hi, all.
i am new to the site so please excuse any mistakes!
i have been following this case since i first saw it on unsolved mysteries. i recently got back into looking into it when the new likeness of jason doe that came out earlier this year.
when cases are so hard to crack, i often wonder if some of the "facts" of the case that we are working from are wrong. this brings me to the note found with jason.
i have always heard and read that the note reads, at the end:
Caroline T.
and
Caroline O
i have studied the note and i think this is not what it reads. i believe it reads:
Caroline T.
and
Caroline D
when i look at the note (linked below) i notice this about the O/D after the second "Caroline":
- it seems to have a vertical portion on the left.
- the vertical portion is the "closed" with an arc from top to bottom.
this is not how any of the other "o's" on the note are made. in other words in the note like "to" and "go," the writer seems to trace over part of the letter in order to continue to the next letter. they seems to write from 7 or 8 o'clock to 12 back counterclockwise past 6 past 12 and then on to the next letter, if that makes sense.
so, i took the best resolution image of the note that i could find
(here) and i showed it to a handwriting expert who has over 25 years experience in handwriting analysis, question documents, forgery, etc. this person had never heard of the case, had never seen the note, etc.
i did NOT tell this person what i thought the note read or what conventional wisdom thought it read (Caroline O). i simply said, take a look and tell me what you think the "signatures" on the bottom are.
the expert said that it read: Caroline D
i've spoken to the medical examiner's office. they do not have the note as it resides with the state police, as far as they know. they do not have a higher resolution copy of it.
do any of you know of a higher res image? i am guessing the images we have seen on the web are from the unsolved mysteries episode.
the handwriting expert is happy to look at the note again if we find a better image.
forgive me if this has been discussed before. i haven't seen mention of it anywhere on the web.
i look forward to your comments and insights.
njf520