but I thought the similarities were interesting.

Dean Ray Tumey was tried and acquited many years later.

Interesting similarities, carbuff. In the same line of thinking, I noticed today that Sheridan Jane Doe was also found without shoes on and COD blunt force trauma to the head: https://www.websleuths.com/forums/s...WhtFem-390UFWY-16-21-dumped-along-I-90-Apr-92

I know Wyoming is really far from Iowa and Ohio but if the perp was a trucker or a serial killer who traveled across the country picking up women (like Terry Rasmussen) it's possible these cases are all connected.

 

[Alleykins]

Interesting similarities, carbuff. In the same line of thinking, I noticed today that Sheridan Jane Doe was also found without shoes on and COD blunt force trauma to the head: https://www.websleuths.com/forums/s...WhtFem-390UFWY-16-21-dumped-along-I-90-Apr-92

I know Wyoming is really far from Iowa and Ohio but if the perp was a trucker or a serial killer who traveled across the country picking up women (like Terry Rasmussen) it's possible these cases are all connected.

Also of note, Carlene Brown and her friend went missing in WY in 1974. Her friend's remains were found later, COD was blunt force trauma. No info as to what items, if any, were found with her.

Carlene's thread: https://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?98727-WY-Carlene-Brown-19-Rawlins-4-July-1974

 

[AggieLou]

Could she have purchased the poncho to wear as a dress? I'm thinking about the distinctive purple silk lining. Dresses are often fully lined. Just a thought. But I agree... no matter how you look at it, that poncho is huge!

Well I'm thinking at this point LE knows more about the leather poncho than we do. I'm sure it was discussed with family whether they knew whether she had one at last time they saw ior talked with her. Or where and when she may have gotten it.
That poncho would not fit the man holding it up. Too small for him. It looks big because it is a pull over garment and leather has no stretch. You don't have the benefit of a front opening and closure which you don't have to fit your shoulders through. Have to be able to get your arms, shoulders and head through it from the bottom. It is also looking like thick leather and it will not give or stretch when you are trying to pull it on.

 

[Cryptic]

I am familiar with garments like that as lots of places I was and people we hung out with had things like that.

I don't see a tag in the collar area of the jacket. Do you think the jacket is home made? Also, I wonder if it is buckskin, or cow leather cut and dyed to resemble buckskin.

I had such a buck skin look jacket at one time as the "Daniel Boone" look was popular briefly. I even carried my school back pack slung like the way I imagined Daniel Boone would have done.

That aside, no tag could indicate home made and real buckskin would be rarer still. Likewise, the jacket looks well made (trim area is squared and is an added feature etc.) Another think is that it does not seem to have a feminine "hip cut" designed to bring out and flatter a woman's figure. My relatives used to sew and if I remember right, sewing patterns for women's clothing seemed to commonly have such figure flattering design elements as they were part of the fun of sewing home tailored clothes.

In short....

Perhaps the jacket is a one of home made craft item made for a male. Such an item would be less likely to be donated away and more likely to be either given as a gift, or loaned to a special friend (probably female) to wear.

 

[AggieLou]

I think the buckskin term is used generically. There were so many small shops back in the day that sold handcrafted leather goods and clothing of all types. Most probably didn't label them or maybe some would stamp them. Or you could make one but to sew one yourself you would need a heavy duty machine that could power through layers of leather. In the 1970s I had a Viking 6000 series sewing machine that had a low, powerful gear that could sew through leather. Even back in the day those machines were $2,000 and up.

 

[Cryptic]

I think the buckskin term is used generically. There were so many small shops back in the day that sold handcrafted leather goods and clothing of all types. Most probably didn't label them or maybe some would stamp them. Or you could make one but to sew one yourself you would need a heavy duty machine that could power through layers of leather. In the 1970s I had a Viking 6000 series sewing machine that had a low, powerfil gear that could sew through leather. Even back in the day those machines were $2,000 and up.

I wonder if the jacket was sown by hand with out a machine. I have heard that seamstresses and tailors can tell hand done from machine done stitches.

 

[Satchie]

I agree it looks big. Wish I knew how large LE was. Could be she bought it from a 2nd hand store as she was known to shop there. Could be she had long arms like me, needed the bigger jacket to fit right on the arms. Could be she just liked it, didn't care that it was large.

I like that idea, possibly she was pretty broke and couldn't afford to shop around for a new one that fit her better, she somehow got this one and liked it for the style and warmth rather than the fit.

 

[AggieLou]

I wonder if the jacket was sown by hand with out a machine. I have heard that seamstresses and tailors can tell hand done from machine done stitches.

I've hand sewn leather patches on my jeans in the 70s. This was popular too along with leather garments. It's really hard to punch through leather with hand sewing needles also. There are special needles to make it easier but to sew that jacket she had would be a task I wouldn't have wanted to take on. I didn't sew a lot of leather things as it was time consuming and difficult going. I had a home machine with a power gear but industrial ones would make it easier.

 

[Cryptic]

I've hand sewn leather patches on my jeans in the 70s. This was popular too along with leather garments. It's really hard to punch through leather with hand sewing needles also. There are special needles to make it easier but to sew that jacket she had would be a task I wouldn't have wanted to take on. I didn't sew a lot of leather things as it was time consuming and difficult going. I had a home machine with a power gear but industrial ones would make it easier.

Do you think the jacket is home made, or factory made?

I don't see a tag in the collar. One poster mentions that sometimes rustic leather type clothes were stamped with the brand, not tagged. So, the stamp could not be visible in the photo. Even still, the two different leathers in the chest and bordering area might indicate a home made touch? Then again, as you mentioned, trying to do something like this at home is difficult. But.... hippies could have a lot of spare time and some where interested in craft skills.