Identified! AZ - Yavapai Co., WhtFem 157UFAZ, 25-40, pregnant, Aug'95 - Name not found

[Irish_Eyes]

When I was that pregnant I had to buy new shoes because my feet were so swollen those last few weeks. I just bought a cheap pair at Sears because I knew I would only wear them a few weeks.

 

[annemc2]

Ooh, good point, Irish Eyes. About the shoes. I did the same thing.

 

[kemo]

Therese Balsano is an interesting possibility. The Church of the New Endeavor is essentially a Cult that operates out of the Dells Wisconsin that some sort of outpost in Clarksdle between 1992 and 1996. This "church" doesn't have a sinister reputation but people do tend to break with their families when they join and you can never tell with Cults.

For what it's worth, Balsano is a very rare name in the US but there is a Therese Anne Balsano of about the right age living in Florida today. She is not on the Charley Project or The Doe Network. Is she really still missing?

Realistically, Jill Beaty, or any woman in the general age range, could be our Jane Doe if she voluntarily left her home sometime around 1994 and was hiding out somewhere while her pregnancy progressed.

Webrocket, The Sycamore Canyon Trail is at the bottom of the canyon. If she fell (or was pushed) from a higher point, she still would have had a very rough go of it getting there.

I have never heard of anyone killing someone by leading them into treacherous terrain and then abandoning them to die of exposure. It would be pretty insidious since it would be very difficult to prosecute someone for murder under those circumstances.

 

[carbuff]

I'm familiar with Sycamore Canyon. It is about 2 1/2 hours north of Phoenix,between Prescott and Sedona. There is a good unpaved road that leads to a parking area. A flat, well traveled trail follows the creek in a deep Canyon. The hiking to the Blue Hole, 2 1/2 miles up the canyon , is easy. A fit woman in tennis shoes would have no problems, even if she we 9 months pregnant.

Going up the side of the canyon is another matter. I had no idea where she was found, but the canyon walls are not entirely impassible. One can work their way up, climbing hand and foot while working your way laterally to find a passable route. This is, however, very risky because it is easier to climb uphill than down and it is often difficult to retrace your route. You can easily be in a situation where you can not get back down. Jane Dow was found 1/4 mile from the trail where she could see it but evidently she could not get back down. The condition of the remains show no obvious injury but she may have fallen a short distance. The was no spot above her that was reasonably accessible that she could have fallen from. Why a very pregnant woman in tennis shoes would even try such a stunt is baffling.

It is possible that Jane Doe went there alone. There is absolutely no way to get to the trail head except by vehicle. Supposedly no abandoned car was found at the parking but it is possible that an "abandoned" car was found many months earlier and towed away by the forest service and the Yavapai County Sheriff's Dept was unaware of it (I know of a Case in California where this happened). Why then did no one report her missing? There is the possibility that she went there to commit suicide but the same mystery exist.

There is the possibility that she was with a male companion who deliberately led her there and then left her to die. Or, there is as set of male bones nearby that still haven't been found. Either way, why no report of a missing person?

Reviewing lists of John and Jane Does, leads me to believe most are either young runaways or homeless/druggie/marginal types. Some appear to be suicides who have taken measures to disguise their identity. There are some who appear to be normal types that you would expect there to be friends, relatives, someone to be concerned and report them missing.

There are many many reasons why a missing person isn't on our missing persons lists.

The person may have been reported, but the LE agency might not have uploaded the person into a national database. Most Massachusetts agencies, for instance, don't bother with it unless they have reason to believe the person left the area and is in trouble.

The person may have been reported, but the report aged out. Especially common with people who were under 21 when they left.

The agency may have refused to take a report for any of a thousand reasons -- a friend of mine who's trying to find her son keeps getting told by her local LE that she needs to file the report where her son was living, and LE where her son was living says it has to be filed where she lives. Another agency said that since he's over 21 and has a right to go where he pleases, she doesn't have standing to file a report. Another case I know of, they won't take a missing persons report because he's a fugitive from justice; apparently you can't be both wanted and missing, or something

Not to mention the possibility that she (and possibly husband) have been reported missing but just haven't matched up for whatever reason.

 

[Han-Tastic]

What bothers me about the case description is that it says she was wearing the hat and sunglasses, rather than they were found with the body. The fact that they were still physically on her head suggests a non-violent death to me - that she didn't fall or she wasn't murdered in a way that would be accompanied by a struggle (such as strangulation). I wasn't able to find her cause of death listed anywhere, either, so that leads me to think ME wasn't able to determine one.

I agree about the clothes suggesting colder weather, but I am really perplexed as to why a heavily pregnant women would be out in that kind of terrain in the first place. I highly doubt, on the off chance that she was out there by choice, that she was alone, which is supported by the fact that she had no bag with her - maybe her partner/friend were carrying their supplies. Which then got me thinking - what if this second person wasn't her killer, but was out there with her when she got into difficulty (maybe went into labor, or felt unwell), and so the second person went to get help, got into difficult themselves, and perished somewhere nearby?

This case, IMO, doesn't have a particularly hinky vibe - it seems more like an unexperienced hiker lost in the wilderness scenario.

(Also, somewhere up-thread, someone asked about determining the sex of the fetal remains: Fetal remains, depending on the stage of pregnancy, are tiny and usaully fragile. They also don't show any sexual dimorphism; that is, one cannot obtain an estimation of sex from them. You could probably get the sex from DNA analysis, but I'm not sure whether that would be possible in this case due to the environment/exposure issue, and also the size of the bones - i.e. whether or not you could obtain enough genetic material)

 

[DrDMike]

Was there anything wrong with the fetus? Was it deformed or have some issue like Down 's? Maybe the fear of being tied down to a disabled baby was motive enough to kill her. Another theory that I have, as a man, is that she could have been a pregnant mistress. Did she have a wedding band or any indication of being married? What if she was murdered by the baby father's wife or jealous girlfriend?

 

[kemo]

It is entirely possible to go "up" into a rocky area a very short distance, find you can't get down, and traverse a great distance trying to find a route down, and end up far higher than you started out. This is very likely what happened. It seems out of the question that a very pregnant woman with tennis shoes would deliberately go to that spot.

For this reason, I don't think she was killed at that place. I think she got to that place on her own seeking a way back to the trail. Any bag with supplies (and id) would have probably been abandoned. The more I think about it, the less likely it seems that a male companion deliberately left her to die. It would seem that anyplace a pregnant woman might be induced to venture would afford a reasonable chance of getting back safely or being rescued. This would put he companion in a bad spot. More likely, she was there by herself or with a companion whose bones have not yet been discovered.

Sycamore Canyon is a short drive from Prescott/Clarksdale/Cottonwood/ Sedona and I could see a woman going there alone even if very pregnant. This Jane Doe was given lots of publicity in those towns so it is unlikely she came from there. Phoenix is close enough for a day trip. It is a possible place of origin.

Sedona has lots of tourists and and there are many tourists in Phoenix during the cold weather months. They will often visit places like Sycamore canyon in a rented car. If a rental car is found "abandoned", it will be returned to the rental company who will try to get "restitution" from the renter.

People do backpack in Sycamore Canyon so a car could sit for quite a while before it would be identified as "abandoned". The question is "would an "abandoned" car be treated as a possible "lost hiker" situation" or just an "abandoned car" that would have to be towed off and disposed of?

Right now, I'm thinking the most likely scenario is a couple on holiday to Arizona who got lost and perished in the canyon. The bones of the male still haven't been discovered.

 

[DrDMike]

It is entirely possible to go "up" into a rocky area a very short distance, find you can't get down, and traverse a great distance trying to find a route down, and end up far higher than you started out. This is very likely what happened. It seems out of the question that a very pregnant woman with tennis shoes would deliberately go to that spot.

For this reason, I don't think she was killed at that place. I think she got to that place on her own seeking a way back to the trail. Any bag with supplies (and id) would have probably been abandoned. The more I think about it, the less likely it seems that a male companion deliberately left her to die. It would seem that anyplace a pregnant woman might be induced to venture would afford a reasonable chance of getting back safely or being rescued. This would put he companion in a bad spot. More likely, she was there by herself or with a companion whose bones have not yet been discovered.

Sycamore Canyon is a short drive from Prescott/Clarksdale/Cottonwood/ Sedona and I could see a woman going there alone even if very pregnant. This Jane Doe was given lots of publicity in those towns so it is unlikely she came from there. Phoenix is close enough for a day trip. It is a possible place of origin.

Sedona has lots of tourists and and there are many tourists in Phoenix during the cold weather months. They will often visit places like Sycamore canyon in a rented car. If a rental car is found "abandoned", it will be returned to the rental company who will try to get "restitution" from the renter.

People do backpack in Sycamore Canyon so a car could sit for quite a while before it would be identified as "abandoned". The question is "would an "abandoned" car be treated as a possible "lost hiker" situation" or just an "abandoned car" that would have to be towed off and disposed of?

Right now, I'm thinking the most likely scenario is a couple on holiday to Arizona who got lost and perished in the canyon. The bones of the male still haven't been discovered.

I can't see a woman who is 9 months pregnant and recovering from eye surgery going on vacation into the desert. She must of had a strong incentive to go there.

 

[carbuff]

She seems more like a local person, though -- somebody from close enough that she might have thought, "Oh heavens I'm roasting and so uncomfortable, I'm just going to go out to the swimming hole to try to cool off." And then since it's a somewhat familiar area, I can see her climbing up the hillside, maybe not realizing how much the pregnancy had impaired her balance and mobility until she turned around to come back.

The description of the place where she was found reminds me a lot of where the California girl who recently got lost hiking with her boyfriend was found. He wound up several miles from her.

 

[carbuff]

Well, here's an interesting one: http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/723dfin.html

Debra Wilhite was possibly pregnant when she went missing in Indiana in October 1994, which puts her solidly in the UID's time frame. At 19, she's a couple of years younger, but not enough to make me think it's unlikely.

Her car is also missing. Somebody claims to have murdered her but there's no evidence to support the claim.

Note the glasses in Wilhite's second photo.

ETA: No, don't note anything. I misread 1974 as 1994. Argh! The only one who needs new glasses is me...

 

[carbuff]

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/3042dfoh.html

Christina Adkins was five months pregnant when she went missing in January 1995, which would have put her at full term in April, about four months before the UID was found. That's pushing the timeline but seems just possible. She is also a little young -- 18, though her picture makes her look like a little girl. Seems like a pretty good resemblance, though.

 

[DrDMike]

Well, here's an interesting one: http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/723dfin.html

Debra Wilhite was possibly pregnant when she went missing in Indiana in October 1994, which puts her solidly in the UID's time frame. At 19, she's a couple of years younger, but not enough to make me think it's unlikely.

Her car is also missing. Somebody claims to have murdered her but there's no evidence to support the claim.

Note the glasses in Wilhite's second photo.

The dentals do not match.

 

[carbuff]

The dentals do not match.

Could you elaborate, please?

 

[toscaxyz]

Well, here's an interesting one: http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/723dfin.html

Debra Wilhite was possibly pregnant when she went missing in Indiana in October 1994, which puts her solidly in the UID's time frame. At 19, she's a couple of years younger, but not enough to make me think it's unlikely.

Her car is also missing. Somebody claims to have murdered her but there's no evidence to support the claim.

Note the glasses in Wilhite's second photo.

She has been missing since 1974, not 1994.

 

[carbuff]

She has been missing since 1974, not 1994.

I had to check twice before I realized you're right and I was just misreading that badly. Argh! *tears hair*

 

[toscaxyz]

I had to check twice before I realized you're right and I was just misreading that badly. Argh! *tears hair*

You had me double and triple checking, too! So many other details seem to match up in these two.

 

[DrDMike]

Could you elaborate, please?

The dentals of the UI indicate that she has tooth #16 where as the missing woman who you suggested did not.

 

[carbuff]

The dentals of the UI indicate that she has tooth #16 where as the missing woman who you suggested did not.

Ah, thanks.

That's not necessarily a mismatch, though, because the tooth could have been pulled after she went missing. There's a four-month gap.

 

[CarlK90245]

Therese Anne Balsano was just added to NAMPN, and I don't see her on any of the other sites.

http://www.nampn.org/cases/balsano_therese.html

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/157ufaz.html

No indication that she was pregnant, and there's no indication that the UID had facial injuries (although she was wearing solar-shield glasses for recent eye surgery). And the circumstances, if true, are not particularly close to this Jane Doe's circumstances.

But she was missing from Clarkdale, and the timeline is right. And she is the right age and right height.

And she is wearing a purple hair clip in one of her photos:

A purple hair clip was found with the UID's remains.

What do y'all think of her as a possible match to this Jane Doe?

 

[CarlK90245]

... and I don't see her on any of the other sites.

Correction: She does have a MP casefile in NamUs (Her name was previously misspelled, but has been corrected):

https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/19170/0/