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

[carbuff]

She has 95 names on her exclusions list now. https://identifyus.org/cases/4790

 

[dogmaticsusie]

((deleted because I posted twice!))

 

[dogmaticsusie]

I just spent the last several minutes looking at a variety of pictures of traditional Native American braids, and they are all worn much lower on the head, not sticking out from the sides like our Doe wore them.

I used to work with LE on this case through the DoeNetwork about 9/10 years ago... IIRC, the braids shown in the recons and even the PM photos were not necessarily how she had her hair done when they found her. I remember the officer saying that the ME had taken her braids out (shown in the profile PM shot) and then they decided to re-do them because of the uniqueness of the style.

Also (and I may have posted this before), they were not sure that her complexion was actually freckled or if blood had settled in that area (since she was found face down) and gave the appearance of freckles.

My feeling, after years of keeping up with her case, is that she was a foster who aged out of the system and was not reported missing. I have also wondered if she was working at a horseback camp or something similar. There is one at the Whitewater State Park in Liberty, IN, which is very close to the Ohio state line, and there may have been one at Hueston Woods in Oxford, Ohio at that time too. It would be interesting to see what her hands looked like, if they were manicured and "soft" or if she had clearly worked with them.

(ETA: Both Liberty, IN and Oxford, OH are only a little over an hour away from Miami County.

 

[rosesfromangels]

Very good observations dogmaticsusie! Yes, the condition of her hands would tell us a great deal, unless she wore gloves. That said, none of my ranching relatives wear gloves; too cumbersome.

The foster notion makes a lot of sense too. The whole topic of eighteen year olds getting spit in to society from foster care is a whole other lengthy topic indeed. I wonder how many of our young unclaimed Does were fosters....probably a fair amount.

 

[LucyOso]

i don't mean to spam or bump this thread at all but there's one thing i want to say about Buckskin girl. It's kinda personal though, and it's not really helpful to know with solving this case.

but when i first heard about this story/case it kinda took a toll on me. how she could be found dead somewhere and no one claimed her at all really made me sad but it also made me think of myself, both of my parents been dead every since i was first born and my adoptive parents never really 'cared' for me at all, i mean they did take care of me, but we were never close and we had a very distant relationship even while i was growing up. I never really had any friends back in middle school or highschool either because i didnt know how to make friends because i have aspegers (a mild forum of autism) and lacked social skills.

It made me think, If i would have ran away and been killed and found dead someone, no one would have ever identified me at all. I'd just be another john doe in morgue. I know my adoptive parents would've reported me missing, but they would never try putting any effort into finding me at all.

I think maybe this girl was in the same situation :/ it's very sad when you think about it, but i just felt like letting that out
i really hope they find out who she is, even if they don't even have a family to return her too or anyone that misses her, at least let her have her true name and identity back

Thank you for sharing. I think you will find that many of us come here for the same reason. We are or could have easily been a Jane or John. And we all feel a strange sense of survivor's guilt because we are here and others are not.

 

[carbuff]

Regarding the braids, all I could think of was traditional Mennonite women's hairstyles -- especially because her level of physical fitness might be due to a lot of physical labor, ie farm work. Just a thought.

Braids were popular in the late 70's and early 80's, especially for active women.

If her braids really were away from her head like that, I can think of two common reasons -- if you're braiding your own hair with no mirror, for instance when you're hiking, you tend to pull out from your head like that. And if you pull the braids up on top of your head in that Mennonite/pioneer woman style, that also tends to pull them out from your head. I've done both, back when my hair was long.

 

[rosesfromangels]

Braids were popular in the late 70's and early 80's, especially for active women.

If her braids really were away from her head like that, I can think of two common reasons -- if you're braiding your own hair with no mirror, for instance when you're hiking, you tend to pull out from your head like that. And if you pull the braids up on top of your head in that Mennonite/pioneer woman style, that also tends to pull them out from your head. I've done both, back when my hair was long.

Or, you wear them high like that because you don't want them falling forward and getting in your face when you are working....or getting stuck in farm machinery?

BTW, I wonder if they checked to see if she had a line or indication on her finger that there had ever been a wedding band?
She looks young - 17 or 18 to me. I still think this is domestic violence.

 

[carbuff]

Yeah, I do too.

 

[STANDREID]

Maybe her hair could have been braided by her killer (either pre or postmortem) who had a fetish for such. I don't think lack of sexual assault would eliminate this possibility since intercourse might not have been what satisfied him sexually. In Denmark, there was a sex killer named Luigi Longhi who used to get off shampooing women's hair.

 

[carbuff]

Wow, I never heard of that before. Intriguing. I'm surprised he was a serial killer; he could have worked in a salon and got his thrills all day, legally.

 

[dotr]

Maybe her hair could have been braided by her killer (either pre or postmortem) who had a fetish for such. I don't think lack of sexual assault would eliminate this possibility since intercourse might not have been what satisfied him sexually. In Denmark, there was a sex killer named Luigi Longhi who used to get off shampooing women's hair.

Good point, now that you mention it, there was another perp who got his jollies cutting the hair of unsuspecting females on public transit.
This young woman`s hair was described as thick,reddish brown and very long - and hopefully memorable to someone.

 

[Roselvr]

Braids were popular in the late 70's and early 80's, especially for active women.

If her braids really were away from her head like that, I can think of two common reasons -- if you're braiding your own hair with no mirror, for instance when you're hiking, you tend to pull out from your head like that. And if you pull the braids up on top of your head in that Mennonite/pioneer woman style, that also tends to pull them out from your head. I've done both, back when my hair was long.

I used to braid my hair high like that so that it was under my helmet & not flapping around in the wind when I rode or rode on the back of my BF's Panhead.

 

[LucyOso]

Maybe her hair could have been braided by her killer (either pre or postmortem) who had a fetish for such. I don't think lack of sexual assault would eliminate this possibility since intercourse might not have been what satisfied him sexually. In Denmark, there was a sex killer named Luigi Longhi who used to get off shampooing women's hair.

I agree. I was wondering the other day if the whole outfit was something the killer came up with. Perhaps, that was his fetish...the Native Canadian/American thing. It is possible the moccasins he had might not have fit her feet. Hence she was barefoot. Something about her turtle neck always seemed out dated to me. I wonder if he held onto this from another earlier crime or it belonged to someone who jilted him...Buckskin always seemed like a time capsule to me wearing 1960's-1970's styles in 1981. Was she captive awhile? In a mental institution? Thoughts?

 

[dotr]

I agree. I was wondering the other day if the whole outfit was something the killer came up with. Perhaps, that was his fetish...the Native Canadian/American thing. It is possible the moccasins he had might not have fit her feet. Hence she was barefoot. Something about her turtle neck always seemed out dated to me. I wonder if he held onto this from another earlier crime or it belonged to someone who jilted him...Buckskin always seemed like a time capsule to me wearing 1960's-1970's styles in 1981. Was she captive awhile? In a mental institution? Thoughts?

If Buckskin was held either by perp or institution, i would think it was not for a very long period of time, because she was described as being very healthy and fit.
Although, she did apparently have several scars on her left arm..
Just a small possibility, but recall a store that had a " country" or " cowboy day" and employees were expected to dress for that theme for the day/week. A friend who worked there, put together an outfit, not unlike Doe s' and braided her hair and wore c.boy hat.
Maybe other establishments had similar theme days?

 

[elliha]

I personally think this was her own style and that she probably was at the older end of the estimate and this is how she was dressed as a teen and she had kept to this style throughout life like many people do. If I would guess I would even say that she could be older than the estimate but young-looking.

 

[dotr]

I personally think this was her own style and that she probably was at the older end of the estimate and this is how she was dressed as a teen and she had kept to this style throughout life like many people do. If I would guess I would even say that she could be older than the estimate but young-looking.

Quite possible that she was older than estimate, which perhaps, would make the lack of pierced ears, all the more note-worthy imo.

 

[carbuff]

Pierced ears were not all that common in the west and midwest before the 1980's.

 

[LucyOso]

I personally think this was her own style and that she probably was at the older end of the estimate and this is how she was dressed as a teen and she had kept to this style throughout life like many people do. If I would guess I would even say that she could be older than the estimate but young-looking.

That is a very good point. While the picture below is not her, I wonder if her dress had a symbolism and deeper meaning to it. Maybe she was an activist or involved in Womens', Natives' (AIM or WARN), environmental, or civil rights. Just a thought...



http://looseleafservices.us/investigators-fixed-their-gaze-on-feminists/

 

[rosesfromangels]

"Buckskin girl",

You were tossed like garbage on the side of the road, left brutalized and without an identity. But on this day, even though you left this earth so many years ago, you are remembered. Someday, we will give you back your name.

Not forgotten dear girl. God Bless

 

[Roselvr]

"Buckskin girl",

You were tossed like garbage on the side of the road, left brutalized and without an identity. But on this day, even though you left this earth so many years ago, you are remembered. Someday, we will give you back your name.

Not forgotten dear girl. God Bless

Merry Christmas BG! We'll find your identity!