WV WV - Bath, WhtFem 30-35, 512UFWV, hysterectomy, permed red hair, May'50

[Richard]

Unknown [FONT=HELVETICA,ARIAL][SIZE=-1]White Female [/SIZE][/FONT]
Date Located: [FONT=HELVETICA,ARIAL][SIZE=-1]May 10, 1950 [/SIZE][/FONT]
Location found: Morgan County, West Virginia


Vital Statistics
Estimated age: 30 - 35 Years Old
Estimated Height: 5ft 5in
Estimated Weight: [FONT=HELVETICA,ARIAL][SIZE=-1]125-130 lbs. [/SIZE][/FONT]
Hair Color: [FONT=HELVETICA,ARIAL][SIZE=-1]Red / Auburn[/SIZE][/FONT]
Eye color: Not known
Fingerprints: [FONT=HELVETICA,ARIAL]Fingerprint information was available from the FBI at one time. Current availability is unknown. [/FONT]
Dentals: [SIZE=-1]Natural teeth, availability of records unknown. [/SIZE]
DNA:[FONT=HELVETICA,ARIAL]unknown [/FONT]
Clothing:None found.
Marks, Scars, Distinguishing Characteristics: 4 scars - "W" shaped on center of forehead, "Y" shaped scar on right wrist, 10" hysterectomy scar and 4" appendectomy scar; Recent permanent in hair; freckles on back of hands and lower arms; very small hands; 4 1/2 Narrow shoe size.


Case Details
[FONT=HELVETICA,ARIAL][SIZE=-1]The victim was discovered on old US 522, near Hancock Bridge, Morgan County, West Virginia on May 10, 1950. [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=HELVETICA,ARIAL][SIZE=-1]Cause of death was strangulation. [/SIZE][/FONT]


Investigating Agency:
[FONT=HELVETICA,ARIAL][SIZE=-1]The West Virginia State Police 3[FONT=HELVETICA,ARIAL][SIZE=-1]04-258-0000 [/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=HELVETICA,ARIAL][SIZE=-1]Source Information:[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=HELVETICA,ARIAL][SIZE=-1]The Doenetwork Hot Cases

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/512ufwv.html
[/SIZE][/FONT]

 

[bykerladi]

Recent permanent in hair? Correct me people, but could you do your own hair in 1950? I think for a permanent, she would've had to go to a hair salon, right? I wonder if the LE checked the local salons to see if anyone recognized her...


Anyone else find the "W" on her forehead odd?

 

[outofthedark]

Recent permanent in hair? Correct me people, but could you do your own hair in 1950? I think for a permanent, she would've had to go to a hair salon, right? I wonder if the LE checked the local salons to see if anyone recognized her...


Anyone else find the "W" on her forehead odd?

Maybe the letter shaped scars on her body were from the killer??

Or was she in an abusive relationship and her spouse/boyfriend did something to her where she acquired that??

 

[pittsburghgirl]

Recent permanent in hair? Correct me people, but could you do your own hair in 1950? I think for a permanent, she would've had to go to a hair salon, right? I wonder if the LE checked the local salons to see if anyone recognized her...


Anyone else find the "W" on her forehead odd?

No, you didn't need a salon in 1950. The "home permanent" was a cheap but risky alternative. "Lilt" was one brand name. But salons would have been a good bet anyway, especially if the perm was a good one!

 

[Richard]

I will be passing through Morgan County today and decided to re-read this case. Bumping it up while I am at it...

 

[imamaze]

WV-1950 Murdered White Female Unsolved Case
http://www.wvstatepolice.com/1950.htm
On June 10, 1950 a white, female body was discovered near old US 522 by the Hancock Bridge. The body was a white female, approximately 30 to 35 years old, 5'5" tall, weighing 125 to 130 pounds, with auburn colored hair. The victim had been strangled. To date, the victim has never been identified.
Case originally posted by: Shadow205 on LTWH, moved here for discussion.

 

[curves]

Originally posted by wv171, moved by Curves:

June 10, 1950 a white, female body was discovered near old US 522 by the Hancock Bridge

http://www.wvstatepolice.com/1950.htm

 

[jessunlil]

I haven't done a great deal of comparison here but stumbled across this missing person right here on WS.

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49165
http://www.myspace.com/ann_bouslog

 

[Mysterylover]

Originally posted by wv171, moved by Curves:

June 10, 1950 a white, female body was discovered near old US 522 by the Hancock Bridge

http://www.wvstatepolice.com/1950.htm

1950 Murdered White Female Unsolved Case

On June 10, 1950 a white, female body was discovered near old US 522 by the Hancock Bridge.
The body was a white female, approximately 30 to 35 years old, 5'5" tall, weighing 125 to 130 pounds, with auburn colored hair.

The victim had been strangled.

To date, the victim has never been identified...:rose:

 

[not_my_kids]

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/512ufwv.html

Doe profile.

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1119dfoh.html
This may have been the case that led them to OH, but if not, there are some similarities.

 

[LovinTK]

I found this woman who had a connection to West Virginia but there's not much information about her physical appearance -

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/s/silver_gertrude.html

 

[CarlK90245]

This woman now has a NamUs casefile with a very clear postmortem photo:

WARNING - POSTMORTEM PHOTO AT LINK
https://identifyus.org/en/cases/10026

 

[Redwood146]

The mention of letter shaped scars is curious.... I have surgical scars dating back over thirty years ago and they are silvery and pink as scars are as they age.... If this Jane Doe had a w shaped scar on forehead surely someone time would have been able to identify her ( maybe her child grown up). I did not think that freshly inflicted wounds would appear scar like if the person was dead shortly after they were made on a body because the body does not have a chance to heal. Or is that not true? In any event I wish we had more information about the scars.

 

[ctaylor]

A new article on this case...

http://www.journal-news.net/page/content.detail/id/597762.html

63-year-old case remains ice cold
August 18, 2013

BERKELEY SPRINGS - More than 60 years later, Morgan County's well known Redhead Murder Case is still shrouded in mystery.

On May 10, 1950, the nude body of a woman was found along old U.S. 522. The woman, dead at the scene, became known for her auburn hair as an investigation took place.

A tough case from the start, investigators with the West Virginia State Police had little to work with. The redhead had on no clothing and no personal items with her. She was simply cast down an embankment with no regard for her dignity, said Hedgesville resident Perry Hess, who became interested in the case after finding a newspaper clipping his mother kept.

...

 

[JayFletcher6493]

bump.

 

[rainwater]

This woman was just added to Namus: Lora Skaggs from West Virginia. She went missing sometime between 1948-1950, had red hair, height and age in range. The picture of her is very poor quality, given the passage of time-it's hard to make out facial features, maybe someone can try to clean it up? Her family believes she was hitchiking to work or into town to pay a bill when she disappeared. Not a whole lot to go on, but worth a shot?

https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/29446/8/

 

[bflocket]

This woman was just added to Namus: Lora Skaggs from West Virginia. She went missing sometime between 1948-1950, had red hair, height and age in range. The picture of her is very poor quality, given the passage of time-it's hard to make out facial features, maybe someone can try to clean it up? Her family believes she was hitchiking to work or into town to pay a bill when she disappeared. Not a whole lot to go on, but worth a shot?

https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/29446/8/

She'd also had an appendectomy...

 

[Jake479]

I really wish we could get this story some news coverage and make it go viral online. There might still be someone alive who could identify her. I hope this is the year she will be identified.

 

[rainwater]

According to Wikipedia, US Highway 522 runs for 19 miles through West Virginia.

"from the Virginia state line near Ridge north to the Maryland state line at the Potomac River in Hancock just south of Hancock, Maryland." Hancock is in the very narrowest part of Maryland. At Hancock , the north-south distance between the PA state line and the West Virginia state line is less than two miles.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hancock,_Maryland

I wouldn't be surprised if she came from MD or PA and was dumped in W.V.

 

[rainwater]

According to Wikipedia, US Highway 522 runs for 19 miles through West Virginia.

"from the Virginia state line near Ridge north to the Maryland state line at the Potomac River in Hancock just south of Hancock, Maryland." Hancock is in the very narrowest part of Maryland. At Hancock , the north-south distance between the PA state line and the West Virginia state line is less than two miles.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hancock,_Maryland

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_522_in_West_Virginia

I wouldn't be surprised if she came from MD or PA and was dumped in W.V.