Identified! PA - White Haven, 'Beth Doe' & Unborn Baby 169UFPA, 16-22, Dec'76 - #2 - Evelyn Colon

[dotr]

Earlier a poster had suggested that this might have been an honour killing, which i did not think likely at the time due to the mutilation of Beth's nose and breasts, not something i would expect from a family member.
After reading about this recent alleged honour killing in India which involved mutilating the breasts and face, now thinking that is a possibility in this case too.
Any chance Beth Doe is South Asian?
Also thinking that Beth may normally have had long hair that was chopped off.
speculation, imo.
India - Indian teen girl beheaded, mutilated in suspected honour killing, Dec. 2018
Jan 10 2019
Indian teen girl beheaded, mutilated in suspected honour killing

"India is reeling after a teenage girl was discovered beheaded, her face doused in acid and her breasts mutilated.

While the girl’s family claims she was the victim of a horrendous gang rape, detectives believe she was the victim of an honour killing.

 

[Bit of hope]

Earlier a poster had suggested that this might have been an honour killing, which i did not think likely at the time due to the mutilation of Beth's nose and breasts, not something i would expect from a family member.
After reading about this recent alleged honour killing in India which involved mutilating the breasts and face, now thinking that is a possibility in this case too.
Any chance Beth Doe is South Asian?
Also thinking that Beth may normally have had long hair that was chopped off.
speculation, imo.
India - Indian teen girl beheaded, mutilated in suspected honour killing, Dec. 2018
Jan 10 2019
Indian teen girl beheaded, mutilated in suspected honour killing

"India is reeling after a teenage girl was discovered beheaded, her face doused in acid and her breasts mutilated.

While the girl’s family claims she was the victim of a horrendous gang rape, detectives believe she was the victim of an honour killing.

Horror.....Nothing about what she did wrong...so why a honour killing....Beth was pregnant, that could be a reason. I don't know if she could be from a culture where this was common. In one of the recons it looks like she has Creole hair....

 

[Mrs. Badcrumble]

dotr, you reminded me of another case from several years ago, which again reminds me of Beth Doe's case due to certain similarities between the cases
The Doe Network: Case File 659UFAUT

The victim was located on A motorway near Pirka, Austria on January 9, 2005.
The victim had not died where she was found. Following her death, the perpetrator tried to set fire to her, but did not succeed. After that attempt, the victim's left ear was cut off - according to police there were signs of an "overkill".

She was identified in 2012 as 23 year old Olha Tarkovska, originally from Ukraine, but resident of Venice with her husband, who is the POI. Apparently, she wanted a divorce, and it all turned to the ol' "if I can't have you, nobody will" by the husband.
Südautobahn in Pirka : Frauenmord: Geht der Täter frei?

 

[Two for the road]

IMHO, I dont think honor killing was the case here. The number 1 cause of death in the U.S. is murder and that murder is most often committed by a partner or spouse. There is a state hospital and a home for intellectually disabled people near where she was found. I wonder if she was a patient that was abused and then killed by a staff member to cover it up.

I hope one day Parabon or DDP gets involved and identifies her.

 

[Two for the road]

Sorry that should read "the number 1 cause of death of pregnant women is murder in the US"

 

[Fuuro]

At the risk of not contributing anything other than the obvious or rambling on with ridiculous theories, I don't think her pregnancy/age are coincidental.

The fact that she is pregnant despite being so young (as young as 14, apparently) and seemingly so much effort was placed into making her unrecognizable and hiding her body makes me think of a few scenarios, which, in all honesty, have probably been brought up several times in these threads already:

The baby's father could have also been very young and did not feel ready to be a parent. I think may have seen the situation with Beth as a threat to the life he wanted to lead. I've seen in missing persons/cold case homicide cases involving teenagers that they tend to keep quiet when something "happens" to a member of their social circle. The fact that she may have been alienated by her family for becoming pregnant at such a young age might also contribute to people keeping quiet about her disappearance/murder. The multiple forms of violence (shot in the neck, possibly sexually assaulted, and strangled) seem like something a teen/a group of teens would do to a victim, but what do I know?

The baby's father could have been much older than Beth, possibly even married with a family of his own. He might have been afraid of his family/members of the community finding out about Beth, or his significant other (if he had one) could have found out about the affair and given him an ultimatum. This would be kind of like the Reyna Marroquin case.

Also, do we know if she was "showing" visible signs of pregnancy? I've heard cases of women (especially younger ones) going to full term while their loved ones are totally unaware that they even were pregnant.

Anyway, I get the vibe that someone viewed Beth Doe as a major nuisance, a threat, or something that had the potential to ruin their life, probably as a result of her pregnancy.

 

[Fuuro]

Sorry for double posting, but I've done some additional research on the case and had some things to add. This is all baseless speculation, so don't take it seriously:

The clean way that the body was dismembered says that the killer either had exceptional beginners' luck or was knowledgeable of anatomy. I think this would support a claim that she was killed by an older adult rather than another teen. I've heard theories that a passing serial killer may be responsible for killing Beth, but I personally think that the odds of this murder being random are very low.

Another thing: the isotope analysis did reveal that she was born somewhere in Europe, and that she had emigrated from Europe to the US between five and ten years prior to her death. However, I keep thinking about how young she is--if she was only 14 when she died (lowest age estimate) and she had been living in the US for ten years, that means that she hadn't been in her home country since she was a small child. It's possible that she didn't speak with a pronounced accent or that she didn't know any languages besides English very well, so someone who remembers her from back then might not be totally aware of her ancestry. I also wonder what her ethnicity was. We know she was born in Europe, but are we sure that's where her parents are from? Maybe they, themselves, emigrated from another country to Europe and then to the United States with Beth?

Also, I'm not sure how likely it is that her immediate family (such as her parents) were involved in her murder, but perhaps they didn't like the fact that she had become too "Americanized", or that she had been romantically involved and pregnant by someone who was not of their culture. The fact that she was killed so close to when she was due to give birth gives me the impression that someone absolutely did not want this baby to be born.

 

[carbuff]

I've mentioned it before, but at the time Beth would have been born, there were 600,000 American servicepeople stationed in Europe, most of them in Germany, many with families. If they lived in base housing, as most did, and went to American schools, as most did, they could live there for 10 years and barely hear a word of the host country's language, let alone speak it.

 

[Mrs. Badcrumble]

Another thing: the isotope analysis did reveal that she was born somewhere in Europe, and that she had emigrated from Europe to the US between five and ten years prior to her death. However, I keep thinking about how young she is--if she was only 14 when she died (lowest age estimate) and she had been living in the US for ten years, that means that she hadn't been in her home country since she was a small child. It's possible that she didn't speak with a pronounced accent or that she didn't know any languages besides English very well, so someone who remembers her from back then might not be totally aware of her ancestry.

If the isotopes are to be believed, Beth Doe's origin was Central European; the testing of her teeth pointed towards Croatia-Serbia region, at that time known as a part of Yugoslavia. I remember even seeing a news paper clipping from the 70s or early 80s stating Beth Doe being of said origin. I do not know how LE came to that conclusion at the time (perhaps @CCJD knows?).

There was a massive Yugoslavian work emigration during the mid-1960s, due to Yugoslavia lifting its emigration restrictions and allowing a number of emigrants to seek employment and settle down outside the Federation. Many of the workers came to the US. IIRC, many of them settled in Pennsylvania because of the state's vast industry. There was also a great number settling in NOLA/LA area.

A little fun fact about children and languages: If a child learns another language (or several) before puberty, they'll be able to speak those languages without (or at least little) accent. After puberty, the learning will be a lot harder. If Beth Doe indeed was born somewhere in Europe and came to the States in the 60s, there's a good chance she was young enough to learn US English without a hint of accent.

 

[CCJD]

If the isotopes are to be believed, Beth Doe's origin was Central European; the testing of her teeth pointed towards Croatia-Serbia region, at that time known as a part of Yugoslavia. I remember even seeing a news paper clipping from the 70s or early 80s stating Beth Doe being of said origin. I do not know how LE came to that conclusion at the time (perhaps @CCJD knows?).

RSBM

To get the excerpt big enough to read, I snipped the pertinent part from the article, published in Aug. 1983 when Beth & Baby were buried.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/?spot=27688310

 

[shadowdancer]

If the isotopes are to be believed, Beth Doe's origin was Central European; the testing of her teeth pointed towards Croatia-Serbia region, at that time known as a part of Yugoslavia. I remember even seeing a news paper clipping from the 70s or early 80s stating Beth Doe being of said origin. I do not know how LE came to that conclusion at the time (perhaps @CCJD knows?).

Thats interesting. Back in 2017, I posted this young girl missing from Croatia.

3556DFHRV - Lidija Pale

Its obviously a bit of a long shot, but if she was trafficked than she would fit Beth's description very well. She would have been 19 at the time of Beth's death.

 

[apearn]

I think this case is a great one for forensic genealogy.

 

[CCJD]

I think this case is a great one for forensic genealogy.

I last communicated with Beth's investigator about DDP in December. He said that the DNA will potentially be submitted to Parabon in 2019. This will be up to his successor since he, just this month, retired from PSP. I have no idea at this time who will be assigned to Beth's case.

Some may wonder why Parabon and not DDP. It actually came as no surprise to me since they worked with Parabon previously with the Paradise John Doe. Granted, that was a snapshot but still, there's that previous working relationship.

O/T, sort of. Paradise John Doe had no head and Parabon came up with a face for him.
CAN YOU HELP: John "Paradise 191" Doe - Unsolved Murder - Monroe, PA

 

[apearn]

Suggest it to his successor. If costs are an issue I'm sure there is plenty of interest and support to help them out.

 

[CCJD]

Suggest it to his successor. If costs are an issue I'm sure there is plenty of interest and support to help them out.

I am very sure that the old investigator has informed the new one of the tentative plans to use Parabon. Heck, he/she might already know if he/she is from the same station. My hope right now is that the new person will be as open to communicating as the last two. It's like getting a new boss at your job after you've worked for the same person for years and years. You just don't know how it's gonna go.

 

[Bit of hope]

I last communicated with Beth's investigator about DDP in December. He said that the DNA will potentially be submitted to Parabon in 2019. This will be up to his successor since he, just this month, retired from PSP. I have no idea at this time who will be assigned to Beth's case.

Some may wonder why Parabon and not DDP. It actually came as no surprise to me since they worked with Parabon previously with the Paradise John Doe. Granted, that was a snapshot but still, there's that previous working relationship.

O/T, sort of. Paradise John Doe had no head and Parabon came up with a face for him.
CAN YOU HELP: John "Paradise 191" Doe - Unsolved Murder - Monroe, PA

Parabon does nice work, no doubt, very nice work, but it is already an up-so-late method IMO. One way or another, I hope she will be identified soon.

 

[CCJD]

Parabon does nice work, no doubt, very nice work, but it is already an up-so-late method IMO.

What's an "up-so-late" method? Never heard that expression before.

 

[Bit of hope]

What's an "up-so-late" method? Never heard that expression before.

It's the opposite of up-to-date. Sorry, I meant upsolite..

 

[CCJD]

It's the opposite of up-to-date. Sorry, I meant upsolite..

Obsolete? I thought that's what you meant but wanted to make sure.

How are they obsolete? They not only do the snapshots but also the genetic genealogy that DDP does.

Why Use Genetic Genealogy?
Genetic genealogy gives you a powerful new tool to generate leads on unknown subjects. When a genetic genealogy search yields useful related matches to an unknown DNA sample, it can narrow down a suspect list to a region, a family, or even an individual. Paired with Snapshot DNA Phenotyping to further reduce the list of possible matches, there is no more powerful identification method besides a direct DNA comparison. Identity can then be confirmed using traditional STR analysis.
Genetic Genealogy - Parabon® Snapshot® DNA Analysis Service

 

[Bit of hope]

Obsolete? I thought that's what you meant but wanted to make sure.

How are they obsolete? They not only do the snapshots but also the genetic genealogy that DDP does.

Why Use Genetic Genealogy?
Genetic genealogy gives you a powerful new tool to generate leads on unknown subjects. When a genetic genealogy search yields useful related matches to an unknown DNA sample, it can narrow down a suspect list to a region, a family, or even an individual. Paired with Snapshot DNA Phenotyping to further reduce the list of possible matches, there is no more powerful identification method besides a direct DNA comparison. Identity can then be confirmed using traditional STR analysis.
Genetic Genealogy - Parabon® Snapshot® DNA Analysis Service

Ok, I didn't realize that (the genetic genealogy). Then it makes sense that they would hire a well known party. I learn new things everyday. Thanks.