CA CA - Nipton, WhtFem 18-25, 778UFCA, GSW, in mine shaft, May'76

[carbuff]

Thanks Al Ka for your posts and refreshing everything.
I don't have any image in my head of how a mineshaft would look like, but it seems pretty deep for a family to go in....really amazing that she was found in this desolated place, that deep and covered with trash.....almost to coincidental imo.

It's pretty common for families in the western US to go into mine shafts--prospecting, looking for minerals (particularly crystals) or just exploring for fun. Some people really enjoy poking around in the dark. My family was never one to go into the shafts but we liked to visit mines and abandoned homesteads just to look around and feel the history.

I found a blog post from a guy who visited another mine in the Nipton area. This isn't the one our Jane Doe was found in, but it gives an idea of what the land in that area is like: http://kensphotogallery.blogspot.com/2015/05/lucy-gray-mine.html

This is a different mine in the area, with some pictures of what the shaft and levels look like.

Note that there are dozens if not hundreds of shafts riddling the desert, some of them dating back to the Spanish silver mining, others as recent as a couple of years with the new uranium rush. Some of them have been closed off with safety bars, as the two in the photos have, but others are barely visible. You have to be careful hiking in an area like that because a hole be in front of you hidden by sagebrush or rock and you don't see it until you're about to step in it.

 

[Bit of hope]

It's pretty common for families in the western US to go into mine shafts--prospecting, looking for minerals (particularly crystals) or just exploring for fun. Some people really enjoy poking around in the dark. My family was never one to go into the shafts but we liked to visit mines and abandoned homesteads just to look around and feel the history.

I found a blog post from a guy who visited another mine in the Nipton area. This isn't the one our Jane Doe was found in, but it gives an idea of what the land in that area is like: http://kensphotogallery.blogspot.com/2015/05/lucy-gray-mine.html

This is a different mine in the area, with some pictures of what the shaft and levels look like.

Note that there are dozens if not hundreds of shafts riddling the desert, some of them dating back to the Spanish silver mining, others as recent as a couple of years with the new uranium rush. Some of them have been closed off with safety bars, as the two in the photos have, but others are barely visible. You have to be careful hiking in an area like that because a hole be in front of you hidden by sagebrush or rock and you don't see it until you're about to step in it.

Thanks....really brutal nature...the wild wild west as I imagine it

 

[madamx]

bump

 

[Bit of hope]

What about Barbara Ray Martin?

Missing In America

She would be a little older (born in 1940) but something in her face makes me think of Nipton Jane Doe. Lips and teeth. This woman had a child...is there anything known about previous birth for Nipton Jane Doe? Sorry, if I missed it.

 

[madamx]

What about Barbara Ray Martin?

Missing In America

She would be a little older (born in 1940) but something in her face makes me think of Nipton Jane Doe. Lips and teeth. This woman had a child...is there anything known about previous birth for Nipton Jane Doe? Sorry, if I missed it.

You know BitofHopeI really do see the resemblance it's pretty strong too. Maybe Jane Doe was actually older? I don't tend to be so strict on ages at this point.

 

[cvaldez1975]

I believe she had no children.

 

[reasonableguess]

Looks pretty good to me.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

Reviewing this case, two things strike me which haven't been mentioned so far.

1. We've looked at the possibility that this was a domestic murder, but no wedding ring was mentioned as being found on the body, nor was there any mention that the ring finger showed evidence of a ring being removed. The PM details also indicate that there was no evidence that she had ever been pregnant.

We know that at this time people married and started families much younger than they do now, so do we think the above information makes it more or less likely that this was a domestic killing?

I'd like some clarity on whether there was (1) a wedding ring that hasn't been listed in the particulars or (2) evidence that one had been removed from the body.

2. She was shot in the back with a shotgun. Do we think that a shotgun is a likely weapon to use in a domestic murder? It's a heavy and unwieldy weapon to grab on the spur of the moment, and typically domestic murders of women involve manual strangulation or some other close up means such as BFT to the head. A previous poster suggested she might have been running from her killer, which sounds very plausible.

I'm puzzled somewhat by a shotgun being used since it seems to this Brit an unlikely weapon to be kept in the desert SW. In the UK they're used for small game (sport) shooting and by farmers for seeing off foxes and marauding domestic dogs from livestock. They used to be used by criminals, usually sawn off, before the fall of the Iron Curtain brought an influx of other firearms to the UK after 1990. Criminals wouldn't be seen dead with one today. So how common were they in the desert SW 40 or 50 years ago and what were they used for?

 

[silverjug]

Reviewing this case, two things strike me which haven't been mentioned so far.

1. We've looked at the possibility that this was a domestic murder, but no wedding ring was mentioned as being found on the body, nor was there any mention that the ring finger showed evidence of a ring being removed. The PM details also indicate that there was no evidence that she had ever been pregnant.

We know that at this time people married and started families much younger than they do now, so do we think the above information makes it more or less likely that this was a domestic killing?

I'd like some clarity on whether there was (1) a wedding ring that hasn't been listed in the particulars or (2) evidence that one had been removed from the body.

2. She was shot in the back with a shotgun. Do we think that a shotgun is a likely weapon to use in a domestic murder? It's a heavy and unwieldy weapon to grab on the spur of the moment, and typically domestic murders of women involve manual strangulation or some other close up means such as BFT to the head. A previous poster suggested she might have been running from her killer, which sounds very plausible.

I'm puzzled somewhat by a shotgun being used since it seems to this Brit an unlikely weapon to be kept in the desert SW. In the UK they're used for small game (sport) shooting and by farmers for seeing off foxes and marauding domestic dogs from livestock. They used to be used by criminals, usually sawn off, before the fall of the Iron Curtain brought an influx of other firearms to the UK after 1990. Criminals wouldn't be seen dead with one today. So how common were they in the desert SW 40 or 50 years ago and what were they used for?

Sorry to put a spanner in the works, I have been married over 46 years and have never worn a wedding ring, neither have a few of my friends. Not that pertinent but something to keep in mind.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

Sorry to put a spanner in the works, I have been married over 46 years and have never worn a wedding ring, neither have a few of my friends. Not that pertinent but something to keep in mind.

Was that a US-wide thing or regional? If regional it could be a clue in itself.

I don't remember women getting married and not using a ring in the UK at the time. No doubt it happened, but many women married with a non-gold or non-traditional ring if finances were tight.

 

[silverjug]

Was that a US-wide thing or regional? If regional it could be a clue in itself.

I don't remember women getting married and not using a ring in the UK at the time. No doubt it happened, but many women married with a non-gold or non-traditional ring if finances were tight.

Well, I was married in Uk in 1972, had a ring and engagement ring, never wore either, nor did 5 of my friends.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

Well, I was married in Uk in 1972, had a ring and engagement ring, never wore either, nor did 5 of my friends.

That's interesting as I've not really heard of that in the UK - certainly at that time.

 

[cvaldez1975]

Reviewing this case, two things strike me which haven't been mentioned so far.

1. We've looked at the possibility that this was a domestic murder, but no wedding ring was mentioned as being found on the body, nor was there any mention that the ring finger showed evidence of a ring being removed. The PM details also indicate that there was no evidence that she had ever been pregnant.

We know that at this time people married and started families much younger than they do now, so do we think the above information makes it more or less likely that this was a domestic killing?

I'd like some clarity on whether there was (1) a wedding ring that hasn't been listed in the particulars or (2) evidence that one had been removed from the body.

2. She was shot in the back with a shotgun. Do we think that a shotgun is a likely weapon to use in a domestic murder? It's a heavy and unwieldy weapon to grab on the spur of the moment, and typically domestic murders of women involve manual strangulation or some other close up means such as BFT to the head. A previous poster suggested she might have been running from her killer, which sounds very plausible.

I'm puzzled somewhat by a shotgun being used since it seems to this Brit an unlikely weapon to be kept in the desert SW. In the UK they're used for small game (sport) shooting and by farmers for seeing off foxes and marauding domestic dogs from livestock. They used to be used by criminals, usually sawn off, before the fall of the Iron Curtain brought an influx of other firearms to the UK after 1990. Criminals wouldn't be seen dead with one today. So how common were they in the desert SW 40 or 50 years ago and what were they used for?

I would think a shotgun would be very common in the desert SW in the 70's. there are coyotes and many wild animals out there.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

I would think a shotgun would be very common in the desert SW in the 70's. there are coyotes and many wild animals out there.

But wouldn't a rifle be more useful if you could acquire one? Shotguns are fine for taking out small animals (eg rabbits, rats and weasels) or birds at distance but for anything larger you have to be pretty close.

 

[ilovepierre]

What about Barbara Ray Martin?

Missing In America

She would be a little older (born in 1940) but something in her face makes me think of Nipton Jane Doe. Lips and teeth. This woman had a child...is there anything known about previous birth for Nipton Jane Doe? Sorry, if I missed it.

IIRC, she 'probably' never had children.

 

[cvaldez1975]

But wouldn't a rifle be more useful if you could acquire one? Shotguns are fine for taking out small animals (eg rabbits, rats and weasels) or birds at distance but for anything larger you have to be pretty close.

I think maybe ppl that were less educated about firearms obtained them by being passed on or for cheap for home protection.

 

[carbuff]

In the desert, most of the things you'd need a firearm for would be smallish varmints like skunks, coyotes, snakes, etc. Shotguns are very useful for that sort of thing.

 

[AimeeML]

First off, I love this community. I just stumbled upon this site and thread tonight! I was listening to a pod cast about a serial killer named Bill Bradford today. He's thought to have been active from the late 1960's through the early 1980's. The shows website mentioned three Jane Does that he may have murdered and the links to their NameUS pages were shown.

Upon searching the Doe Network I wondered if ME/C Case 47426 Jane Doe found in Nipton CA could be Missing Person Beatrice Lozano-Rodriguez.

I started trying to find better pictures of Beatrice and found this thread and saw that some of you have wondered the same. The latest update I saw is that you have submitted her as a possible match. Do we know if she has been ruled out? I'm not familiar with how to check, but I'd love to learn.

Bradford's MO was to approach women, tell them he was a photographer and offer to take pictures of them for free. He would then drive them out to the dessert, rape and murder them. The police found a collection of photographs and have made public some of the headshots. The podcasts website also had images of the women, showing what they were wearing. One has on a swimsuit bottom and T-shirt on. Another has an outfit I would describe as a body suit on.

 

[Finders]

First off, I love this community. I just stumbled upon this site and thread tonight! I was listening to a pod cast about a serial killer named Bill Bradford today. He's thought to have been active from the late 1960's through the early 1980's. The shows website mentioned three Jane Does that he may have murdered and the links to their NameUS pages were shown.

Upon searching the Doe Network I wondered if ME/C Case 47426 Jane Doe found in Nipton CA could be Missing Person Beatrice Lozano-Rodriguez.

I started trying to find better pictures of Beatrice and found this thread and saw that some of you have wondered the same. The latest update I saw is that you have submitted her as a possible match. Do we know if she has been ruled out? I'm not familiar with how to check, but I'd love to learn.

Bradford's MO was to approach women, tell them he was a photographer and offer to take pictures of them for free. He would then drive them out to the dessert, rape and murder them. The police found a collection of photographs and have made public some of the headshots. The podcasts website also had images of the women, showing what they were wearing. One has on a swimsuit bottom and T-shirt on. Another has an outfit I would describe as a body suit on.

Welcome to WS! Good first post!!

 

[carbuff]

Beatrice hasn't been added to the Namus ruleouts yet: https://www.namus.gov/UnidentifiedPersons/Case#/2503