AZ AZ - Tempe, HispFem, UP1987, 15-19, hitchhiking, overdose, Apr'02

[John/Jane Doe]

Michelle I would rule out just due to lack of geographic proximity and also the recon looks nothing like our Doe. TJD was also stated as having Mexican and Peruvian ancestry, so the chances of her being from a Caribbean island are slim.

As for Karen, it's close enough to submit. The recon is giving me a bit of pause; there are a number of features that do not match up with TJD's, but it's always worth a shot and I could see the circumstances matching up.

@SimsGuy67 Could you make a comparison table between Karen and Tempe Jane Doe? I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[AguaFlorida2001]

I think Tempe Jane Doe's case is recent enough that maybe going through previously archived versions of MP websites could be possible. I don't know if they started recording things like MP lists quite that early, though.

Where would one find these websites?

 

[SimsGuy67]

@SimsGuy67 Could you make a comparison table between Karen and Tempe Jane Doe? I would greatly appreciate it.

I do think the reconstruction does look like an older Karen, but I'm not sure about the rest.

	Tempe Jane Doe UP1987	Karen Rosalba Grajeda
Sex	Female	Female
Race	Hipsanic/Latino	Hispanic/Latino
Age	15 - 19	7 (13 in 2002)
DLC/DOD	The Day Prior	January 11, 1996
Height	5'1	3'5
Weight	125 pounds	50 pounds
Hair Color	Black	Black
Eye Color	Brown	Brown
Distinctive Features	Scars on back of left hand and shoulder.	Upper right tooth is larger than rest of teeth, missing several baby teeth, pierced ears, pea-sized mole behind ear.
Circumstances	Overdosed while hitchhiking. Dumped at a strip mall.	Abducted while playing outside of her apartment buildings.
Distance	Tucson - Tempe	107 miles

 

[AguaFlorida2001]

I do think the reconstruction does look like an older Karen, but I'm not sure about the rest.

	Tempe Jane Doe UP1987	Karen Rosalba Grajeda
Sex	Female	Female
Race	Hipsanic/Latino	Hispanic/Latino
Age	15 - 19	7 (13 in 2002)
DLC/DOD	The Day Prior	January 11, 1996
Height	5'1	3'5
Weight	125 pounds	50 pounds
Hair Color	Black	Black
Eye Color	Brown	Brown
Distinctive Features	Scars on back of left hand and shoulder.	Upper right tooth is larger than rest of teeth, missing several baby teeth, pierced ears, pea-sized mole behind ear.
Circumstances	Overdosed while hitchhiking. Dumped at a strip mall.	Abducted while playing outside of her apartment buildings.
Distance	Tucson - Tempe	107 miles

Many thanks for this!!
The nose and mouth seem to be a little different, also the pea-sized mole behind Karen's ear, but everything else appears plausible.

 

[victoriarobinson642]

Where would one find these websites?

Missing Children

Off the top of my head, this page.

 

[AguaFlorida2001]

Missing Children

Off the top of my head, this page.

Thank you!!

 

[Aurora90]

Has the rule outs list been updated?

 

[carbuff]

MP1333 Alissa Turney 05/17/2001 Maricopa AZ


MP6354 Veronica Martinez 03/29/2001 San Joaquin CA


MP1066 Maria Mauricio 01/20/1997 Maricopa AZ


-- Florinda Lopez -- -- FL


-- Yuliana Escudero -- -- OR


-- Leanne Hausberg -- -- NY

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

 

[atomicsciencegal]

MP1333 Alissa Turney 05/17/2001 Maricopa AZ


MP6354 Veronica Martinez 03/29/2001 San Joaquin CA


MP1066 Maria Mauricio 01/20/1997 Maricopa AZ


-- Florinda Lopez -- -- FL


-- Yuliana Escudero -- -- OR


-- Leanne Hausberg -- -- NY

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

Thank you @carbuff , we do appreciate you posting the updated list.

 

[NMR0715]

Hello all!
I’m new to the online sleuthing community so bear with me as I’ve always been a lurker, never a commenter. I’m hoping I may have found a potential match and I decided to become a member to join this thread. First, let me give a little background on myself. I’ve frequently done deep dives on missing and unidentified persons cases. It’s a passion I’ve carried for decades now. I’m a native Arizonan and have been watching Tempe Girl 2002’s case pretty much from her discovery. Looking at her case, I never believed her to be Native American. I am a registered tribal member and know it to be very unusual for a Native to speak fluent Spanish. Also, AZ in general is a hub for immigrants coming in from south of the border. For these reasons, I’ve always truly believed she was an undocumented immigrant and IF (more on that later) she was never reported missing it could be a possibility that her family feared deportation. Now that it's been over 20 years since Tempe Girl 2002 has been unidentified, I’ve always kept her in mind when browsing through missing persons cases. So, just last week, I was passing time and came upon a missing persons report out of Mexico. As soon as I saw her picture, I immediately thought of Tempe Girl. Then, as I was reading the very few details in her missing persons report, it was so apparent that she could very possibly be a match. Age, timeline, height, ethnicity, physical resemblance and even geographical area seem to align. I’ve never felt so strongly about a possible match before. So much so that I emailed every agency involved in Tempe Girl’s case, including the DDP. I’ve only received one response and it was relayed to me that the UP and MP have never been compared. I responded that I hope to be kept up to date on any info, if possible, but it’s been crickets since then. I’m very hopeful that this could be the match. Now back to Tempe Girl, I’ve come to some possibilities on why it’s been thought she was “not” reported missing. If this MP left “willingly” (unlikely due to age) or was kidnapped/sex trafficked and brought to the US and then found deceased, the perpetrator would not report her disappearance. BUT maybe her family DID report her missing and because it was in another country it was never connected! I’ve decided to keep the MP’s name private for now and will update if I hear anything back from any agencies on a comparison or rule out. I hope my long rant makes sense! Fingers crossed!

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Welcome to Websleuths, @NMR0715 !

I am amazed by what you have done here already. Let's hope you found the match!

 

[AguaFlorida2001]

Hello all!
I’m new to the online sleuthing community so bear with me as I’ve always been a lurker, never a commenter. I’m hoping I may have found a potential match and I decided to become a member to join this thread. First, let me give a little background on myself. I’ve frequently done deep dives on missing and unidentified persons cases. It’s a passion I’ve carried for decades now. I’m a native Arizonan and have been watching Tempe Girl 2002’s case pretty much from her discovery. Looking at her case, I never believed her to be Native American. I am a registered tribal member and know it to be very unusual for a Native to speak fluent Spanish. Also, AZ in general is a hub for immigrants coming in from south of the border. For these reasons, I’ve always truly believed she was an undocumented immigrant and IF (more on that later) she was never reported missing it could be a possibility that her family feared deportation. Now that it's been over 20 years since Tempe Girl 2002 has been unidentified, I’ve always kept her in mind when browsing through missing persons cases. So, just last week, I was passing time and came upon a missing persons report out of Mexico. As soon as I saw her picture, I immediately thought of Tempe Girl. Then, as I was reading the very few details in her missing persons report, it was so apparent that she could very possibly be a match. Age, timeline, height, ethnicity, physical resemblance and even geographical area seem to align. I’ve never felt so strongly about a possible match before. So much so that I emailed every agency involved in Tempe Girl’s case, including the DDP. I’ve only received one response and it was relayed to me that the UP and MP have never been compared. I responded that I hope to be kept up to date on any info, if possible, but it’s been crickets since then. I’m very hopeful that this could be the match. Now back to Tempe Girl, I’ve come to some possibilities on why it’s been thought she was “not” reported missing. If this MP left “willingly” (unlikely due to age) or was kidnapped/sex trafficked and brought to the US and then found deceased, the perpetrator would not report her disappearance. BUT maybe her family DID report her missing and because it was in another country it was never connected! I’ve decided to keep the MP’s name private for now and will update if I hear anything back from any agencies on a comparison or rule out. I hope my long rant makes sense! Fingers crossed!

Thank you for your work and this update!! Feels good to know people are not forgetting about her!

 

[AguaFlorida2001]

Any updates..?

 

[Aurora90]

Candi Gramajo?

I can't find any photos or info on her though. She does have a WS page where I suggested she might be this Jane Doe back in March.

OK Thread 'OK - Candi Gramajo, 14, Oklahoma City, OK Cty, 26 Dec 2001'

Jan 29, 2022

Candi Gramajo

Demographics
Missing Age: 14 Years

Sex: Female

Height: 5' 0" (60 Inches)

Weight: 95 lbs

Race / Ethnicity: Hispanic / Latino

Date of Last Contact: December 26, 2001

NamUs Case Created: March 13, 2021

Location: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73107

County: Oklahoma County

Circumstances of Disappearance: GRAMAJO has not been seen since 2am on 12/26/2001 where she went missing from her home on the NW side of OKC. She is believed to be headed to Florida or Virginia...

• imstilla.grandma
• Replies: 2
• Forum: 2000's Missing

 

[Aurora90]

I really feel Candi Gramajo might be a strong possible match. Upon viewing pictures of her relatives, they look strikingly similar to this Jane Doe. There is one relative in particular that looks like an older identical version of this Jane Doe.

 

[Aurora90]

I have sent the tip to law enforcement as well as the dna doe project just incase it happens to lead somewhere. Hopefully at the very least Candi can be on the list of exclusions…

 

[Teadrinker09]

Tempe Girl is related on my mother’s side, I am certain. My mother is from Peru, where her family lived for generations. My mother says that some of her family moved to Mexico, and she has a last name for that group: Savarain. I wrote to the coroner in charge of the case and offered this information, but received no response. I wish I knew Spanish so I could try to find these family members in Mexico. It’s like a needle in a haystack.

Looking for an update
Did you ever hear from the coroner?

 

[djanga]

The DDP’s most recent post is about Tempe Girl:

 

[djanga]

Do you know her? Group tries to identify Jane Doe who was found dead in Arizona decades ago | FOX 10 Phoenix

A national DNA testing project is asking for help, as they try to solve a 22-year-old mystery in Arizona.

www.fox10phoenix.com

 

[dotr]

• Jan 10, 2025
• 

  Cold case task force on 5 Arizona homicide investigations

  Attorney General Kris Mayes created a new cold case task force that will investigate five homicides.

  ktar.com
• ''PHOENIX — The Arizona Attorney General’s Office is breathing new life into several cold cases across the state.
  The office’s new cold case task force, which Attorney General Kris Mayes announced in a Thursday news conference, will investigate five homicides.''
• ''Melody Harrison, 15, whose remains were found south of US 60 and west of Idaho Road in Apache Junction on Aug. 6, 1992.''
• 
  
• Attorney General Mayes Announces New Cold Case Homicide Unit to Bring Hope and Justice for Victims’ Families
• ''Melody Harrison - On August 6, 1992, the body of a young female was found in the desert area south of US 60 and west of Idaho Road in Apache Junction. The victim was believed to be between 16-18 years of age. The victim at the time was wearing a “Team Gear” brand, size large, t-shirt with soccer balls imprinted on the front and back. She was also wearing a pair of Levi’s denim cutoff shorts and a ring on her left ring finger. On October 26, 2023, utilizing the victim’s DNA profile and familial DNA obtained by the Apache Junction police department, they were able to identify the female as 15- year-old Melody Harrison. Melody was reported as a Missing Juvenile on June 15, 1992. This case is being investigated in partnership with the Apache Junction Police Department.

Anyone with information related to a cold case is urged to contact the Arizona Attorney General’s office or Silent Witness with information. Photos of victims are available here.''