Identified! VA - Annandale, WhtFem ~60, 245UFVA, 'NO CODE, DNR, No Penicillin', Dec'96 #2 - Joyce Meyer Sommers

DNA Solves
DNA Solves
DNA Solves

PonderingThings

Former member
Joined
Dec 17, 2005
Messages
1,752
Reaction score
215
245UFVA

Unidentified White Female

* Discovered on December 18, 1996 in Annandale, Fairfax County, Virginia.
* Estimated Date of Death: December 17, 1996
* Cause of death was suicide

Vital Statistics

* Estimated age: 60 years old
* Approximate Height and Weight: 5'0"; 157 lbs.
* Distinguishing Characteristics: Auburn/red, curly hair. She had an 8 inch scar on her abdomen, probably from C-section. Fingernails painted red.
* Dentals: Dental chart is available.
* Clothing: Teal, all weather Eddie Baur hooded jacket, (size M). Navy blue Classiques Entier sweater (size L); red Classiques Entier sweater (size XL), red Classiques Entier sleeveless silk shirt (size Petite L), navy blue Classiques Entier knit wool pants (size L). Black loafers (size 7M), knee high stockings, white support bra, white "Fruite of the Loom" underpants (size 6). Her clothes may have come from an upscale store such as Saks Fifth Avenue. She also had a green knapsack.
* Jewelry: She wore bifocals with translucent frames, two clip-on earrings, a small gold women's Guess watch with mesh band and a 14 karat gold ring with 4 jade stones, a metal bead chain with medic alert "NO CODE, DNR, No Penicillin."
* Other: Fingerprints/DNA available

Case History
This unidentified woman committed suicide on December 18, 1996. She left two 50$ bills one for the coroner and one for the cemetery with the same typed note:
Deceased by own hand...prefer no autopsy. Please order cremation with funds provided. Thank you, Jane Doe
She was located inside Pleasant Valley Memorial Park, a small cemetery in Annandale, Virginia. There was a clear plastic sheet on the ground. Next to the sheet was an 8" Christmas tree, adorned with gold balls and red ribbons.
In addition to drinking brandy (she had a 0.14 blood-alcohol level) and swallowing Valium, the victim had two empty juice bottles and a new roll of masking tape in her knapsack. She had no receipts in her pockets to enable police to trace her movements. She had a portable tape player, the headphones over her ears and had listened to a recording of comedians Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner doing their "2000 year old man" routine. She had placed a plastic bag over her head and tied it off with tape. This made her suffocate.
The site she chose, Pleasant Valley, probably wouldn't be known to a drifter. She lay down near the section of the cemetery where infants are buried, but not near any particular grave, and most of the stones nearby were fairly recent.

Thread #1
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I think I found my current strange project...

Is it possible to get a map of the cemetery with things labeled? I'm trying to get a visual of how everything was laid out.
 
Does anyone recall if something was said about her hair. I guess she was a natural red (het pubic hair was, sorry for being graphic) but were her curls natural or permed? They seem somewhat "stiff" to me. What if we are looking for a woman with straight red hair? Sorry, if this was discussed before.
 
Does anyone recall if something was said about her hair. I guess she was a natural red (het pubic hair was, sorry for being graphic) but were her curls natural or permed? They seem somewhat "stiff" to me. What if we are looking for a woman with straight red hair? Sorry, if this was discussed before.

I don't remember. Certainly her hair appears to be freshly styled, and probably by a professional.
 
245UFVA - Unidentified Female
245UFVA1.jpg
245UFVA8.jpg
245UFVA7.jpg
245UFVA6.jpg
245UFVA5.jpg

Artistic rendering of the victim; Victim's personal effects and Christmas tree


Date of Discovery: December 18, 1996
Location of Discovery: Annandale, Fairfax County, Virginia
Estimated Date of Death: Hours prior
State of Remains: Recognizable face
Cause of Death: Suicide

Physical Description
Estimated Age: 50-70 years old
Race: White
Gender: Female
Height: 5'0"
Weight: 157 lbs.
Hair Color: Auburn or red, almost a copper color, curly.
Eye Color: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: She had an 8-inch scar on her abdomen, probably from a C-section. Her fingernails were painted red.

Identifiers
Dentals: Available.
Fingerprints: Available.
DNA: Samples submitted - Tests not complete.

Clothing & Personal Items
Clothing: Teal all-weather Eddie Baur hooded jacket (size M), navy blue Classiques Entier sweater (size L), red Classiques Entier sweater (size XL), red Classiques Entier sleeveless silk shirt (size Petite L), navy blue Classiques Entier knit wool pants (size L), knee-high stockings, white support bra, white Fruit of the Loom underpants (size 6), and black loafers (size 7M). Her clothes may have come from an upscale store such as Saks Fifth Avenue.
Jewelry: Two clip-on earrings, a small gold women's Guess watch with a mesh band, a 14-karat gold ring with four jade stones, and a metal bead chain with a medic alert "NO CODE, DNR, No Penicillin."
Additional Personal Items: Bifocals with translucent frames. A green knapsack that held Jeff Foxworthy's You Might Be A Redneck cassette, a tape of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, two empty juice bottles, and a new roll of masking.

Circumstances of Discovery
A groundskeeper at the Pleasant Valley Memorial Park Cemetery discovered the decedent's body near the section of the cemetery where infants are buried, but not near any particular grave.There was a clear plastic sheet on the ground with an 8-inch Christmas tree adorned with gold balls and red ribbons. She had a portable tape player with headphones, which were on her ears. A recording of comedians Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner doing their 2000 Year Old Man routine was in the player.She had committed suicide by drinking brandy (she had a 0.14 blood-alcohol level), swallowing Valium, and placing a plastic bag over her head and tying it off with tape, suffocating herself.She left two fifty dollar bills; one for the coroner,and one for the cemetery, both with the same typed note: Deceased by own hand...prefer no autopsy. Please order cremation with funds provided. Thank you, Jane Doe.She had no receipts in her pockets for investigators to trace her movements. Most of the headstones nearby where she was found were fairly recent. The site would probably not be known to a drifter.



Investigating Agency(s)
Agency Name: Northern District Medical Examiner's Office
Agency Contact Person: N/A
Agency Phone Number: 703-530-2600
Agency Case Number: N1996-41257

Agency Name: Fairfax County Police Department
Agency Contact Person: N/A
Agency Phone Number: 800-673-2777
Agency Case Number: 96353000549

Agency Name: Fairfax County Crime Solvers
Agency Contact Person: N/A
Agency Phone Number: 800-411-TIPS or 703-691-8888

NCIC Case Number: U989549567
NamUs Case Number: UP #6279

Information Source(s)
NamUs
National Center for Missing Adults

Admin Notes
Added: Prior to 2004; Last Updated: 3/21/2019

245UFVA
 
Maybe she found that grave through word of mouth,she overheard someone at one point in her life mention it,she probably encountered it in a book.it probably had nothing to do with her having a dead child in the grave

Granted cemeteries are not a popular subject for people to talk about but there are people out there who start some random conversations
 
Maybe she found that grave through word of mouth,she overheard someone at one point in her life mention it,she probably encountered it in a book.it probably had nothing to do with her having a dead child in the grave

Granted cemeteries are not a popular subject for people to talk about but there are people out there who start some random conversations
Agreed. Maybe it was a friend of her's who mentioned it. If someone who's friend stopped talking to them when she was in her 60s in the 90s she might not have thought anything was off. Maybe this friend died before JD did. Maybe it was JD's friends ex-wife who's child was buried here. Maybe it had significance to JD but it wasn't her child buried there.
 
Does anyone recall if something was said about her hair. I guess she was a natural red (het pubic hair was, sorry for being graphic) but were her curls natural or permed? They seem somewhat "stiff" to me. What if we are looking for a woman with straight red hair? Sorry, if this was discussed before.
The curly hair might probably link to some Mediterranean heritage.going by her phenotype she could be Sicilian but then again the Sicilian community is well know/stereotyped as being family oriented so I think they would have noticed a missing relative

My guess is maybe German and/or Belgian and/or Dutch.she does have a NorthWestern European phenotype of what looks like one

The curly hair could be a throwback trait considering that Spain has controlled Belgium and the Netherlands for a while and many Germans have some Huguenot ancestry while Amsterdam was 25% Huguenot
 
Last edited:
Agreed. Maybe it was a friend of her's who mentioned it. If someone who's friend stopped talking to them when she was in her 60s in the 90s she might not have thought anything was off. Maybe this friend died before JD did. Maybe it was JD's friends ex-wife who's child was buried here. Maybe it had significance to JD but it wasn't her child buried there.
For all we know she could have just simply stumbled upon the grave site by simply just walking

I know NJ is home to a notable Dutch community.perhaps she came to NJ to visit some relatives and/or friends.she does somewhat have a mixed West Germanic/Mediterranean phenotype which is very common among Belgians,Dutch some French and West Germans
 
For all we know she could have just simply stumbled upon the grave site by simply just walking

I know NJ is home to a notable Dutch community.perhaps she came to NJ to visit some relatives and/or friends.she does somewhat have a mixed West Germanic/Mediterranean phenotype which is very common among Belgians,Dutch some French and West Germans
I agree I think it's very possible that the cemetery/specific place in the cemetery isn't actually significant to her life/identity. That she just stumbled upon it. I was just suggesting other possibilities for it to be significant to her but not directly related to her child being buried there. Maybe we're all thinking too deeply about the personal significance of where she choose to die at.
 
Could she be Cora Andersen? Sorry if she is already mentioned.
Cora Andersen – The Charley Project

cora_andersen_1.jpg


Missing from Alaska since 1979. She was born in 12/20/1927 and would have been 69 in 1996, her birthday coming up in two days (Jane Doe was found on the 18th) 5'0 like Jane Doe, red hair, wearing glasses. I couldn't find a genealogy trace (yet). I wanted to check if Cora had given birth (C-section on Jane Doe) If somebody else has more luck, let us please know.
 
Maybe she found that grave through word of mouth,she overheard someone at one point in her life mention it,she probably encountered it in a book.it probably had nothing to do with her having a dead child in the grave

Granted cemeteries are not a popular subject for people to talk about but there are people out there who start some random conversations
She also had a pink childs well worn (taped and pinned together) minnie mouse fanny pack. Looks like for a toddler. It is never mentioned anywhere. I found it on Facebook today. This is the only thing that makes me think she lost a amall child or grandchild. I cant recall how to post a picture here. And the clothes are Nordstrom brand. They still carry from what i understand. I wish they would change the Saks in the description
 
She also had a pink childs well worn (taped and pinned together) minnie mouse fanny pack. Looks like for a toddler. It is never mentioned anywhere. I found it on Facebook today. This is the only thing that makes me think she lost a amall child or grandchild. I cant recall how to post a picture here. And the clothes are Nordstrom brand. They still carry from what i understand. I wish they would change the Saks in the description
or maybe she might have had Peter pan syndrome.there are even adults online making video blogs about adventure time and other current cartoon network shows so a Minnie mouse fannypack doesn't mean she's automatically a mother
 
She also had a pink childs well worn (taped and pinned together) minnie mouse fanny pack. Looks like for a toddler. It is never mentioned anywhere. I found it on Facebook today. This is the only thing that makes me think she lost a amall child or grandchild. I cant recall how to post a picture here. And the clothes are Nordstrom brand. They still carry from what i understand. I wish they would change the Saks in the description
It's mentioned here, with pictures and all:

True Crime Society - The sad case of Annandale Jane Doe
 
She also had a pink childs well worn (taped and pinned together) minnie mouse fanny pack. Looks like for a toddler. It is never mentioned anywhere. I found it on Facebook today. This is the only thing that makes me think she lost a amall child or grandchild. I cant recall how to post a picture here. And the clothes are Nordstrom brand. They still carry from what i understand. I wish they would change the Saks in the description
Yes, it seems our dear Christmas tree Lady had items with her that were sentimental and had meaning to send her off. She had a sense of humor, she was listening to comedy tapes as she crossed over. Going out with a good chuckle.

I haven't been on the thread for awhile, but have never forgotten our CTL.
I've had numerous speculations over the years, but I think we will eventually find out that this was a widow who found herself alone. Very, very alone, and maybe facing a terminal illness. I think she took matters in to her own hands and went out on her own terms. Seemingly, she was very much alone as no one (seemingly) has been looking for her. Sadly, this is all too common in our society today.

Amateur opinion and speculation
 

Members online

Online statistics

Members online
76
Guests online
1,571
Total visitors
1,647

Forum statistics

Threads
600,243
Messages
18,105,780
Members
230,993
Latest member
Clue Keeper
Back
Top