CA CA - Donna Jean Miller, 16-20, my grandmother has been missing since around 1965

[evangelicsphere]

@evangelicsphere , do you/your Mom have a copy of her birth certificate, the older the better? Most states have a way to order a copy of the complete form. (It's likely a scan today.) If you order a new birth certificate, there won't be much information on, just the legal minimum. A long form certificate and possibly the hospital certificate (not a legal document, but often pretty & frame-worthy) will provide some information.

A copy of the marriage license may help. Your missing Grandma's parents will be listed, and the witnesses were probably your parents' closest friends at the time. Those folks may have information to help you.

With the license, you visit or surf newspaper archives for the weeks before & after, looking for announcements & other information.

Was your Mom christened or baptized? The baptismal certificate will again list friends & give us a set point in time. And, a place in a group with newsletters, records, and archives.

Where did Grandma go to school? Many high schools/graduating classes have Facebook pages. You may be able to post her name & picture and have a quick response.

LotsaLatte, too much work & holiday right now, not even time to try FamilySearch; maybe after Christmas?

If your Mom is interested in genealogy, these steps will either be familiar to her or things she needs to know how to do! She should try the USGenWeb website for the county of her birth, too.

23&Me and Ancestry submission will help.

@LotsaLatte & I grab these genealogy-heavy situations & run! But -- we're not kin, you & your Mom will need to request documents.

I know my dad keeps all our documents in a filling cabinet in his room, so any documents like that would be in there. I would search right now but its better to wait for dad to get home since he actually knows how's its organized. I doubt mystery grandma was baptized and even if she was I wouldn't know where. the school she went to is defiantly something I doubt I can find out Donna Miller is a super common name.

 

[evangelicsphere]

@evangelicsphere , do you/your Mom have a copy of her birth certificate, the older the better? Most states have a way to order a copy of the complete form. (It's likely a scan today.) If you order a new birth certificate, there won't be much information on, just the legal minimum. A long form certificate and possibly the hospital certificate (not a legal document, but often pretty & frame-worthy) will provide some information.

A copy of the marriage license may help. Your missing Grandma's parents will be listed, and the witnesses were probably your parents' closest friends at the time. Those folks may have information to help you.

With the license, you visit or surf newspaper archives for the weeks before & after, looking for announcements & other information.

Was your Mom christened or baptized? The baptismal certificate will again list friends & give us a set point in time. And, a place in a group with newsletters, records, and archives.

Where did Grandma go to school? Many high schools/graduating classes have Facebook pages. You may be able to post her name & picture and have a quick response.

LotsaLatte, too much work & holiday right now, not even time to try FamilySearch; maybe after Christmas?

If your Mom is interested in genealogy, these steps will either be familiar to her or things she needs to know how to do! She should try the USGenWeb website for the county of her birth, too.

23&Me and Ancestry submission will help.

@LotsaLatte & I grab these genealogy-heavy situations & run! But -- we're not kin, you & your Mom will need to request documents.

I know my dad keeps all our documents in a filling cabinet in his room, so any documents like that would be in there. I would search right now but its better to wait for dad to get home since he actually knows how's its organized. I doubt mystery grandma was baptized and even if she was I wouldn't know where. the school she went to is defiantly something I doubt I can find out Donna Miller is a super common name.

 

[oviedo]

A lot of states have marriage licenses online now - has anyone checked for hers in CA?

 

[Laughing]

@evangelicsphere, your own Mom's baptismal certificate (if there is one) probably lists godparents or sponsors, sometimes grandparents' full names.

At the least, you have a set of information, the kind genealogists covet & burn the midnight oil to find:

specific people
on a specific date
at a specific location

When you've found a few of these specifics, you'll find a pattern & that's when you find relatives.

Usually!

Best, Laughing

(ETA: correct spelling)

 

[KJ's Mamu]

@evangelicsphere I did some scouting around on NamUs in the files for Unidentified Deceased Persons. I found a case in Oakland, California - body found October 2, 1969. While this is a very long shot, the picture you posted and the composite picture in the NamUs file have some similarities. The slope of the nose, the shape of the eyes and a thinner upper lip look very similar to me to when compared to the picture you posted. The person in the composite picture appears thinner. If your grandma lost weight after her picture was taken, the creases in her cheeks and the small cleft in her chin would likely be more noticeable.

The victim was estimated to be between 16 and 25 with brown hair. She was measured at 5'5 and 105 pounds. However, the victim had blue eyes, not brown. Is there any chance your grandma's eyes were a dark blue? Also the UID had a partial denture (front incisor tooth) . Would anyone know if your grandma had a partial denture? Like I said above...this is a very long shot....

Here is a link to the NamUs file. The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
BEWARE! There is a PDF document attached to the NamUs file with an actual picture of the deceased along more details about her. You may have to register with NamUs to see the actual composite image and the PDF document.

If I run across additional cases in other states I will post them here.

 

[LotsaLatte]

I am finding information that may be correct but there is more info I need. I'll be back in a bit

 

[LotsaLatte]

@evangelicsphere , do you/your Mom have a copy of her birth certificate, the older the better? Most states have a way to order a copy of the complete form. (It's likely a scan today.) If you order a new birth certificate, there won't be much information on, just the legal minimum. A long form certificate and possibly the hospital certificate (not a legal document, but often pretty & frame-worthy) will provide some information.

A copy of the marriage license may help. Your missing Grandma's parents will be listed, and the witnesses were probably your parents' closest friends at the time. Those folks may have information to help you.

With the license, you visit or surf newspaper archives for the weeks before & after, looking for announcements & other information.

Was your Mom christened or baptized? The baptismal certificate will again list friends & give us a set point in time. And, a place in a group with newsletters, records, and archives.

Where did Grandma go to school? Many high schools/graduating classes have Facebook pages. You may be able to post her name & picture and have a quick response.

LotsaLatte, too much work & holiday right now, not even time to try FamilySearch; maybe after Christmas?

If your Mom is interested in genealogy, these steps will either be familiar to her or things she needs to know how to do! She should try the USGenWeb website for the county of her birth, too.

23&Me and Ancestry submission will help.

@LotsaLatte & I grab these genealogy-heavy situations & run! But -- we're not kin, you & your Mom will need to request documents.

We will do our best, won't we?? Happy holidays Laughing!

 

[evangelicsphere]

@evangelicsphere I did some scouting around on NamUs in the files for Unidentified Deceased Persons. I found a case in Oakland, California - body found October 2, 1969. While this is a very long shot, the picture you posted and the composite picture in the NamUs file have some similarities. The slope of the nose, the shape of the eyes and a thinner upper lip look very similar to me to when compared to the picture you posted. The person in the composite picture appears thinner. If your grandma lost weight after her picture was taken, the creases in her cheeks and the small cleft in her chin would likely be more noticeable.

The victim was estimated to be between 16 and 25 with brown hair. She was measured at 5'5 and 105 pounds. However, the victim had blue eyes, not brown. Is there any chance your grandma's eyes were a dark blue? Also the UID had a partial denture (front incisor tooth) . Would anyone know if your grandma had a partial denture? Like I said above...this is a very long shot....

Here is a link to the NamUs file. The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
BEWARE! There is a PDF document attached to the NamUs file with an actual picture of the deceased along more details about her. You may have to register with NamUs to see the actual composite image and the PDF document.

If I run across additional cases in other states I will post them here.

unfortunately my mother is pretty certain mystery grandma had brown eyes. it was a good guess though. to be honest the composite kinda looks like my aunt but she's very much alive.

 

[LotsaLatte]

evangelicsphere did he die in 2004, by chance?

 

[LotsaLatte]

Is your grandma Janette (Joyce) still living? If so, can you talk to her? I have a question for her.

 

[KJ's Mamu]

unfortunately my mother is pretty certain mystery grandma had brown eyes. it was a good guess though. to be honest the composite kinda looks like my aunt but she's very much alive.

Good news! I checked Oregon, Nevada and Arizona - I found no other UID's that even remotely looked like a match. I hope the other super smart sleuths here on WS are able to help you. I will be following this thread and hoping that your mom finds her mom!

 

[evangelicsphere]

evangelicsphere did he die in 2004, by chance?

I asked my mom and she said grandpa Rodger died when I was around 1 or 2, so 2004 is very likely when he died.

 

[evangelicsphere]

Is your grandma Janette (Joyce) still living? If so, can you talk to her? I have a question for her.

she is still alive, but getting a hold of her is rather difficult. I can probably arrange to stop buy her house tomorrow or Sunday.

 

[LadyL]

I had a mystery grandma too
my dad did a dna test and found his biological brothers and families (mystery grandma was already deceased)

that's my best advice is do the test
the things you will find out from relatives are amazing

 

[LotsaLatte]

I am not sure how to even start here. I have a ton of questions. I don't want to scare anyone off if they can give you information. But then again, I need to know if I am going in the wrong direction so I can move on to finding the right direction. Plus this is probably a little too public for what we need to do here. I hope this makes sense. Can you ask your grandma if they got married in 1973? Or if that isn't a comfortable question, I can probably come up with another one.

 

[LotsaLatte]

I am looking at quite a few records here and putting it together but want to make sure I am not missing something.

 

[katydid23]

Grandpa Rodger was kinda troubled. after mystery grandma left he became an alcoholic and smoked like a chimney. I've heard many storied from my mom about him teaching my mom how to cheat in poker and get away with it, or modifying the tv so he could watch without paying for it.

The reason I asked about him is because there are three main possibilities for mystery Grandma's disappearance:

1---She wasn't ready to stay settled down and she ran off voluntarily and created another life for herself.

2---She may have run into a predator of some kind and been kidnapped or something along those lines when she left that night.

OR 3---Her husband was very tired of the marriage OR she had threatened to leave with the baby OR she was caught having an affair. OR he was very angry with her for something....and they got into a fight and things went sideways.


Number 3 is a real possibility. It may sound far fetched but there are hundreds of cases here much like that scenario.

It makes me wonder because it seems so unusual. When a young mother goes suddenly missing, there are usually people searching and filing Missing Person reports. Is there a reason people assumed she left voluntarily?

 

[LotsaLatte]

A lot of states have marriage licenses online now - has anyone checked for hers in CA?

IF I have the correct person, I have her birth, marriage and child's birth records, etc. I am trying to verify that I am looking at the records for the correct people because the name "Rodger" isn't in the records. But the other information fits, including Grandma Jeanette.

 

[evangelicsphere]

I am not sure how to even start here. I have a ton of questions. I don't want to scare anyone off if they can give you information. But then again, I need to know if I am going in the wrong direction so I can move on to finding the right direction. Plus this is probably a little too public for what we need to do here. I hope this makes sense. Can you ask your grandma if they got married in 1973? Or if that isn't a comfortable question, I can probably come up with another one.

I can ask her. I know my mother attended the wedding and remembers it so 1973 does make sense.

 

[evangelicsphere]

The reason I asked about him is because there are three main possibilities for mystery Grandma's disappearance:

1---She wasn't ready to stay settled down and she ran off voluntarily and created another life for herself.

2---She may have run into a predator of some kind and been kidnapped or something along those lines when she left that night.

OR 3---Her husband was very tired of the marriage OR she had threatened to leave with the baby OR she was caught having an affair. OR he was very angry with her for something....and they got into a fight and things went sideways.


Number 3 is a real possibility. It may sound far fetched but there are hundreds of cases here much like that scenario.

It makes me wonder because it seems so unusual. When a young mother goes suddenly missing, there are usually people searching and filing Missing Person reports. Is there a reason people assumed she left voluntarily?

mystery grandma was known to mess around with a lot of guys, so when she went missing everyone just assumed she just ran off with another man. grandpa Rodger was chaotic but never violent, I don't think he'd do anything like that.