CA CA - Lancaster, WhtFem 1205UFCA , 30-50, in desert, homemade coffin, Dec'68

[Ms. Sleuth]

If you look upthread, you'll find Madeline's sister's posts regarding this possibility...

thank you

 

[carbuff]

No new ruleouts. Here's the updated Namus link: Unidentified Person Case

No new exclusions. The Namus link has pretty much no information at all

 

[John/Jane Doe]

CASE NUMBER - 1205UFCA

 

[DD Byrd]

My take on the slats is that they were to distribute the weight of whatever was put over the coffin. Wood would eventually collapse and IMO this coffin maker needed the outside elements to hold until the remains were dust, for his/her own peace of mind. With such great care given to the whole thing, I believe whoever did this didn't want to think of a collapse. It's possible this wasn't the only location considered, and large rocks or soil would've been even heavier. Especially if the location chosen had been somewhere wetter and therefore quicker to rot the wood.

Red is a powerful color and would be chosen intentionally. There are myriad reasons for red, from ethnic to spiritual to symbolic, but again someone put in the effort.

As for being so close to the road, the coffin presumably had to be carried by humans. So a 'good' spot would be far enough away from the road, but not too far to carry. If the intent was to visit in the future, it had to be accessible but not strangely far out. Someone coming upon the 'visit' might just see someone at the side of the road who stopped to check a tire, take a bio break, etc.

As for the visual, if she was found with the bag over her head from a self-inflicted gunshot, the person who found her likely didn't want to look and left the bag in place. The same scenario would hold with an assisted or mercy killing, or even a murder. If she was found after hours had passed, that bag might have been 'held' to her head with congealed blood. Either way, the finder or shooter was probably a) in shock even if not surprised, and b) wanted to "fix it" quickly.

LE probably knows more info based on graphic tells, i.e. an xray showing hair pins means this was a mess. I'd bet there were other things in the coffin that are being held from the public. But the goal is to first find out who she is.

 

[Romulus]

Just for the sake of accuracy, the burial site isn't in Lancaster. It's actually east of Palmdale in a community called Llano. There is a golf course (Crystalaire) about 2 miles directly west of the burial site. It's pretty much open desert with a few scattered houses in between the two. It's in Los Angeles county, but very close to the San Bernardino Co line. (Approx. 8 - 10 miles)

Link me the map point please? @othram case for you! However I'll have my say: I think it could be a murder, in 1993 a film was released (The Vanishing) with Sandra Bullock and Kiefer Sutherland where a girl (Bullock) was kidnapped, put to sleep and buried in a coffin buried by a mad professor (Jeff Bridges); and Sutherland looked for her throughout the film and then discovered the bitter truth...I think there are many crazy people around the world, so this could have happened; I know perfectly well that a movie is not reality, but it could be reality some times.

 

[DD Byrd]

in 1993 a film was released (The Vanishing) with Sandra Bullock and Kiefer Sutherland where a girl (Bullock) was kidnapped, put to sleep and buried in a coffin buried by a mad professor (Jeff Bridges); and Sutherland looked for her throughout the film and then discovered the bitter truth

You might find the heavier focus on the mind of the killer in the original interesting: The Vanishing (1988) "Spoorloos"

 

[snooptroop88]

She had a red & white checkered bathrobe made in Britain (size small, she's petite), fabric by Sadie Shaw. Was she originally from the US? I'm looking now for a Sadie Shaw for that timeframe, there is no Sadie Shaw fabrics, but there was a UK Sandie Shaw line of fabrics, who opened a boutique coincidentally in (Sept) 1967 in London, although Shaw didn't design the clothing. The line, however, the label-- was Sandie Shaw. I think that's a typo and this is Sandie Shaw's line, she was a European pop singer and fashion icon. I can't picture such an item being too easy to come by in the US, even in that timeframe.

And a red coffin? Red in Great Britain and some of its territories is "the" color, a LOT of red. Was she from the UK originally? Was she hooked in with some very successful musician or artist in LA where she came over? Was she herself big into the musical scene in LA?

That is a very, very unusual case, jmo. I agree with those on here saying the paper bag on the head is disrepectful. A paper bag? Over the dead person's head?? If they could get a brocade pillow, certainly they could have found something more appropriate than a paper bag. If she had (at least) one child, the child may still have been quite young and in the care of another at the time of her death. I don't think that's a suicide or mercy killing, although it might be. Are there any international listings that might match up with her?

As far as the road aspect and dangers of being seen, that even now (based on what I read) is still a remote/rural area. If they kept a lookout, I would guess they'd have no problem, they may have been able to see any oncoming traffic from a very long way off. They may have had sufficient knowledge of the area to know when not to expect any traffic, too.

 

[snooptroop88]

Just as a follow-up on that last post, I see Patricia Mary Jones, originally from Cork, went over to England and married there, she had eight (some sources saying seven) children at 35 yo after 15 years of marriage and she disappeared from Sussex in 1960. There's speculation it was postpartum depression, that she went elsewhere, remarried, and could not return because she had never divorced the first husband. Family is saying they don't think she'd have returned to Ireland. There are relatives' images in her article, their hair is auburn and Patricia Mary's is either brown or may be auburn (it's a black/white photo). One of her grandchildren tweeted about the case on Twitter.

May not be this woman, and may not be anyone from abroad. But I definitely would be open to exploring those possibilities considering the clothing label.

 

[snooptroop88]

So the case of Patricia Weeks is another incredibly unusual case with Patricia being the first wife of Robert Weeks, convicted of her 1968 murder (he was also convicted of another woman's murder, he'd dated the woman for a period). They never found the bodies. In this case with this Jane Doe, the decedent was in homemade coffin/casket, care taken in its construction, I believe made of plywood, top painted red. Inside, the remains were mummified, the woman had bobby pins in her hair and was wearing pajamas, LE thought it was a domestic. Brocade pillow and a paper bag over decedent's head. Quilts found with her, she'd been shot in the temple and the bullet went completely through/exited. She was wearing a British-made red and white check bathrobe. Patricia Weeks disappeared in April 1968, so this fits the time range. Height aligns, age aligns. Weight aligns. Both Patricia and the Jane Doe had children (there is a hysterectomy scar on this Jane Doe). I looked it up and the age range for hysterectomies in the 1960s includes significant proportion of women in their 30s, so this factor may also align. Hair color looks likely to align.

Based on what I can find about Robert Weeks, he worked his way through school, and one of his jobs was as a mortician. When he was married to Patricia, he operated a limousine service. (I've wondered if he didn't cultivate contacts there that resulted in the British made robe and his Libyan passport) At one point, he launched a construction business.

Weeks said he'd buried the bodies in the desert. REALLY wondering on that.

 

[snooptroop88]

Moreover on Robert and Patricia Weeks there is a William J. Fox Airfield just north of Lancaster. They did many commercial (charters/private?) flights out of that field in the 60s. In his work with the limousine service, I'm guessing he may have been familar with it. Also, aside from his work as a mortician while he was in school, he worked as a parachute stuntman. And as I'm researching further, I'm seeing one of the carriers operating out of that field merged with a certain airline (Bonanza) in 1968. (The headquarters of Bonanza were originally in Las Vegas, relocated to Phoenix AZ in 1966)

 

[heartanium]

Throwing out the possibility of Anna Sylvia Just (MP133978)
She left Calgary, Canada in August 1966. Her bloodstained clothing and personal belongings were found in the desert outside of Las Vegas on March 4, 1968. She had been an outpatient as a mental institution in Calgary before she left Canada. Her case is a weird one.

She had been known to be working in Los Angeles and had also been receving treatment there. Her being Canadian could explain the British made bathrobe on this Doe since alot of British goods were being sold in Canada at the time.

 

[kforbes862]

It's desert and if it is mostly sand it may not be that hard to dig, but time consuming none the less.

 

[LaborDayRN]

Link me the map point please? @othram case for you! However I'll have my say: I think it could be a murder, in 1993 a film was released (The Vanishing) with Sandra Bullock and Kiefer Sutherland where a girl (Bullock) was kidnapped, put to sleep and buried in a coffin buried by a mad professor (Jeff Bridges); and Sutherland looked for her throughout the film and then discovered the bitter truth...I think there are many crazy people around the world, so this could have happened; I know perfectly well that a movie is not reality, but it could be reality some times.

sadly I'm not very tech savvy. I'm not quite sure how to do that.
I'm west of the area and remember reading a news paper article about it when I was young.

 

[madamx]

So the case of Patricia Weeks is another incredibly unusual case with Patricia being the first wife of Robert Weeks, convicted of her 1968 murder (he was also convicted of another woman's murder, he'd dated the woman for a period). They never found the bodies. In this case with this Jane Doe, the decedent was in homemade coffin/casket, care taken in its construction, I believe made of plywood, top painted red. Inside, the remains were mummified, the woman had bobby pins in her hair and was wearing pajamas, LE thought it was a domestic. Brocade pillow and a paper bag over decedent's head. Quilts found with her, she'd been shot in the temple and the bullet went completely through/exited. She was wearing a British-made red and white check bathrobe. Patricia Weeks disappeared in April 1968, so this fits the time range. Height aligns, age aligns. Weight aligns. Both Patricia and the Jane Doe had children (there is a hysterectomy scar on this Jane Doe). I looked it up and the age range for hysterectomies in the 1960s includes significant proportion of women in their 30s, so this factor may also align. Hair color looks likely to align.

Based on what I can find about Robert Weeks, he worked his way through school, and one of his jobs was as a mortician. When he was married to Patricia, he operated a limousine service. (I've wondered if he didn't cultivate contacts there that resulted in the British made robe and his Libyan passport) At one point, he launched a construction business.

Weeks said he'd buried the bodies in the desert. REALLY wondering on that.

This is all very interesting

 

[madamx]

Throwing out the possibility of Anna Sylvia Just (MP133978)
She left Calgary, Canada in August 1966. Her bloodstained clothing and personal belongings were found in the desert outside of Las Vegas on March 4, 1968. She had been an outpatient as a mental institution in Calgary before she left Canada. Her case is a weird one.

She had been known to be working in Los Angeles and had also been receving treatment there. Her being Canadian could explain the British made bathrobe on this Doe since alot of British goods were being sold in Canada at the time.

It would be interesting to know if the bloody clothing they found in the desert also had British labels. I wonder if there is a mention of it anywhere.

 

[musicaljoke]

I couldn't find this case anywhere on the site so thought I would put it up- Doe Network Hot Case # 652. Let me know if its posted elsewhere.

The woman was shot in the head and buried in a coffin. She was dressed in her pajamas and hairnet and had a paper bag over her head. I'd almost think it was just a case of someone who didn't want to bury their relative in a graveyard or something from the description, except for the way she died.

The Doe Network:
1205UFCA
CASE NUMBER - 1205UFCA

Unidentified Female

• The victim was discovered on December 27, 1968 in Lancaster, Los Angeles County, California
• Estimated Date of Death: 3-12 months
• Cause of Death: Bullet to the temple

Vital Statistics

• Distinguishing Characteristics: Gray hair. Victim had a hysterectomy and had given birth to at least one child.
• Clothing: She was dressed in light colored nylon pajamas; there was a hairnet on her head.
• Personal Effects : An x-ray examination of her head revealed bobby pins.
• Fingerprints:Available

Case History
The victim was located in a wooden coffin buried in the ground in Lancaster, California on December 27, 1968.
The coffin was reddish-brown. The top had been glued and nailed down. Coffin painted after the nails put in. The victim was wrapped in two multi colored quilts. Her head was resting on a brocade pillow.There was a paper bag covering her head.
Her fingerprints were checked locally and with the FBI with negative results. Fingerprint check updated on 4/10/07.

Investigators
If you have any information about this case please contact:
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
Homicide Cold Case Unit
323-890-5500
Email
You may remain anonymous when submitting information.
Agency Case Number:
68-12438
NCIC Number:

Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case. Source Information:
Los Angeles County Homicide Cold Case Unit

Wouldn't it be wonderful if @othram could be called in to solve this case.