OR OR - Wanda Ann Herr, 19, Gresham, 1 Jun 1976

[Beekarina]

WOW!

 

[Beekarina]

WOW! So this was Wanda:

510UFOR

 

[Bit of hope]

Decades-old skull identified as belonging to young woman who died in 1970s; detectives seek tips (Photo)

Release

86-025724-WandaHerr-Age12.jpg
Decades-old skull identified as belonging to young woman who died in 1970s; detectives seek tips (Photo) - 10/22/20


Please reference CCSO Case # 86-025724

In 1986, two U.S. Forest Service workers found a partial human skull near Government Camp, Oregon.

Earlier this year, genetic and genealogical investigators finally identified the skull as belonging to 19-year-old Wanda Ann Herr. Today, the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office is asking for the public's help as it resurrects a decades-old cold case -- and investigates Wanda's mysterious disappearance and death in the late 1970s.

A mysterious skull
The case began on Aug. 2, 1986. Two Forest Service workers discovered a partial skull, several bone fragments, and a single human tooth on Still Creek Road 2612 and Road 145, near Government Camp off Highway 26.

Eleven days later, an Oregon State Police forensic examiner determined the skull likely belonged to a twentysomething woman or small man. He also estimated the skull had been in the woods approximately 10 years -- putting the subject's death on or around 1976.

In 2005, the remains were re-inventoried and re-curated at the Clackamas County Medical Examiner's Office. But the case otherwise lay dormant until 2008, nearly 22 years after the initial find, when Dr. Nici Vance -- the State Forensic Anthropologist with the Oregon State Police -- re-examined the skull. This, combined with DNA analysis of the skull at the University of North Texas, allowed for a refined victim description: The skull belonged to a female in her late teens to early 20s.

That same year, 2008, Sheriff's *more at link

Just can say this for now

 

[Bit of hope]

Ok, got myself together....poor sweet girl....RIP.

This is the route from where she went missing and where her remains were found

 

[alb1on]

Whilst the identification of remains is good news as it may be possible to make further progress, the report raises almost as many questions as it answers. Particularly, how can it be that there are no records of her as a runaway or missing person, or police reports that mention her if she was listed on Namus (and elsewhere)? Someone must have initiated the various listings. Who did this? And what were the circumstances of her being raised separately from her siblings?

I do not know if this one will be solved, but there are more than enough loose ends to justify quite an effort by LE.

 

[Melt71]

Probably there were reports but only found in paper files once she was tentatively ID through DNA and police got in contact with her sisters. It may only have been then that LE went back to old paper files and found the original pieces of paper, presumably originally reported by the group home? Just speculation of course.

RIP Wanda.

 

[leilarose68]

I'm confused, was Wanda's DNA not in NamUs? Why wasn't this DNA match made earlier through NamUs?

 

[DSCrime]

What happened to Wanda Ann Herr? Skull identified as Oregon teen in decades-old cold case

"In January 2019, the Oregon State Medical Examiner's Office received National Institute of Justice grant funds to perform forensic genetic genealogy and DNA phenotyping on 100 unidentified human skeletal remains cases.

DNA phenotyping predicts the physical appearance and ancestry of an unknown person from their DNA. Genetic genealogy can help identify an unknown person by searching for relatives in public databases and building family trees, according to detectives.

The Government Camp skull was among those sent out for the grant-funded investigation. Deputies said it was also the first to produce a major finding.

The intensive genetic analysis revealed far more detail about the subject: The skull belonged to a female of Northern European descent with fair skin, hazel/brown eyes, brown hair, and some freckles.

These new details, combined with extensive genealogical research, soon revealed a likely name for the young woman: Wanda Ann Herr, born in 1957.

Detectives obtained Wanda's birth certificate and contacted her surviving sisters. Further DNA testing with the cooperation of the sisters confirmed the partial skull was that of Wanda Herr.

Investigators said Herr is believed to have disappeared sometime after June 1976. She was 19 years old at the time and may have been living in a group home in the Gresham area.

Herr was not raised in the same home as her sisters, so information about her remains scarce.

Detectives, based on interviews, believe Herr was a chronic runaway, however there are no police reports that mention her name. Herr also had no DMV record and no bank account.

A photo was given to detectives, taken when Herr was 12 years old, seven years before her disappearance."

 

[Andreee]

And this! Good news, identified! Skull found on Mount Hood in ’86 was missing 19-year-old woman, DNA reveals; cold case reopened Some answers for her family, but condolences.

 

[Luckyzmom]

Rest in Peace Wanda

 

[Betty P]

What?! Does this mean she wasn't reported missing anywhere before that? By the grouphome or any family member? I see it is about a 13 hour walk altogether if Wanda had walked from Gresham to the Government Camp which doesn't seem likely to me. Whereas by car it would only be about an hour to that remote area,(guessing sparsely populated in 1976) so the obvious guess is the poor girl was murdered and left there. Perhaps while hitchhiking IMO. LE is investigating this case.
Hopefully they will track down the (former?) group home owners at least.

I was wondering if she was killed and her body dumped there, sorry to say. It seems a very remote area, near Mt Hood, a national park. Sadly many murder victims end up in remote areas of national parks. Looking at it on google maps, I wonder if it's impassible during winter months? If so, it could help narrow down the time of year someone took her back there.

خرائط ‪Google‬‏‏

Bless her heart. I feel so badly that she had a difficult life and tragic death. She deserved better. I'm glad everyone knows who she is.

 

[Andreee]

Welcome Cece Moore!

 

[CeCeMoore]

Welcome Cece Moore!

Thanks! I am a long-time lurker here (under various usernames over the years).

 

[LotsaLatte]

I am so glad to see a match made. Very sad that a young life was taken though

 

[ChatteringBirds]

What a sad case, on many levels.
I hope her family did try to report her missing and tried to follow up with LE . We never know if they tried a few times but couldn't navigate through.
I hope she was loved and missed by someone.
Rest in peace.

 

[CeCeMoore]

Hi @CeCeMoore good to have you here. One more success to add to your impressive track record. Thank you so much for doing what you do!

Do you think there are much more cases like this? I mean (tentatively) identified and just then entered in the missing persons systems? Is this necessary to get "the ball rolling". Could you elaborate on this, because I'm not quite sure how this works.

Thanks @Bit of hope. Yes, I do think there are many more cases like this one out there, and that is why we have so many unidentified Does, and so little success overall in connecting them to known Missing Person profiles. In the UID cases in which I have been involved with successful identifications, there are rarely missing person reports. It seems to me that, typically, this is because there is a lack of family unity/cohesion, e.g. - foster care, divorce, incarceration, estrangement, drug issues, or just a general lack of connection with extended family due to various reasons. The person certainly may have been missed, but there seems to be confusion/uncertainty about who should be the one to report it, especially if the parents are deceased or estranged, or when is the appropriate time to do so. If they are legally adults and not very close to their families, then how does one know if they just willing left or something happened to them, and after years/decades of not hearing from them, they might wonder, is it too late to file a report? Hindsight is 20/20 in that regard, but I think navigating the actual situations is complex in many cases - and especially so decades ago.

So, my long-winded answer is that once there is a theorized identification and the agency involved confirms that this person has no recent activity and the family becomes aware of the situation, then it seems that there is often an effort to create a Missing Person profile that can be matched to once the ID of the Doe is confirmed. I submitted Wanda's tentative ID to the agency some time ago and then saw her pop up as an official Missing Person fairly soon afterward. (It was difficult not to post her profile then because I wanted to scream her almost-lost name to the world, but of course I had to wait.) It took quite awhile longer to get the official DNA confirmation and the announcement to be made. Wanda's case is not the first case to follow this same pattern, and definitely will not be the last.

Thanks to everyone here who cares about Wanda and those like her.

 

[Beekarina]

So....hopefully they are able to somehow learn what happened to poor Wanda.

 

[Backabeyond]

Ok, got myself together....poor sweet girl....RIP.

This is the route from where she went missing and where her remains were found

View attachment 268747

And south of there is Highway 20, which is the site of a few murders, at least two of which were perpetrated by John Ackroyd (and an accomplice on at least one). He was about 2.5 hours from where Wanda was found. Just from the reported behavior and crimes of JA, it would be far from surprising if there were more victims.

 

[Backabeyond]

This is a map charting the the path between where Wanda was found and the residence of a possible serial killer named John Ackroyd who lived and operated around Highway 20 at the time.

خرائط ‪Google‬‏‏

 

[Andreee]

This is a map charting the the path between where Wanda was found and the residence of a possible serial killer named John Ackroyd who lived and operated around Highway 20 at the time.