CA CA - Castaic, WhtFem 19-26, 559UFCA, Wht/beige blouse/mini dress & cross ring, Sept'69

[Richard]

Castaic Jane Doe
On September 7, 1969, the remains of a young white female were recovered from a shallow grave off of Interstate 5 in Castaic, California. She had been possibly shot to death. Animal activity was noted with her remains. She was estimated to be between 19 and 26 years old, and was 5 feet 5 inches tall. She had brown hair. Weight and eye color could not be ascertained. She was found wearing a white/light beige mini-dress or a blouse that had a dark brown check and floral pattern as well as a white-metal ring that may have been traced to Texas. Inside the ring had a stamped insignia with three candles. Investigators believe that she may have been a hitchhiker.

LINK:

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/images/559UFCA.jpg

 

[Friday Fan]

Without a skull, no ID unless there is DNA....

 

[Diavola]

Since this is in California, did her remains get cremated?

 

[Richard]

Castaic Jane Doe

On September 7, 1969, the remains of a young white female were recovered from a shallow grave off of Interstate 5 in Castaic, California.

She had been possibly shot to death. Animal activity was noted with her remains. She was estimated to be between 19 and 26 years old, and was 5 feet 5 inches tall. She had brown hair. Weight and eye color could not be ascertained.

She was found wearing a white/light beige mini-dress or a blouse that had a dark brown check and floral pattern as well as a white-metal ring that may have been traced to Texas. Inside the ring had a stamped insignia with three candles.

Investigators believe that she may have been a hitchhiker. Date of death was estimated to be between 3 and 6 months prior to discovery of remains.

LINKS:

List of unidentified murder victims in California

Castaic Jane Doe (1969)

 

[Diavola]

Bump.

How are dentals available if the skull was not found?

 

[CCJD]

Bump.

How are dentals available if the skull was not found?

Maybe part of the skull was missing. I dunno but according to this article (pertinent part attached), she had dentals available and only had one filling in her mouth.

10 Sep 1969, 3 - The Signal at Newspapers.com
(Subscription required)

 

[John/Jane Doe]

CASE NUMBER - 559UFCA

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[MadMcGoo]

I’m adding the NamUs number to help with keyword searches. I almost created a new thread because I couldn’t find this one. UP2996 These articles lend a few more clues.

She had “a set of excellent teeth” with only a small pinhole cavity with a silver filling. Therefore some part of the skull had to have been found. One article says only a leg was sticking out of the grave.

She had shoulder-length reddish-brown hair.

One article says the ring was a size 8. One says 9 1/4.

The minidress measured 21 inches from neckline to hemline. Extremely short for a 5’5” woman.

8 Sep 1969, 5 - Los Angeles Evening Citizen News at Newspapers.com

www.newspapers.com

10 Sep 1969, 4 - Los Angeles Evening Citizen News at Newspapers.com

www.newspapers.com

17 Sep 1969, 1 - The Signal at Newspapers.com

www.newspapers.com

17 Sep 1969, 1 - The Signal at Newspapers.com

www.newspapers.com

 

[MadMcGoo]

I really think the James Avery ring holds a clue. It had to have been purchased from Avery himself or someone close to him. The company was in its infancy in 1969.

 

[R. Towle]

The size of that ring is quite large. Just a thought here, but what if the ring belonged to whomever buried/killed her? Digging a shallow grave, ring slips off and he doesn't notice?!

 

[Richard]

Bumping this thread up.

Could this murder possibly be related to the murder of Roxie Ann Phillips? Roxie was, in July 1969, killed most probably by John Norman Collins of Ypsilanti, Michigan when he and his partner in crime Andrew Manuel were visiting California.

Castaic Jane Doe was found 7 September 1969, and was estimated to have died approximately 3 to 6 months prior.

 

[Richard]

The size of that ring is quite large. Just a thought here, but what if the ring belonged to whomever buried/killed her? Digging a shallow grave, ring slips off and he doesn't notice?!

It might also be possible that the ring was taken from an earlier victim and intentionally left with this victim.

This sort of thing was noted by Michigan detectives investigating a string of murders of young women which occurred in the Ypsilanti area between 1967 and 1969. The earing of one victim was found near the body of another.

 

[Richard]

Castaic Jane Doe​

Victim's ring and blouse or dress.

On September 7, 1969 partial remains of a young woman with some soft tissue were recovered from a shallow grave off Interstate 5 approximately 19 miles south of Gorman, near Castaic, California.

The remains had been disturbed by animals. The skull was not located.

It is thought that the remains belonged to a 19-26 year old Caucasian woman, estimated to be 5'5" tall. She had brown hair. Weight and eye color could not be ascertained.

The woman was found wearing a white or beige blouse or mini dress with a dark brown check and floral pattern. The fabric was an eyelet-type weave and lined in beige.

A size 9-1/4 white James Avery Jewelers metal ring with a cross cut into it on top and a stamped insignia with three candles on the inside was found near her grave.

Investigators believe she had been dead for 3-6 months and that she may have been a hitchhiker. Her cause of death was possibly a gunshot.

LINKS:

List of unidentified murder victims in California

en.everybodywiki.com

CASE NUMBER - 559UFCA

 

[Romulus]

@othram case for you

 

[othram]

@othram case for you

Thank you!

 

[cenazoic]

James Avery Jewelers in still in business and still has a similar looking ring:

Buy Wide Crosslet Ring for USD 150.00 | James Avery

Buy Wide Crosslet Ring for USD 150.00 | James Avery

www.jamesavery.com

Although JA started as a jewelry designer in 1954, it wasn’t until 1967 that he purchased 20 acres of land in Kerrville, TX, for his first store and manufacturing facility. (cf Wikipedia)

A size 9-1/4 white James Avery Jewelers metal ring with a cross cut into it on top and a stamped insignia with three candles on the inside was found near her grave.

The average woman’s ring size is 6; men is 10.

Speculation: the ring either belonged to a male friend (so worn by the victim on a necklace, say) or the culprit, and he was from Texas. (Edit: as noted in @MadMcGoo ‘s articles posted above.)

 

[MedSethy]

Castaic Jane Doe
On September 7, 1969, the remains of a young white female were recovered from a shallow grave off of Interstate 5 in Castaic, California. She had been possibly shot to death. Animal activity was noted with her remains. She was estimated to be between 19 and 26 years old, and was 5 feet 5 inches tall. She had brown hair. Weight and eye color could not be ascertained. She was found wearing a white/light beige mini-dress or a blouse that had a dark brown check and floral pattern as well as a white-metal ring that may have been traced to Texas. Inside the ring had a stamped insignia with three candles. Investigators believe that she may have been a hitchhiker.

LINK:

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/images/559UFCA.jpg

Missing Person / NamUs #MP50556

View NamUs missing person case MP50556 for Phyllis Marie Corbin missing from St. Louis, Missouri. Date of last contact: Nov 01, 1963. NCMEC case number: 1334372.

namus.nij.ojp.gov

PHYLLIS CORBIN?

 

[Richard]

Missing Person / NamUs #MP50556

View NamUs missing person case MP50556 for Phyllis Marie Corbin missing from St. Louis, Missouri. Date of last contact: Nov 01, 1963. NCMEC case number: 1334372.

namus.nij.ojp.gov

PHYLLIS CORBIN?

Probably not Phillis, as she went missing 6 years earlier.

It was estimated that this unidentified woman had been killed 3 to 6 months before discovery of the grave. That would have meant death occured roughly between March and June 1968.

 

[snooptroop88]

Some possibilities...I also looked at people from the South, where James Avery Jewelry had locations.

Dixie Arensen
https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/24163/
20 years old, 5'6" (2" taller than UP estimate), brown hair
Missing from Granada Hill, CA (18 miles away) since 8/25/68
Thinking if her name is Dixie, she may have ties to the South, where the ring store locations were?

Mary Boston
https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/18126/
23 years old, 5'4" (1" shorter than UP estimate), brown hair (doesn't look long in photo but not sure how old the picture is, it could have grown)
Missing from Sacramento, CA (345 miles away) since 9/1/68

Georgia Blevins
https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/36718/
22 - 23 years old, 5'4" - 5'7", brown hair (doesn't look long in photo but not sure how old the picture is, it could have grown)
Missing from Austin, TX (1,417 miles away) since 7/4/62
James Avery Jewelry has multiple stores in Austin (but not sure if they were there back in the '60s)

Alice Reeves
https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/20169/
20 years old, 5'7" (2" taller than UP estimate), brown hair (doesn't look long in photo but not sure how old the picture is, it could have grown)
Missing from Ville Platte, LA (1,832 miles away) since 1967
James Avery Jewelry has multiple stores in Louisiana (but not sure if they were there back in the '60s)

Totally agreed on Dixie Arensen, I believe her husband's name is Jonathan. Jonathan was a minister, Dixie's parents were missionaries and she was born in India, Jonathan's family also had a history with such work. Dixie and her husband were, at the time she disappeared, very active in church work, apparently she was on her way to the church when she went missing. Her husband found many of her things at the church office the following morning. Ironically, the husband's initials are also JA, like the initials on the James Avery jeweler's ring.

Also, Dixie was wearing an empire waist dress when she went missing and that's the same type of waist as the Doe's shirt.

Granada Hills where Dixie went missing is 22 mins from Castaic. It's also near Angeles National Forest, used by multiple SKs including Alcala and Bundy. Someone on Dixie's thread is mentioning some strange parallels between Dixie and a Zodiac victim, and it's pretty creepy, Cecelia Shepard was also born to missionaries in India, and close in age to Dixie. She was musically inclined like Dixie. And just noting, Zodiac's suspected of murdering a couple in 1963 in Santa Barbara County.

 

[snooptroop88]

Totally agreed on Dixie Arensen, I believe her husband's name is Jonathan. Jonathan was a minister, Dixie's parents were missionaries and she was born in India, Jonathan's family also had a history with such work. Dixie and her husband were, at the time she disappeared, very active in church work, apparently she was on her way to the church when she went missing. Her husband found many of her things at the church office the following morning. Ironically, the husband's initials are also JA, like the initials on the James Avery jeweler's ring.

Also, Dixie was wearing an empire waist dress when she went missing and that's the same type of waist as the Doe's shirt.

Granada Hills where Dixie went missing is 22 mins from Castaic. It's also near Angeles National Forest, used by multiple SKs including Alcala and Bundy. Someone on Dixie's thread is mentioning some strange parallels between Dixie and a Zodiac victim, and it's pretty creepy, Cecelia Shepard was also born to missionaries in India, and close in age to Dixie. She was musically inclined like Dixie. And just noting, Zodiac's suspected of murdering a couple in 1963 in Santa Barbara County.

Correction! Don't like quoting my own post, but just a note. The husband of Dixie Arensen actually arrived at the office that very morning, about an hour and forty-five minutes after the time she'd left their house. She left the house at 7:30, and he arrived at the office like 9:15 am.

Arensen was last seen by her husband when she left her home in Granada Hills at 7:30 a.m. to prepare a bulletin at the church office of Hillcrest Christian Church located at 17531 Rinaldi Street....Her glasses, without which she could not see well, were found on the floor of the small office by her husband who arrived at the church around 9:15 a.m. the morning of her disappearance. The electric typewriter with which she prepared the bulletin was still running. Her keys were also found in the church office and her blue automobile was parked outside. There were no signs of a struggle....Her purse was missing but a check showed no withdrawals from her personal checking account. She has not been seen nor heard from since.

https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/software/mp-main.html?id=1734dfca