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

[highoncaffeine]

Could she be Cora Andersen? Sorry if she is already mentioned.
Cora Andersen – The Charley Project

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.

The dna technology is more advanced now ,how about trying to find a match now and see if there's any connection with anyone out there?

 

[PatLaurel]

Which page? I couldn't find it.

I couldn't find it either. Not even with the help of CarrieMe.
The pages numbers don't match the linked book. Her name is not indexed.


MOO JMO

 

[ELongo19862022]

Which page? I couldn't find it.

141, 225, 251 and 273. She was an editor for the year book. This was before she moved to Los Angeles and worked for seventeen magazine and got married.

 

[ELongo19862022]

The dna technology is more advanced now ,how about trying to find a match now and see if there's any connection with anyone out there?

Clipping from The Daily Times - Newspapers.com
Clipping from The Daily Times - Newspapers.com

Joyce in 1944.

View attachment 353462
Clipping from The Daily Times - Newspapers.com

"Miss Joyce Meyer, daughter of Mr and Mrs Arthur Meyer of Walcott, and Miss Ruth Mary Du-rand, daughter of Mr and Mrs Charles Durand of Davenport, were awarded first places in the short story and poetry contest sponsored by the Immaculate Conception academy.(...)
Miss Meyer's poem, "Three Gifts," was chosen from among the poetry entries because of the simplicity and beauty in its meaning."

Sounds and looks like she was very talented in writing and editing. She edited the Iowa State year book of 1949. I believe she was very progressive and perhaps even ahead of her time in terms of social norms. She would have been a nice person to talk to and know.

 

[ELongo19862022]

I don't think we will ever know how and why she ended up in Virginia to take her own life. Perhaps she was fond of the area. Her second husband was an engineer for Lockheed Martin and I believe he traveled and she might have went with him to explore DC and Virginia or she explored it on her own. In 1996, the DMV had a severe blizzard. If she would have waited to venture into the cemetery a few weeks later they would have found her in the snow. Perhaps she took classes at NOVA Community College across the street and noticed the cemetery sometime earlier in her life. Your guess is as good as mine.

 

[PatLaurel]

141, 225, 251 and 273. She was an editor for the year book. This was before she moved to Los Angeles and worked for seventeen magazine and got married.

Page 141

Page 225

Page 251


And page 273


And the picture index:


She's not in the book you linked.
Can you post a screenshot of the picture you found? TIA

 

[wary]

Did you see her yearbook pictures? She looks just like her post mortom pictures. The thing is, I'm not sure why she chose the DMV area. We may never know. Her second husband was an engineer for Lockheed Martin and they divorced in 1977 and he remarried in 1982. They could have traveled all over the country and even the world. This would explain why she ended up using looza juice which at that time was foreign owned from I beileve a Belgium owned company and brandy which isnt cheap. She wasn't a cheap lady and very meticulous. I personally think between the divorce, childhood tramaua, her scar which she could have been cancer or some other illness or lost a baby and never having children (that we know so far) she decided to end it. She had no one left. Because she was not buried and eventually cremated we may never know if her scar was from a terminal illness or a lost baby. According to the article she could have lived in DC or Northern VA but I dont know why. If she stayed in lowa she probably would have been a small town nobody but she went to Los Angeles and she taught there and saw children and whatever else a city brings even in the 50s. I think that changed her as well as her 2nd divorce

Just commenting in passing that being a large-city nobody might be even more sad than being a small town nobody. And someone depressed and lonely enough to think of herself as a nobody is unlikely to be energized by a change of locale.

MOO

 

[NeverPersonal]

This case hit me hard, being a girl who is estranged from all of her family due to their abusive qualities. Sending my prayers to Ms. Joyce. I always knew she would get her name back.

 

[NeverPersonal]

I wonder if one of us could find her poem Three Gifts or another writing sample.
I hope she can feel all this interest and love for her.

 

[branmuffin]

Thanks for the info! I feel like it would have to be noted in the autopsy if she did or did not have a scar on her uterus, so not sure about getting that info.

My dad had exploratory surgery back in the late 60s early 70s. He had a history of bleeding ulcers, etc. He had an incision from his pubic bone to just under his breast bone only to find he had 44 gall stones! The incision was very scary looking, like someone tried to eviscerate him. Even with missing organs, a scar like my dad's wouldn't necessarily give an indication as to why the scar was so huge.

It doesn't sound like Joyce had any children and based on her accusations, I guess I can understand why. She was the eldest of many siblings and was born just before the stock market crash of 1929 and during the depression. Whether we like to believe it or not, some eldest children do become general dog's body when it came to helping around the house and looking after younger children to the point of being an indentured servant. I have a tendency to believe her and her siblings were unaware of her feelings because she did her job well.

Her siblings were just that: children and they can't feel guilty or even understand how she felt the way she did. If she was an artistic person during that time sometimes they were considered dreamers and no one was going to fund their dreams, especially when times were hard.

I'd like to believe she had some happiness in her life. She was a practical suicide and planned it down to a 'T'. I wish her safe journey to where she is now and at peace.

 

[Springrain]

It doesn't sound like Joyce had any children and based on her accusations, I guess I can understand why. She was the eldest of many siblings and was born just before the stock market crash of 1929 and during the depression. Whether we like to believe it or not, some eldest children do become general dog's body when it came to helping around the house and looking after younger children to the point of being an indentured servant. I have a tendency to believe her and her siblings were unaware of her feelings because she did her job well.

Her siblings were just that: children and they can't feel guilty or even understand how she felt the way she did. If she was an artistic person during that time sometimes they were considered dreamers and no one was going to fund their dreams, especially when times were hard.

I agree with all this, especially considering the fact that she was the oldest, and in all honesty, that so much time has passed since her death and since their childhoods. Even if her siblings knew about the abuse and were also victims, enough time may have passed that they can no longer remember it due to age-related conditions like Alzheimer's and dementia (I know this was not stated, but it is absolutely possible IMO), or they are still deeply in denial about it. Or Joyce was the only or main victim. It's impossible to know everything for sure, of course, but I also believe her.

I feel Joyce was a deep-minded and creative person who experienced horrific things and had severe depression. I feel like she had a sense of humor, and was practical and smart. It's very sad how her life ended. I hope she found peace, too.

 

[MsRicki]

It is a really well researched story. We are thankful that Tom took such an interest in her story.

Tom Jackman is a local treasure.

 

[MsRicki]

I don't think we will ever know how and why she ended up in Virginia to take her own life. Perhaps she was fond of the area. Her second husband was an engineer for Lockheed Martin and I believe he traveled and she might have went with him to explore DC and Virginia or she explored it on her own. In 1996, the DMV had a severe blizzard. If she would have waited to venture into the cemetery a few weeks later they would have found her in the snow. Perhaps she took classes at NOVA Community College across the street and noticed the cemetery sometime earlier in her life. Your guess is as good as mine.

That snowstorm was in early 1996, she died in December. It was the week of the winter solstice so she could have gotten there early in the evening, likely took the bus and got off at the northern Virginia Community College stop. It would have been very dark by the cemetery. What always intrigued me is that the area where she died was quite close to the highway. I pass by there occasionally and always look over there and get a chill.
That part of Annandale is an odd area--very nondescript--and that cemetery is small and barely noticeable. I always wondered about the REI backpack, the Minnie Mouse fanny pack, clothing, etc. None of that would have been likely to come from this area. But she had to have known something about the cemetery to end up there. I hope we will learn more about her now that she has a name. The story of having an abusive childhood and being estranged from her family for years makes a lot of sense. I wonder how she made money in those last years, or whether any stepchildren or her husbands' families would still be alive and remember her.

 

[othram]

Tom Jackman is a local treasure.

Agreed!

 

[LeahBee]

Wow glad she was identified!!

I still see some questions about an autopsy. In the first thread years ago a member was in contact with a detective(?) who knew the case. He said an autopsy was NOT performed and that her ashes were in an urn in his office.
They must have done just an external exam of her, and minimal testing (blood alcohol). Not sure how they determined she took Valium.. if they ran tox or if there were undigested pills in vomitus .. just me speculating.

I'd find the relevant posts but I just read the 80+ pages and don't have time atm to go back. I do recommend reading the first thread as it does have a lot of information pertaining to her case and others

 

[MarziPanda]

I would agree that having been the oldest, it's very possible that a lot was put on her shoulders by her parents. She'd be around 95 if still alive today, and the brother they found is 88, that's a seven year gap. There's no mention that I can see of how old the living sister is, but I get the impression (I may be wrong!) that she's younger than the brother. There's something called parentification that I've come across before, where a child is given the responsibilities and expectations of a parent, such as caring for younger siblings and running the home, keeping things clean etc. It happens a lot in families with lots of children and big age gaps. The older kids aren't allowed to just be kids, they get turned into mini parents. Instead of just being a seven year old and playing and learning, they have to look after their siblings. Not saying this is definitely what happened with Joyce, but it's a possibility. I hope she is resting peacefully.

 

[RaspberryMama]

I agree with all this, especially considering the fact that she was the oldest, and in all honesty, that so much time has passed since her death and since their childhoods. Even if her siblings knew about the abuse and were also victims, enough time may have passed that they can no longer remember it due to age-related conditions like Alzheimer's and dementia (I know this was not stated, but it is absolutely possible IMO), or they are still deeply in denial about it. Or Joyce was the only or main victim. It's impossible to know everything for sure, of course, but I also believe her.

I feel Joyce was a deep-minded and creative person who experienced horrific things and had severe depression. I feel like she had a sense of humor, and was practical and smart. It's very sad how her life ended. I hope she found peace, too.

Agree with all of this. Often, in dysfunctional families, one child is the scapegoat and gets all the abuse, while the golden children have no idea of what the abused one has been through. It's very sad. RIP, dear Joyce.

 

[GatorFL]

The way she died by asphyxiation after ingesting drugs and alcohol. I've only heard of this one other time, the Heaven's Gate cult. And they did their mass suicide just a few months later, in March 1997. Interesting coincidence, I wonder if she crossed paths with them at some point.

 

[branmuffin]

Maybe it's me, but I couldn't find any images of Joyce in that yearbook. The name Meyer appears in some images but they are of a male. An intersting note is that she may have attended during the time two famous writers attended. Flannery O'Connor and William Snodgrass who was a Pulitzer prize winner.

 

[NeverPersonal]

The way she died by asphyxiation after ingesting drugs and alcohol. I've only heard of this one other time, the Heaven's Gate cult. And they did their mass suicide just a few months later, in March 1997. Interesting coincidence, I wonder if she crossed paths with them at some point.

It definitely happens more than you think - it is 99% likely she did not meet the Heaven's Gate cult lol. It would be very improbable for her to run into a cult member and they just casually share the way that they plan to commit mass suicide.