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

[sunnynz]

I have been watching the tv series The Killing Season and most recently the episode that delves into the long haul trucking serial killing phenomenon and the idea of 'The Missing Missing'. Immediately this case jumped back into my mind as one that might make sense in this context.

What if our JD was a sex worker who had been picked up on that premise but in fact was on her way to falling victim to a violent crime. This would explain the following elements of our JD's case:
- the tv show references truck stop sex work as being a kind of rock bottom for women - it's the most dangerous environment to work in and attracts those with substance abuse issues, no strong familial ties, a transient lifestyle etc. These women become victims of serial killers because they are easy prey, no one misses them, they are 'the missing missing' who have not been reported missing by loved ones and are in no database.
- the women working the truck stops are many times not your stereotypical sex worker - there are no high heels, makeup and short skirts. They wear whatever they have (even if that's found/borrowed men's clothes).
- These women do not have a lot of possessions - maybe they carry their earnings around in an empty cigarette pack
- I don't want to cast aspersions on the deceased driver and I'm not sure who much I can say without breaking TOS but what if the reason that he'd veered from his route was because he had ill intentions for our JD but before he got a chance to do whatever, he had a medical emergency and crashed?

There is a map of the many many victims of these serial killers, put together by VICAP, there are many clusters of victims around the North Eastern states. The map is a low quality image so it's hard to zoom down to the level of detail to see how many were around the highways near where our JD was found but maybe someone with a better geographical knowledge of that area can help here? Were there any victim clusters that might indicate a killer acting in this area? https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/violent-criminal-apprehension-program-part-2

Other thoughts on getting momentum back on this case:
- entering our JD into Namus - does anyone have the capacity to do this? I feel like this is a crucial next step. I would love to but you need to have a US address to register on the site and I don't.
- Victoria Shoupe - I know the circumstances don't feel quite right but the physical likeness is there and it'd be great to look into this further if anyone has any ideas?
- Is there a way to research our driver's criminal record or does that go against TOS?

All of the above is MOO and I'm happy to delete any elements which aren't appropriate for the site.

 

[sunnynz]

By the way, I realise that my theory above doesn't actually bring us closer to JD's identity but maybe a different angle like this might prompt some other ideas on how to investigate her identity?

 

[Romulus]

NamUs UP 16509

https://identifyus.org/en/cases/16509

Unidentified Body/Remains (White Female)
Found May 2, 1986 in Fayette County, PA
Body Condition: Not recognizable - Traumatic injuries
Probable year of death: 1986
Estimated postmortem interval: hours


Vital Statistics
Estimated age: 30-45
Approximate Height: 64 estimate
Approximate Weight: 175 estimate
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown
Scars and marks: nothing

Clothing & Accessories
Clothing: Wearing jeans and a t-shirt, button shirt with white sneakers
Jewerly: THIN GOLD CHAIN KC BRASS ENGRAVED WITH HOT & HORNEY 2 MINATURE PADLOCKS AND KEY
Footwear: white sneakers
Accessories: Marlboro Cigarettes with $333 in cash

Identifiers
Fingerprints: Fingerprint information is available and entered
Dentals: Dental information / charting is available and will be entered
DNA: Sample is currently not available

Case History: Tractor trailer accident, was occupant in truck.

 

[Dr.Strangelove]

I was not expecting that high of an age range, due to the engraved bracelet. Would have thought someone younger would wear that

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[folieadeuxnola]

Does seem as an item of someone in a younger age bracket.. Whom knows .... Assume she was a passenger in the truck, possible hitchhiker or lot lizard


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[killarney rose]

I think we have a thread on her. Can they be merged?
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...n-big-rig-accident-May-86&highlight=Doe+coils

 

[Dionysia]

Some ideas:

Louise Sanders
https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/14230/155

Jeanne Palinkas
https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/26185/261

Nancy Clavell
(previously mentioned in this thread)
https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/15005/312

 

[Al Ka]

Wow, she finally made it to NamUs, yesterday 11th April, and slogan on her key chain is finally revealed too ( Hot & Horny). Make sense why LE did not really want to publicize this. Her age there is listed as 30 - 45, all original news articles and other websites are/were stating 20 - 24. https://identifyus.org/en/cases/16509

Recoup for all the newcomers
Warning - post mortem photo in the link http://pennsylvaniamissing.com/springhilljane5286.html

Unidentified White Female
Died May 2, 1986 in Springhill Twp, Fayette County

Vital Statistics
Estimated Age: 20-24 years old
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 170 lbs, husky build. Slightly chubby, round face.
Hair Color: dark brown, medium length
Eye Color: brown
Clothing: man's style, tan t-shirt and blue jeans. No identifying labels in clothing.
Personal Possessions: No purse, wallet or identification. Wearing a thin, gold chain, no other jewelry. She had $332.00 stuffed into a Marlboro cigarette pack. She also had a key chain that had a slogan engraved on a tag and miniature handcuffs holding the chain together. There were two keys on the keychain, both appeared to be door keys.

Case Details
On Friday, May 2, 1986 at around 4:30 a.m., a tractor-trailer ran off of Route 119 in Springhill Twp and rolled over, roughly 15 miles south of Uniontown, close to the Maryland state line.
The driver of the truck, Joseph Richards, 34, of Eastonville, GA was killed in the wreck and was found in the cab. This unknown woman was found under the steel coils the truck had been hauling.
Mr Richards was driving for Wilkins Trucking Company of Commerce, GA. He was, at the time of the accident, driving from Sparrow's Point, MD to Richmond, KY. There were no stops scheduled on the trip and it is unknown why he was travelling in Fayette County, PA. The woman was not with Mr Richards when he left Sparrow's Point.

For bigger photo of her see page 1 of this thread

Original newspaper articles
http://s233.photobucket.com/user/MamaMiaSmith/slideshow/PA Trucker Jane Doe and Joseph Richards Case
https://news.google.com/newspapers?...4&dq=uniontown+killed-in-area-accidents&hl=en

 

[sunnynz]

Wow, she finally made it to NamUs, yesterday 11th April, and slogan on her key chain is finally revealed too ( Hot & Horny). Make sense why LE did not really want to publicize this. Her age there is listed as 30 - 45, all original news articles and other websites are/were stating 20 - 24. https://identifyus.org/en/cases/16509

Recoup for all the newcomers
Warning - post mortem photo in the link http://pennsylvaniamissing.com/springhilljane5286.html



For bigger photo of her see page 1 of this thread

Original newspaper articles
http://s233.photobucket.com/user/MamaMiaSmith/slideshow/PA Trucker Jane Doe and Joseph Richards Case
https://news.google.com/newspapers?...4&dq=uniontown+killed-in-area-accidents&hl=en

Yes, thank you to whoever got her onto Namus! Interesting that the age range is so much older than originally mentioned.

Regarding the three women suggested above - Louise and Nancy both have blue eyes so I think that rules them out, although Louise really looks like JD. Jeanne could be a match but now the age seems way off? But who knows, if the info can be wrong in so many places maybe it's worth submitting these women even if one detail doesn't match given it seems that details can often be entered incorrectly.

The keychain - good info to have although I do not recommending googling the inscription(!).... Not sure how to go about researching where these were available but will keep looking.

 

[Magnum P.E.]

Yes, thank you to whoever got her onto Namus! Interesting that the age range is so much older than originally mentioned.

Regarding the three women suggested above - Louise and Nancy both have blue eyes so I think that rules them out, although Louise really looks like JD. Jeanne could be a match but now the age seems way off? But who knows, if the info can be wrong in so many places maybe it's worth submitting these women even if one detail doesn't match given it seems that details can often be entered incorrectly.

The keychain - good info to have although I do not recommending googling the inscription(!).... Not sure how to go about researching where these were available but will keep looking.

So finally someone put her on NamUS. I imagine the inscription (and the implication of it) was held back to spare the driver's family more suffering than they already had.Since there was no foul play and it does not help solve her identity, I guess I would agree with that.
It occurs to me that they may have held her post-mortem photo back from NamUS for a good reason; her skull was fractured Inn the accident, and she may not have looked much like that photo in real life. I wonder if her family knows she is dead but stayed silent out of embarrassment, if she was in fact a working girl.....

 

[brian1000]

I have been reading everything I can find on this unidentified young woman, when I can. Two things stand out for me. First of all, it was mentioned that the truck was off its route, being in Pennsylvania, when it crashed. This seems to bear more investigation. As well, I read recently that there were two keys found with the unidentified young woman. They appeared to be house keys. That could be a tool to check on the identity, should those keys open a lock at a home that would be associated with another missing person (possible match for our identified woman). I think that copies of those keys should be made, so as to avoid their loss.
I haven't seen any other reference to the importance of those keys, but I might have missed the reference.

l

 

[Magnum P.E.]

I have been reading everything I can find on this unidentified young woman, when I can. Two things stand out for me. First of all, it was mentioned that the truck was off its route, being in Pennsylvania, when it crashed. This seems to bear more investigation. As well, I read recently that there were two keys found with the unidentified young woman. They appeared to be house keys. That could be a tool to check on the identity, should those keys open a lock at a home that would be associated with another missing person (possible match for our identified woman). I think that copies of those keys should be made, so as to avoid their loss.
I haven't seen any other reference to the importance of those keys, but I might have missed the reference.

l

No one has been able to determine why he was not on the logical route, and the two people who could answer that are dead. It may be significant that he would have been back on the Interstate at Morgantown WV. Was she from somewhere between the accident site and the Interstate, going home? Would be interesting if she was from Point Marion, the only town between the crash site and the Interstate. Was she local after all?
Using the keys to determine her identity......how would you go about doing that? Ask the police for the keys, make a list of potential matches, and go around to try the locks where they lived in 1985? It ain't a feasible thing to do.
Her recent entry into NamUS may mean that her DNA will soon be entered. I asked for this to be done several years back when I took those pix of the accident site. This is what will find her name and return her remains to family. I just don't see it happening any other way. Think FLEK or Greatful Doe.
I turned in Sandra Flynn Fisher back then, never heard another word on it.

 

[brian1000]

No one has been able to determine why he was not on the logical route, and the two people who could answer that are dead. It may be significant that he would have been back on the Interstate at Morgantown WV. Was she from somewhere between the accident site and the Interstate, going home? Would be interesting if she was from Point Marion, the only town between the crash site and the Interstate. Was she local after all?
Using the keys to determine her identity......how would you go about doing that? Ask the police for the keys, make a list of potential matches, and go around to try the locks where they lived in 1985? It ain't a feasible thing to do.
Her recent entry into NamUS may mean that her DNA will soon be entered. I asked for this to be done several years back when I took those pix of the accident site. This is what will find her name and return her remains to family. I just don't see it happening any other way. Think FLEK or Greatful Doe.
I turned in Sandra Flynn Fisher back then, never heard another word on it.

Thank you Magnum for your reflection on my comment. Tell me your first name is not Thomas.
Yes, we as websleuths could not use the keys in any way. But if there was a possible identification of the female victim, the police could go to the former residence, and check to see if the keys fit the doors. I wondered as well, if certain key types are peculiar to any geographical area. Likely, that is not a possibility.
The route of the truck is a bit of a mystery. One wonders what the normal route of the truck would have been. There could have been reasons why the route of the truck was altered. That is the hard part of being a websleuth, that one does not have the direct power to interview company officials, etc.. That is where private investigators or police could be so instrumental. But the police seem overburdened with so many on going cases, that they can not properly investigate everything. Everything that they do is often superficial. Yet, they are such hard working people as well.

 

[mrseeker]

Is it 100 percent certain she was riding inside the truck with the driver? Could she have been a pedestrian? or even a stowaway?

 

[Magnum P.E.]

Is it 100 percent certain she was riding inside the truck with the driver? Could she have been a pedestrian? or even a stowaway?

Nothing is 100% certain but someone with knowledge of the case told me they believed she was in the truck, not the world's unluckiest pedestrian. Few houses in the area, hard to imagine a less likely place for a pedestrian at 4:30 AM. No one local has ever recognized her of reported her missing. Doubt there was any place for her to stow away, but that has been discussed on this forum. We just don't know. That leaves the category of passenger, which I think she likely was.

There is a chance now that she is in NamUS, if they enter her DNA. I was going to contact some trucker ministries, but got involved with another case. Might be a good time to pursue that.

 

[Skully]

My guess is she was a working woman, and she was in the truck. I can only hope or assume they ran her prints, and nothing came up. Once DNA gets entered it will most likely get a hit. I can't image no one is looking for her.

 

[Magnum P.E.]

They did run prints, no match. DNA may not help, as CODIS was more designed to identify perps than UIDs. It runs comparisons to limited groups of people (criminals,other UIDs) If they could ever test against Ancestry.com or 23 and Me, most UIDs would be identified quickly.

 

[Skully]

DNA would help, if her family is looking for her. They can enter her in NAMUS and submit DNA. But I agree, that these genealogy sites would help with some of our UID. I know it was used in a case to solve a murder. You would have to Google it, but LE got them to run DNA against their data base and they got a hit.

 

[Magnum P.E.]

DNA would help, if her family is looking for her. They can enter her in NAMUS and submit DNA. But I agree, that these genealogy sites would help with some of our UID. I know it was used in a case to solve a murder. You would have to Google it, but LE got them to run DNA against their data base and they got a hit.

It's not that easy. If our UID was an adult, which she was, and she left home of her own accord with no evidence of foul play, good luck getting relatives DNA into the system. From experience it is like pulling teeth. If someone came across this UID and thought it might be their missing relative, they MIGHT persuade LE to take a swab. I have seen it take several years to get done, not an hour like on TV. And you can't just take your own DNA and put it in the system, LE has to do it.

 

[Skully]

FL had a Missing Person's Day at USF. People came in and gave DNA swabs and we put the missing person in NAMUS and put the DNA in for them. No problem. And I agree it is not like TV.