AZ AZ - Maricopa Co, Hisp/NtvFem UP1946, 17-20, under horse skeleton, Aug'97

[carbuff]

Just going by appearance, she could be almost any background. If she's hispanic, she's probably more Spanish and less Mexican/Indian, but that's just my guess.

 

[Coffee56]

I have that same flowered blanket at home that we use to cover the windows when the sun hits the TV. I'm at work now but I'll take a look at the tags when I get home, if there are any left. Its very old.
And that is very strange. Was not expecting to see something "familiar" in the photos.

 

[Coffee56]

I have that same flowered blanket at home that we use to cover the windows when the sun hits the TV. I'm at work now but I'll take a look at the tags when I get home, if there are any left. Its very old.
And that is very strange. Was not expecting to see something "familiar" in the photos.

And the blanket isnt there. Shows how much I pay attention to my surroundings. I will look around tomorrow. It’s likely with the stacks of other blankets in the closet.
What I do remember about the blanket:
It’s more of a bedspread than a blanket or comforter. The scratchy ones. It was a friend’s who either gave it to me before she passed away or it came to me when she passed in Jan 2008. No idea where she got it. I don’t imagine it was very expensive. Nothing that will likely help in identification.

 

[Dyakt]

For the horse it's hard to say what has happened, the horse might have reared or been scared of something. It might have had a brain aneurysm, a heart attack etc...

But most likely if she had no helmet, she probably hit her head and died from that. A head injury from falling off with no helmet often leads to at least a concussion and major injuries.

If the horse fell on top of her, that alone would probably break her ribs and maybe puncture her lungs. Getting hit with 900lbs in motion is almost surely a lethal blow, especially with no helmet.

 

[carbuff]

For the horse it's hard to say what has happened, the horse might have reared or been scared of something. It might have had a brain aneurysm, a heart attack etc...

But most likely if she had no helmet, she probably hit her head and died from that. A head injury from falling off with no helmet often leads to at least a concussion and major injuries.

If the horse fell on top of her, that alone would probably break her ribs and maybe puncture her lungs. Getting hit with 900lbs in motion is almost surely a lethal blow, especially with no helmet.

My grandfather had a horse fall on him like that and it comletely crushed his leg. He was with other people and they were able to get help right away, but he still nearly died. If she couldn't get out from under the horse's weight, or was too injured to walk/crawl for help, she might not have been so lucky.

 

[LucyOso]

So was it determined if she was indeed under the horse or just near it?

 

[carbuff]

So was it determined if she was indeed under the horse or just near it?

It's not clear. Speculation on my part: the description sounds like maybe her clothing was found in and under the horse bones, but her bones were found a slight distance away.

 

[theshadow45]

Gila River Jane Doe has been unidentified for 22 years today.

 

[Bit of hope]

From July, 23 2019. Nothing new, but a good summery.

 

[T rex]

No saddle, no reins, no bit and bridle? I can see no saddle but wouldn't it be difficult to ride a horse without atleast a bit and some reins? It sounds to me like someone could have came across this site earlier on and did some looting.
I don't know how possible this is but I have heard of some Native American death rituals that involved the burying of a horse along with the deceased, although it's probably not very likely.

 

[Laughing]

No saddle, no reins, no bit and bridle? I can see no saddle but wouldn't it be difficult to ride a horse without atleast a bit and some reins? It sounds to me like someone could have came across this site earlier on and did some looting.
I don't know how possible this is but I have heard of some Native American death rituals that involved the burying of a horse along with the deceased, although it's probably not very likely.

bbm

Cotton rope hackamore, commercial or rider-fashioned, would have degraded & could easily be unrecognizable when the horse & rider skeletons were noticed:

Some horses, one loop around the muzzle is enough.

JMHO YMMV

 

[T rex]

You can just about bet that this horse was a local horse, if you follow me. So what does this tell us about the rider? I can only think of a few possibilities. She had to be local too or she had local ties because people don't just let strangers take off on their horse. The only other thing I can think of is she was not from this area but she was in the area and stole the horse. I think it was probably one of the first two, either she was local or had local ties and I think there are several people there that know who she was. I hope in the near future one of them will come forward. They really should publicize this case for awhile in that area to try and put her back on their minds. It would only take one anonymous phone call with a name.

 

[Laughing]

T rex, I agree, perhaps enough time has passed that even if gang-related, the deceased could be returned to her family?

 

[Melt71]

What a fascinating case - I don't recall reading this one previously. Are these trails the kind that people would do long-distance rides on and sleep out at night? So perhaps she may not have been super-super-local?

 

[carbuff]

Full list of rule outs as of 30 September 2017: Stephanie Benton 1977 Arizona, Darla Crist 1963 Arizona, Sherry Daughtery 1963 Arizona, Maria Mauricio 1977 Arizona, Adriana Rojas 1978 California, and Tiffany Sessions 1968 Florida.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

No new ruleouts.

 

[Bit of hope]

Probably nothing, but could she be a grown up Anthonette Cayedito? Gallup, NM, from where she went missing at age 9, is not that far from the Gila River Indian reservation. Approx. 5 hours. She would have been the right age (Namus still lists this Jane Doe between 17 - 20) Cayedito was born on December 25, 1976, to Penny Cayedito (1952–1999), a Navajo Native American, and Anthony Montoya (1951–2012), a father of Italian and Hispanic descent. The mother had a relation to Gila. From the references on wikipedia (I know not a official source) "Teresa Or Penny Cayedito, 1999; citing Payson, Gila, Arizona, United States)
Disappearance of Anthonette Cayedito - Wikipedia

Anthonette Christine Cayedito – The Charley Project

 

[theshadow45]

Gila River Jane Doe has been unidentified for 23 years today.

 

[branmuffin]

Just wondering whether the woman had given birth prior to death and the baby was with her. Her clothing was identified as one size so maybe she was wearing them as maternity clothes. So perhaps she had recently given birth. Are there any images of the clothes she was wearing?

We don't know if she was actually riding or with the horse, but assuming that she was riding the horse, is it possible that something happened that caused her to get off the horse and tie it to a tree? If she or the baby were sick, or she had very recently given birth and had complications and died right there, is it possible the horse could have died from lack of water and fell on or near her body? The baby would also have died and predators could have taken the body of the child fairly easily without leaving any evidence.

It's difficult to tell how isolated the area was where she was found, especially in 1997. Since it was several months after her death that she was found, I presume there wasn't a lot of foot traffic in that area and definitely the carcass of horse would draw attention even if someone was driving by.

She could easily be South Asian based on some of the representations shown but probably more a mix of Hispanic and Native American.

It certainly is a strange mystery.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

She looks a lot like someone I used to know. It's not her because she is still alive and living here in Australia.
She was originally from Chile.

 

[Laughing]

As this area is within a reservation, the decedent is most likely part of the Gila River tribe:

DISCOVER THE

The report states "The decedent is Native American and/or Caucasian/Hispanic."

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Similar phrase recorded by Doe Network.

Certainly possible that someone took the infant & left the mother.

Any 23 year olds around who were told that their mother died in childbirth???

JMHO YMMV LRR