I think this is an excellent theory, William. I'm new here, as well -- I started reading the threads on this case after someone mentioned it in the Reddit discussion forums on the "Serial" podcast. For about a week, then, I've been poring over the discussion on FLEK.
The 2013 post (by neesaki) on the King family in Washington state to which you referred caught my eye because I have Kings in my family line (of German origin); in fact, it occurred to me that the King family might be a good lead because there might be a connection to the Pennsylvania library in FLEK's notes. The Kings have a long history in Pennsylvania; I wondered whether she might have been following a lead in her genealogical research, if she was, in fact, researching her own family, as well as her husband's, as some have guessed.
This theory would also account for FLEK's northwestern and midwestern (Lorene born in Kansas) connections.
The possible relationship to Eric A. and Lorene fits well with much of what we know of FLEK, doesn't it? Perhaps an Irish heritage accounts for her fondness for the ritual of tea time -- and her desire to share that special tradition with her daughter (it was reported that she asked her daughter to remember tea time in the letter she left for her). Several have also conjectured she was, in some way, shape, or form raised outside of mainstream American culture, whether it be in a fundamentalist religious sect or as the child of immigrants.
As others have mentioned, suicide does run in families. I noticed, sadly, that Eric A. died December 19, 1988 -- in other words, FLEK's December 24, 2010, suicide was just days after the anniversary of his death. By summer 1988, though, Jane Doe was already in Texas changing her name from BST to LEK. I wondered whether she would still have been in contact with the family by that time.
Were you able to discover a connection between Eric A. and the Robert A. King to which neesaki referred? Robert A. King was the "prominent" Tacoma stockbroker who committed suicide on November 19, 1987:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAIBAJ&dq=stockbroker suicide&pg=4290,4965345
branwynbreeze posted that Ancestry showed that Robert A. had no children, but had a brother, Donald (Broughton) King and that later twin half-brothers were born. Perhaps Eric A. was a half-brother to Robert?
US Public Records in Ancestry show several Kings in Puyallup born in the early 1960s -- so I think it's definitely a strong possibility that Eric and Lorene had children either through birth or adoption. Thinking along these lines has me wondering, too, about the possibility of whether FLEK may have been adopted -- or whether she gave a child up for adoption before she adopted the LEK ID. That might explain a move (if it happened) from Washington to Idaho [to have a baby secretly and give it up for adoption], FLEK's overprotection of her child with Blake, the notes -- could she have been searching for her birth parents or for a child put up for adoption years earlier?, as well as her complete psychological devastation at having her daughter taken from her by her ex- and in-laws).
Thanks for sharing your theory here. I do hope you'll keep us informed if you hear anything from the SSA special agent!
OTE=William-90;11252329]Hello! My name is William, from London. Since yesterday, when I first became aware of this case, I've caught the sleuthing bug and, after a few hours, I believe I may have found Jane Doe's family. It's certainly a bit of a long shot.
My theory is that Jane Doe is the daughter of Eric Alexander King and Lorene May Wadleigh. Intuitively, I thought that there was something off-colour about the name 'Lori Erica Kennedy', as if some sort of answer lay there, hidden in plain sight. My first thought was that it signified something from her past, perhaps a play on words. I also did not believe that Jane knowing about Becky Sue Turner was the result of travelling across states and hours spent mining public records; I imagined something more mundane: she knew about Turner because she lived in the same area as the cemetery. Finding a
post on here, from 2013 (by neesaki), where an Eric A. King is mentioned, only encouraged this idea. His tragic death was also interesting, fitting with the possible tragic background of our Jane Doe. So, after performing searches on ancestry.co.uk, I found these two individuals ("Eric A. K..." and "Lorene"). Here are the facts as I know them:
1) Eric Alexander King was allegedly a stockbroker from Rathdown, near Dublin, Ireland. He was born on 25 September 1936, had an older brother named Malcolm, and married Lorene May Wadleigh (daughter of Donald Jacques Wadleigh and Mildred Lorene Canfield) on 1st July 1961 in Seattle, Washington. His death, which occured in Sumner, was purportedly a suicide. I would like to read his obituary because it may hold some clues, or direct statements, about his life, his family, any children he may or may not have had, and the reason for his suicide. But Tacoma Public Library does not let anyone access these obituaries anymore. It directs me to the WA State Library, whose Borrowing & Lending Office I've emailed. Hopefully, I'll receive a reply (and maybe a copy) soon.
2) Eric was naturalized as an American on 1st May 1985. At the time of his naturalization, he, and presumably his wife, lived at 1530 Vista Drive Southeast, Puyallup (near Tacoma), which Google informs me is 2.9-3 miles away from Woodbine Cemetery, Puyallup, where Becky Sue Turner is buried. Lorene continued to live in the area of Tacoma until the early 90s. She later remarried after Eric's death.
3) Lorene was born 26 October 1937 in Kansas. She lived in Seattle and Auburn (not simultaneously) in the 90s. The name "Lori" can be used as a diminutive form of Lorene. The witnesses to Lorene and Eric's marriage were Malcolm J. King and Judith Richardson.
At this point, I do not know if they had any children. Ancestry.com (and .co.uk) has not made California Births for the 1960s publicly available. I would have to order a birth certificate from the Washington State Department of Health, but I don't know if the protocol for ordering certificates is different in the US to how it is in the UK. I believe it's worth a look, given the similarity of the names, the timing of the marriage in 1961 (if they had children soon or sometime afterwards, it would suit Jane Doe's approximate age) and the close proximity that Eric and presumably Lorene's residence had to Woodbine Cemetery.
Sources (requires ancestry.co.uk or .com registration to view original record images, except for FamilySearch results):
Eric A King in the Ireland, Civil Registration Births Index, 1864-1958
Malcolm J King, Ireland, Civil Registration Indexes (FamilySearch)
Eric A King in the Washington Death Index, 1940-1996
Eric A King in the Web: Tacoma, Washington, Obituary Index, 1939-2010
Lorene M Wadleigh [and Eric A. King] in the Washington, Marriage Records, 1865-2004
Lorene Wadleigh in the 1940 United States Federal Census
Eric Alexander King in the Washington, Naturalization Records, 1904-1991[/QUOTE]
