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

[folieadeuxnola]

Wasn't Joseph Benasutti's MOM strangulation then decapitation or dismemberment of the victims body? SK's are very consistent with their pattern of
murder. The 1st MOM is there strangulation, however the last two are not consistent in MK's case. Her body was not buried nor dismembered and scattered in various places she was left in the open, all thou a rural area still out in the open

 

[Rajam]

Wasn't Joseph Benasutti's MOM strangulation them decapitation or dismemberment of his victims bodys? SK's are very consistent with their pattern of murder

He strangled them, chopped them up, then later burn the pieces.
Have play the scenario that he was just starting to kill, got better at it.
I wish they could have identified everyone in his yard because that could give more details to his timeline. The house he had them buried, land was purchased in 1991 according to auditors site. House was built in 1991. Someone mentioned his dad had house on Horseshoe Bend. I'm thinking it was some of his dad's land that sits right in that corner. I'll have to research that... Must say, I cant believe the wife still lives there.... WTF

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[folieadeuxnola]

LE has stated Louisville and Pittsburgh in the last month, what about the other areas she was known to be in are they looking there as well for anyone that may have known MK ? Seems to be that is a lengthy amount of time and is very specific.

One region stands out like a bull's-eye on the map. It's a rough circle encompassing a region that runs from the Dallas-Ft. Worth area of north Texas into southern Oklahoma.

"That's the only region in the United States that tap water corresponds to those isotope values in her hair," Tipple said.

Although the data suggests Jane Doe was traveling most of her last year, she was in the north Texas region twice, staying there for at least two months each time.

 

[Jake479]

I'm so happy that Buckskin Girl was finally identified. It's a dream come true. RIP Marcia Lenore King. I hope your killer is caught.

 

[cvaldez1975]

my step daughters and nieces wear double French braids all the time and they are pretty stylish. depends where you are from and your chosen style expression.

Stylish or not, braids are just a very practical thing to do with hair for just about anything, and if she was a bit of a hippie at heart that style would be right at home on her regardless of era. It's not really 'in' right now but I frequently have my hair in double braids because it's past the middle of my back and very thick; keeping it up in a ponytail or bun is uncomfortable. I honestly think as far as 'practical' hairstyling, braids in general never go out of fashion, whether or not you see them in *actual* fashion, if that makes sense.

 

[annie970]

Although I agree on the domestic abuse theory, I don't think a lack of sexual assault necessarily implies a personal tie... Just recently I was reading about the murder of Birna Branjasdottir last year and it made me think of Marcia... a young woman is walking home a little drunk, gets in a car with an awful person. He tries to assault her, she fights back, his ego is bruised and he beats and strangles her, dumps her body (assumably what happened- he had a history of going after incapacitated women).

If she was at a bar, could it be a similar scenario? Someone tries to take advantage of her and gets enraged? Just a thought. Stomach contents of a toxicology report sure would help..

Also about her braids- the corners photo is taken straight on with her hair falling back and I think it kind of makes the braids look higher up and perky (like two double banded pony tails), which to me is a big more childish and distinct. However now that I look at the photos more closely and the reconstruction, it looks like they weren't double banded, so they would've hung lower in person and would've been two normal side braids- which was a semi-popular hair style in the 70s, and in line with the trendy Native American style of the time.

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[rascal32]

Braided hair has been popular in the past and is still pretty popular. I don’t think there’s anything unusual about her hair. I braided my hair a lot in the 80s and still do at times if I want it out of the way because ponytails give me a headache.
Feet clean so definitely not killed outside. I wonder if they have gone through hotel registries of the days previous in the area.
The one thing that makes me think she was killed in the area is that witnesses thought they recognized her as being at a local bar. I don’t know yet if this is domestic or stranger. Do we know if she was with someone at the bar? ( if she was at the bar).


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[scruffydog]

I don't see this question here-but did her Mother recognize the jacket? Also-did the buckskin jacket actually fit her, or was it a man's clothing item and was really big on her? I can't really tell by the pictures.

 

[Alleykins]

I don't see this question here-but did her Mother recognize the jacket? Also-did the buckskin jacket actually fit her, or was it a man's clothing item and was really big on her? I can't really tell by the pictures.

Sadly, we may never know whether Maricia's mother or her family recognized the jacket unless they release that information to the public. The family were harassed terribly by the public and they stopped talking to the FaceBook page and asked for their privacy.
As far as the jacket itself, I don't recall reading what size it was or whether it was a man's or a woman. I think investigators believed it may have been hand sewn. We've had so many lengthy discussions over the years about the jacket, if you have a moment or two, search the thread and you will see just how many and how long, LOL.
In one of the news videos, the police officer held it up and it looked rather large to me.

 

[Rajam]

This popped up in my FB On this day... They considered Prostitute killer in 2016. Also scrolling through original comments again, someone commented about the flowers on her grave. Steve Baker did interview with Bridenbaugh on anniversary and showed the grave after flowers had been placed, noone ever said who placed the flowers. I'm still trying to find that video because it is somewhere.

Thoughts on the flowers? Noone knows who was placing them, they seemed to be placed around anniversary of her death.

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[Rajam]

I don't see this question here-but did her Mother recognize the jacket? Also-did the buckskin jacket actually fit her, or was it a man's clothing item and was really big on her? I can't really tell by the pictures.

I haven't seen where the family has mentioned anything publicly about anything. I'm sure the LE know, they did say the family was cooperating with the investigation.

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[Dyakt]

This popped up in my FB On this day... They considered Prostitute killer in 2016. Also scrolling through original comments again, someone commented about the flowers on her grave. Steve Baker did interview with Bridenbaugh on anniversary and showed the grave after flowers had been placed, noone ever said who placed the flowers. I'm still trying to find that video because it is somewhere.

Thoughts on the flowers? Noone knows who was placing them, they seemed to be placed around anniversary of her death.

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We do kinda know who places the flowers.

Strangers and the detective who was originally in charge. The "tradition" started when she was buried as an UID, some locals attended her funeral and brought flowers.

Trying to find the interview of the detective where he talks that Buckskin girl is like a part of his family by now, but the recent media attention has buried it.

>Years passed. Detectives kept the case open, constantly checking Missing Persons databases. Strangers continued to leave flowers at the grave in Riverside Cemetery in Troy, Miami County.

http://triblive.com/news/projects/ourstories/10570633-74/doe-jane-hickey

 

[Rajam]

Thanks for that link, had always been curious who was placing them.

Curious if the scars were there before she left home for the last time.

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[Cryptic]

Might there have been some sort of communal living or camping something-or-other around there at the time? Or camping/music party or festival? (Just thinking ... [emoji848] [emoji189])

Well said. I am thinking the communal living could of been an established commune type place, or simply a temporary house(s) being rented.

There is a hippie type of community that's been around awhile, not too awfully far from Troy. Town called Yellow Springs. It still has a name of being a hippie community, but back in the day, when this young lady passed, it was likely even more-so of a hippie type community.

Good information about Yellow Springs hippie culture and Marcia was interested in alternative culture. I wonder if Troy ever had a noticeable hippie sub culture? When I was younger, Colorado Springs (a larger city) had a district of head shops, record stores, new age / hippie boutiques and probably a bar or two for pseudo bikers.

Anyways, close to the district was a neighborhood with a number of large, but deteriorating Victorian homes. Some, or many, of these homes were then sub rented by the room (and probably by the coach) to a good number of hippies, run away youth and drifters. Anybody know if Troy had a similar district?

 

[Roselvr]

It seems to me that most young ladies keep in contact with their mothers pretty constantly when they are away. Did she not call her mother and let her know where she was? Also, what type of personality did she have and what type of people did she hang around? Certainly her family members can give us some information about her so we can try to help solve the case.

LE aren't giving us any info except to say she was in Louisville, KY & Pittsburgh, PA from March to April 1981. I assume that has come from her family. It's also been said they don't recall seeing her jacket either but she shopped at second hand stores.

Ok I always do MS and breast cancer, this is a very worthy cause, hoping all cases can be as fast as this. Thanks!!

I agree. As soon as I have some cash to spare I'll be donating as well.

I think Marcia was inside a house when she was killed because she had clean feet. She was probably killed in Pittsburgh or Louisville and driven away to get the body away from scene of the crime. Keep in mind that Pittsburgh, PA is only about 4 hours away from Troy, Oh. Louisville is really close and only about an 2.5 hours. Not really that far at all. Also she wasn’t raped. I think she knew this person and I bet he was her boyfriend or wanted to be her boyfriend. Also I read somewhere that it looked like she had been laid in the ditch. It wasn’t like she was just thrown out and rolled there. I’m thinking she was killed by someone in Louisville who grew up in Troy and knew the back roads there because of where she was found. Louisville is just so close to Troy.

Here is where GB said that it looked like someone just laid her there

Scroll down passed the main article, there is a piece about the guy GB that found her where he says that.
‘Buckskin Girl’ identified

GB — who went on to have a long career as the chief of the LFFD — said he didn’t have a phone yet at the Greenlee residence, so he used his fire department radio to contact dispatch about the girl, who they believed to already be deceased.

“It was first believed they thought it was a car accident, and the State Highway Patrol came flying in,” GB remembered. “Then the the sheriff’s office, including detectives, soon convened on the site.”

He remembers a member of the Pleasant Hill rescue squad as the one who pronounced her dead while she remained untouched in the ditch.

“She was laying on her right side, almost in the fetal position,” GB recalled. “It was like someone just laid her in there.

“Once we found her, we kind of just stayed back from everything,” GB said.

Way back here on BGs websleuth page it was stated her hair had been rebraided by the people doing the autopsy. So in that autopsy photo --- her hair was not originally braided like that. It has also been stated many times she was not sexually assaulted. As well as many times stated here that her feet were clean.
She is dressed like We used to dress in the 1970s. A d braids were common among girls and women who embraced that alternative counterculture. She was young to be following that in the 1970s but many young people turning late teens to early 20s in the 1980s embraced it also.

I did happen to find the article that said her feet were clean but not that she wasn't sexually abused.



Slain Jane Doe's curious case in Ohio still puzzles after 35 years
Chris Togneri | Saturday, June 4, 2016, 9:00 p.m.

She was white, approximately 5 feet 6 inches tall and 125 pounds. She had reddish hair, freckles and a “ruddy” complexion, suggesting she enjoyed the outdoors. Her hair was braided into two pigtails.

Her clothes consisted of bellbottom jeans, a white bra, brown turtleneck sweater with orange crisscrosses, and a buckskin pullover jacket. Her shoes, socks and underwear were missing, as were any bags or forms of identification. Her pockets were empty.

She was well-groomed, “someone who cared for herself,” said Carol Schweitzer, a senior forensic case specialist for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Her eyebrows were neatly plucked, her clothes clean, her teeth perfectly aligned and brilliantly white.

But she also had several small scars on her body, including one on her left wrist that was over 2 inches long.

She had been strangled. The coroner also found blunt force trauma to her forehead and a lacerated liver, possibly the result of a blow. Authorities estimated her age at 18 to 24, though Miami County Sheriff's Detective Steve Hickey thinks she looks closer to 15.

... Investigators suspect Jane Doe was killed elsewhere and dumped along Greenlee Road just west of Troy in Newton Township. They concluded this because her bare feet were clean, showing no indication of walking on dirt, and because Interstate 75 is just 5 miles away, making it a convenient and discreet drop-off spot.

Although I agree on the domestic abuse theory, I don't think a lack of sexual assault necessarily implies a personal tie... Just recently I was reading about the murder of Birna Branjasdottir last year and it made me think of Marcia... a young woman is walking home a little drunk, gets in a car with an awful person. He tries to assault her, she fights back, his ego is bruised and he beats and strangles her, dumps her body (assumably what happened- he had a history of going after incapacitated women).

If she was at a bar, could it be a similar scenario? Someone tries to take advantage of her and gets enraged? Just a thought. Stomach contents of a toxicology report sure would help..

Also about her braids- the corners photo is taken straight on with her hair falling back and I think it kind of makes the braids look higher up and perky (like two double banded pony tails), which to me is a big more childish and distinct. However now that I look at the photos more closely and the reconstruction, it looks like they weren't double banded, so they would've hung lower in person and would've been two normal side braids- which was a semi-popular hair style in the 70s, and in line with the trendy Native American style of the time.

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I agree, would be nice if LE said what her stomach contents and toxicology report said.

Can someone please provide a link saying she was not sexually assaulted? I honestly do not remember seeing it. I would like to update her wiki but I'm going to need links to do so to prove it is fact coming from LE. I personally do not recall LE releasing that info.

We do not know exactly how her braids were because the ME did them. We do not know if he did them similar to the way she originally had them.

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My grandson is awake so I have to stop here. Wanted to redo wording on what I posted but don't have time...

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Edit - I found where it's mentioned there was no sign of sexual assault

I went ahead and contacted Lt. Steve Lord of the Miami County Sheriff's Office to tell him about SLL, and I e-mailed a side-by-side comparison to him.

We talked briefly for about 10 minutes, and he said that the tendency of many has been to connect this to the other highway murders that have occurred during that era. His own opinion is that this was possibly a domestic violence situation, as opposed to a hitchhiker or truck-stop prostitute situation. In most of those other cases, the body was left very close to the interstate highway. In this instance, she was left a few miles from I-75. Also, there was no evidence of sexual assault, as they typically find with those other cases, and she was clean and showed no evidence of having been on the road for an extended period of time.

He said that he believes if they can identify her, it will quickly lead them to a perp.

Another detail that I got was that her body was found on the east side of Greenlee Road about halfway up the block. There is a home in that location now that wasn't there at the time.

ETA: This is the approximate location - in the ditch shown here.

Greenlee Road, Miami County OH

 

[Rajam]

Well said. I am thinking the communal living could of been an established commune type place, or simply a temporary house(s) being rented.

Good information about Yellow Springs hippie culture and Marcia was interested in alternative culture. I wonder if Troy ever had a noticeable hippie sub culture? When I was younger, Colorado Springs (a larger city) had a district of head shops, record stores, new age / hippie boutiques and probably a bar or two for pseudo bikers.

Anyways, close to the district was a neighborhood with a number of large, but deteriorating Victorian homes. Some, or many, of these homes were then sub rented by the room to a good number of hippies, run away youth and drifters. Anybody know if Troy had a similar district?

There used to be few houses around Troy that were like that. One house in particular that stands out to me was the one on StRt 55, it was up in front of the old Krogers/Kmart plaza. Random people were always welcome to come and go. That house has been demolished years ago. There was a woman that came and stayed there and worked at what used to be a small gas station on 55, was basically a box. She never came back to work, noone knew what happened to her. I'll have to see if my sister still talks to the guy that mentioned the girl that just quit coming in. She stayed there at the house I mentioned. Maybe with actual pictures of her he can rule her out or say yes that's her.

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[BayouGypsy]

I wonder if maybe there was a female involved in her murder? It does seem like it was personal. Someone she knew and trusted. Maybe a jealous girlfriend/wife attacked her, boyfriend/hubby freaked out, they take her out in the boonies hoping she isn't found?

 

[WyomingSkyAngel]

I wonder if maybe there was a female involved in her murder? It does seem like it was personal. Someone she knew and trusted. Maybe a jealous girlfriend/wife attacked her, boyfriend/hubby freaked out, they take her out in the boonies hoping she isn't found?

Could be.

Side note- I hope Marcia's family will do interviews when they feel the time is right. This case could help a lot of other cases get closed/ get much needed attention.

 

[Alleykins]

I meant to ask. I've read and heard at the press conference that the family is considering replacing the headstone with one with Marcia's name on it. Does that mean they don't plan on moving her remains to a family plot or cemetery closer to them? Is that anyone else's take on it?

 

[Bit of hope]

I meant to ask. I've read and heard at the press conference that the family is considering replacing the headstone with one with Marcia's name on it. Does that mean they don't plan on moving her remains to a family plot or cemetery closer to them? Is that anyone else's take on it?

Hi Alleykins....maybe they want to replace the headstone for now....and later move her. I think this will cost the necessary money (totally don't know what this will cost in the US) Maybe the family doesn't have this kind of money right now. Trying to think kind of positive.