WA WA - Seattle, WhtFem 30-50, 159UFWA, alias 'Mary Anderson', copper IUD, breast surgery scars, Oct'96

[sasha17]

I was so sure othram would solve this earlier as her case has been fully funded for years - my guess is either no good database hits or family contacted and not sure whether they want to go public

Othram had an update on this case and were able to identify that she has an Eastern Iran or Afghanistan, or possibly a Persian, background but it sounds like they're stuck at this point.

Who is "Mary Anderson" (1996)?

King County Medical Examiner's Office Teams with Othram to Solve the Mystery of "Mary Anderson"

dnasolves.com

 

[MarziPanda]

The number of people from that background who have taken a DNA test and uploaded to GEDmatch is probably extremely small. Even then, finding records (of, say, a DNA match's parents, grandparents, etc) will be very difficult in countries like Iran and Afghanistan. I'm not surprised they're stuck. They'll likely have to wait for more people to upload or for the right person to see an appeal.

 

[Susikatze]

Kitchen bowl could indicate a some kind of religious practice/ritual related to washing/cleansing? In my limited knowledge of religions i know both Judaism and Islam use water for mikvah and wudu, respectively, and perhaps other rituals? When traveling, I know there are "workarounds" or different ways of cleansing than you might do at home with all your readily available supplies.

Example of someone using a kitchen bowl for wudu. The bible is in every hotel room and could have been another decoy, like the fake name.

No. We wash hands in the morning and after bathroom and before bread and use a special cup but a kitchenbowl is a kitchenbowl.
Youd rather use the drinking glass for washing.

No religious significance to that. I guess she was a frequent traveler who carried a small supply of cooking gear to make rice, a salad etc. in her motel room.

 

[Friday Fan]

Many of the Iranians who fled the Islamic Republic are not religious. (That's one reason they fled)
I'm not reading too much into the Bible etc. (She could have obtained that knowledge from TV etc) The 23rd Psalm is often depicted in graveside scenes etc.

 

[Vern]

There was an exodus of Sunni Muslims, Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians and more who fled the Iranian Islamic Regime (Muslim Shi'a-based) during 1979's Islamic Revoloution. They fled to Turkey and then moved outwards to other nations seeking asylum due to the religious prosecution of them in Iran.

Perhaps this lady falls into that category?

https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/2022-05/2022%20Factsheet%20-%20Refugees%20Fleeing%20Religious%20Persecution%20Globally.pdf

 

[Peskysleuth]

While it said a kitchen bowl was "packed with her belongings," I assumed that's what she used to mix the cyanide with the Metamucil.

 

[sunflowermomma]

While it said a kitchen bowl was "packed with her belongings," I assumed that's what she used to mix the cyanide with the Metamucil.

Yes, she could have simply stopped at Goodwill or Target and picked up a bowl and wasn't traveling with it at all.

 

[Vern]

Regarding the kitchen bowl, I'm wondering if this lady perhaps wore dentures?

Just recalling visits to my grandparents in the 80s and 90s and utilizing their washroom if I did overnights.

I don't know whose were whose, but one of them had theirs in a glass on the sink cabinet and the other in a small china soup bowl overnights. Probably how they kept them straight from each other.

Don't know how common the practice was of dropping them overnight into a glass or bowl (for cleaning them??) back then but just seeing their anniversary pic showing up in my memories and their big smiles in it made me think of their dentures and the glass and bowl.