PA PA - Uniontown, WhtFem 30-45, UP16509, in big rig accident, cigs, keychain, clothes, jewelry, May'86

[Marie]

I have a possible explanation of how she had a truck on top of her but the post mortem pic looks like she is sleeping.

Sadly I have personal knowledge that someone can be in a horrific and forceful accident but still look okay on the outside. Even with severe head or body injuries.

In a few minutes I'll post links to articles I found so that others can read them and give input.

 

[Redwood146]

fftopic:
You are probably right, but I just saw this story:

Read More: <modsnip: broken link>

She was going through a divorce at the time of her disappearance, so I'm sure that more than a few of their neighbors probably figured that she was murdered by her husband. Her husband probably spent the last decade insisting to his kids and her family that he really had nothing to do with her disappearance. And they probably spent the last decade never really being sure.

Granted, the circumstances of Elizabeth Eisel are a little different, with her husband/half brother also being responsible for the disappearance of a second woman. But sometimes people do just up and disappear voluntarily, leaving everything (and their families) behind.

Meaghan of Charley Project commented in her blog that if that had been her mother, she wouldn't know whether to hug her or to smack her upside the head.

When I saw this story, I thought of my post in this thread !! Because the UID photo and Elizabeth Eisel photos do look so similar. Elizabeth could have managed to get out of her relationship with her half brother/husband only to end up dead in a truck accident sometime later.

As for the photos above of Brenda, I would for one not be able to pick that they were the same people unless you had done one of those overlays of a face from one photo to another photo.

 

[Magnum P.E.]

<modsnip: quoted post removed / broken link> Thanks, Marie. Since the stories say she was found pinned among the coils, and there are no coils visible outside the truck on the ground, until I find out otherwise I will assume that she was inside the trailer when the accident happened.

I doubt that the driver knew she was there at all.
It was 4:30 AM and he was hundreds of miles away from the office, no one would have known had he let her ride in the cab. I'm still thinking stowaway.

Looks like they distributed info along the (presumed) route.

I wonder what the inscription was on the key ring?
I doubt that they could have missed something like a cigarette tax stamp.

This one will take a while, but with the right strategy and some luck, in time it can be solved.

 

[nerosleuth]

Since the stories say she was found pinned among the coils, and there are no coils visible outside the truck on the ground, until I find out otherwise I will assume that she was inside the trailer when the accident happened.

I doubt that the driver knew she was there at all.

I'm still thinking stowaway.

I doubt that they could have missed something like a cigarette tax stamp.

This one will take a while, but with the right strategy and some luck, in time it can be solved.

I took a good look at the color picture you posted from the accident scene.

I agree with you that she had to be inside the trailer when the accident happened. She had to be a stowaway and I don't think the driver even knew he had a stowaway in his trailer.

Three possibilities come to mind regarding the cigarette tax stamp.

The first one is that she lived in the state where the pack of cigarette was brought.

The second one is that she was visiting the state and was not a resident of the state where the pack of cigarette was brought.

The third one is that she lived in another state near the border where the pack of cigarette was brought. I've heard of folks going across the state line from where they live and buying their cigarettes in another state having lower taxes on cigarettes.

As for her ethnicity, it's possible that she could either be Hispanic or Mediterranean.

 

[KateB]

$332 was inside the Marlboro cigarette pack, according to the first article in the clippings that Marie posted in post #63. If this is how she typically hid her cash, the cellophane with the stamp may not have been on it and I'd guess it was a Marlboro box. $332 could be bulky. I wonder if there were even any cigarettes with the cash.

 

[Magnum P.E.]

I am trying to get a copy of the accident report. It is old enough that it is not in the present system.

I may have some other avenues to get a few tidbits that might help us.

The tax stamp would be useful but as someone said, probably gone.

One possible strategy; Take printout of particulars of the case to LE between Uniontown and Willow Point. If she was a "working girl" who worked the truck stops, maybe she was arrested at some point and someone would remember her if they were around back then.

Anyone else have ideas/additions on how to go about this?

 

[killarney rose]

Is it possible to find out where he picked up the load of coils? That would be a good place to start . Seems she would have had to slipped into the trailer then, or might have had some help from a person loading the trailer. It would be good to know if the trailer had seals.

 

[webrocket]

when I saw the deceased's face the first person I thought of was "Andrea", not as a match but just in terms of some resemblance.

 

[nerosleuth]

I am trying to get a copy of the accident report. It is old enough that it is not in the present system.

I may have some other avenues to get a few tidbits that might help us.

The tax stamp would be useful but as someone said, probably gone.

One possible strategy; Take printout of particulars of the case to LE between Uniontown and Willow Point. If she was a "working girl" who worked the truck stops, maybe she was arrested at some point and someone would remember her if they were around back then.

Anyone else have ideas/additions on how to go about this?

You could try obtaining a copy of the autopsy report from the coroner. The autopsy report may give you something to go on.

The possibility that she could be a "working girl" cannot be overlooked.

Along the route between Uniontown and Sparrows Point, look for truck stops and roadside diners that existed back which are still in business today.

Another possibility to consider is adult oriented businesses along the route, such as adult bookstores or strip clubs. That could be another place where a trucker may pick up a "working girl".

 

[Justiceforever]

This is curious! My SO drives truck and said that none of the trailors that he has used latched from the inside.

Some, but not all, shippers put a seal on the trailer. As far as passengers go, most big trucks allow and even insure passangers these days. I know because I am one.

She may have slipped in when he was done loading but it seems highly unlikely since there's only a matter of a minute or two from when they pull away from the dock till they get out to latch the doors.

There have been stories of illigal aliens hiding in the space above the sleeper birth on the outside of the cab and then found at the border crossing. Truckers near the border are told to check for that.

 

[Woodland]

I agree it's unlikely this UID managed to sneak inside the trailer for a free ride at a loading dock. Why choose that trailer, especially at a truck stop - you would not know where the truck was headed. What would one do when the doors opened at the other end?

Her COD would be very revealing.

 

[Justiceforever]

One has to wonder why more info hasn't been released @ COD.

 

[Woodland]

The lack of info has me curious to know more about the driver - where he was from, who his people are/were etc.

The story being available through a subscription only is strange - narrows the number of people to see and possibly identify her.

Carl - can you advise the date of the original article you posted? Apologies if it's there, but cannot see it. TIA.

 

[CarlK90245]

Carl - can you advise the date of the original article you posted? Apologies if it's there, but cannot see it. TIA.

Posted: Sunday, April 21, 2013 2:45 am | Updated: 5:19 pm, Tue Apr 23, 2013.

 

[Marie]

The lack of info has me curious to know more about the driver - where he was from, who his people are/were etc.

The story being available through a subscription only is strange - narrows the number of people to see and possibly identify her.

Carl - can you advise the date of the original article you posted? Apologies if it's there, but cannot see it. TIA.

A few days ago I contacted a genealogy researcher with the driver in their family tree but have heard nothing back.

 

[Woodland]

Articles in post #63, page 3 by Marie.

Article 1 of 5 states that an inquest will be held the last week of June (no date so 1986?). The purpose of the inquest was to review what attempts had been made to date to identify this woman.

Does anyone know if that is public information? I'm wondering if her cause and or manner of death would have been listed or discussed.

 

[AlwaysShocked]

Hi, I am new to this area of the board. Here is info from ancestry.com where he turned up in two differnt family trees:

Joseph Dan Richards
Born: May 26, 1951
Stevens County, Georgia

No spouse, no children

Both parents now dead
Two brothers and one sister living (no info on them because they are still alive)
---------------------------------
ETA: I lived near that area at the time. In thinking back to those days, I do not believe that superhighway across Northern Maryland (Is it I-68?) existed in those days. Maybe a few parts of it, but not all of it.

Someone may want to try to find a map for that time. Could explain why someone with a big rig coming from Baltimore would be up in Pennsylvania.

 

[nerosleuth]

Hi, I am new to this area of the board.

ETA: I lived near that area at the time. In thinking back to those days, I do not believe that superhighway across Northern Maryland (Is it I-68?) existed in those days. Maybe a few parts of it, but not all of it.

Someone may want to try to find a map for that time. Could explain why someone with a big rig coming from Baltimore would be up in Pennsylvania.

Hi AlwaysSchocked, welcome to this area of the board. We're glad to have you here!

I think you're correct that only parts of I-68 existed back in those days.

I didn't find a map from 1986, but I did find info from Wikipedia about I-68.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_68


It is my understanding that construction of I-68 began in 1965, and it wasn't until August 1991 that I-68 was finally completed.

Since I-68 wasn't fully completed in 1986, that could explain why the truck went through Pennsylvania.

 

[Magnum P.E.]

Hi AlwaysSchocked, welcome to this area of the board. We're glad to have you here!

I think you're correct that only parts of I-68 existed back in those days.

I didn't find a map from 1986, but I did find info from Wikipedia about I-68.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_68


It is my understanding that construction of I-68 began in 1965, and it wasn't until August 1991 that I-68 was finally completed.

Since I-68 wasn't fully completed in 1986, that could explain why the truck went through Pennsylvania.

Almost all of I-68 was completed by that time. However, IIRC, the incomplete part may have been a looooong downhill in the Cooper's Rock/Cheat Lake area, almost to Morgantown. I 68 was built on top of much of the old road there. A car could do it, an empty truck might, but a truck with a load might opt to go via US 119 through Uniontown rather than risk losing the brakes or having to descend the mountain at a crawl through a construction zone. I mentioned this in less detail in an earlier post, because it is one of the few reasons I could think of for him to be where he was.
If he was diverting to drop her off somewhere (and I doubt he knew she was aboard his truck), it would have been near Point Marion. That is the only town between the accident site and Morgantown, where he would have ended up anyway if he had not diverted. And in all these years no one local has recognized her.

 

[AlwaysShocked]

Based on the scanty information known, it really does not sound like this woman was inside the cab at the time of the accident, does it?

1.) Her body being found totally underneath the trailer. It says her body was found when they were cleaning up from the accident and they moved the trailer. That does not support there having been any evidence of a second person in the cab. Such as a purse, etc. None of the articles mentioned there being any of her possessions in the cab of the truck.

2.) If she was a "working girl" one would think she would not have been dressed in a "manly" style, which is how one of the clothing descriptions describes her attire.

3.) The items found on her person do not support her being a working girl. No purse? Just a set of house keys and a Marlboro box with $332 in it. Which would be equal to $600 or so in today's money. That's a lot of cash to be just carrying around.

If she was in fact an extremely unlucky pedestrian, that leads to the question of why would a woman be walking alongside a major, truck-frequented road at 4:30 AM carrying a rather large amount of money with her?

The wikipedia article about I-68 clearly states that the thru highway was NOT completed in 1986. Work on the final portion of the highway did not even begin until the next year.
So, from Baltimore, the best road west would indeed have been the Pennsylvania Turnpike. To the New Stanton exit. Then onto I-70, which was in existence. Then he would have had to take Rte 119 south towards Morgantown to be be where he was.

FWIW: New Stanton, where the PA Turnpike and I-70 meet has lots of truck stops. Also, Morgantown WVA is a college town, well known as a "party town" for young people.

I just can't wrap my head around a female going far from home with no purse, no hair brush, no anything.