CA CA - San Jose, BlkFem, 40-50, UP109346, found by railroad tracks near Hwy 101, St Christopher and Virgin Mary metal jewelry, Jul'81 (Vivian Moss)

[cvaldez1975]

Her name was Vivian Moss and she did end up being from Oakland.

https://da.santaclaracounty.gov/cold-case-murder-victim-identified-grandmother-da-officials-hoping-id-leads-suspect-0

 

[cvaldez1975]

Her name was Vivian Moss and she did end up being from Oakland.

https://da.santaclaracounty.gov/cold-case-murder-victim-identified-grandmother-da-officials-hoping-id-leads-suspect-0

(I thought she may have been from Oakland or somewhere north of San Jose due to her proximity to the then Bayshore freeway and lack of an ID)

 

[EmiliaRT007]

(I thought she may have been from Oakland or somewhere north of San Jose due to her proximity to the then Bayshore freeway and lack of an ID)

It’s been a while since I checked back on this case. I’m glad to hear she has her name back. RIP Vivian.

 

[dotr]

May 27, 2025
Forty-four years ago, a dismembered woman’s torso and two religious pendants were found dumped in a field in San Jose. A team of cold case investigators used genealogy technology to uncover the woman’s identity. The slain woman was Vivian Moss, a 54-year-old grandmother and member of Mt. Zion Spiritual Church, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Cold Case Unit announced Tuesday. Moss’ torso was found in an empty field along Mabury Road on July 11, 1981. The killer had dismembered her body, investigators said. She had no identification with her, but San Jose Police Department officers found two religious medallion pendants near the homicide victim’s partial remains.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

"We wanted to put a name to the face," Baker said.

This is an artificial-intelligence generated image of Vivian Moss, who was murdered in 1981, in San Jose, Calif.

Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office
He said they partnered with forensic genealogists at Parabon NanoLabs, another company, EWU Media, helped fund the work.

Woman found dismembered in CA field identified; authorities still looking for cold case suspect

More than 40 years ago, police found a dismembered torso of a woman, killed by multiple stab wounds. Now the district attorney has identified her.

abc7.com

In 2024, they let investigators know that they had the name of a potential granddaughter.

"So our investigators at the cold case unit reached out to this granddaughter, and she told us, 'Yeah, in 1981 I was supposed to spend the night at my grandma's house, and she never showed up to pick me up, and I never saw her again,'" said Baker

 

[RyGuy611]

Not quite sure why they decided to create an AI generated image of her from real-life photographs when they could have released the actual photos. Feel like it would have been easier.

 

[cvaldez1975]

Not quite sure why they decided to create an AI generated image of her from real-life photographs when they could have released the actual photos. Feel like it would have been easier.

True. Maybe the photo was old and in poor condition

 

[dotr]

Cold Case Unit Hopes ID of 1981 Murder Victim Leads to Suspect

Using genealogy, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Cold Case Unit has identified a woman whose dismembered torso and religious pendants were found in a San Jose field in 1981.

www.forensicmag.com

'' In 2024, DA investigators located and interviewed Vivian Moss’ granddaughter. She told investigators that when she was a young girl in the early 1980s, Vivian was supposed to pick her up to stay the night at her home. Vivian didn’t show and she never saw her grandmother again.''

''Moss was a follower of the Mt. Zion Spiritual Church. Family members say she was close to the church’s leader, Louis H. Narcisse, who died in 1989. She may have worked at an elementary school in Oakland at some point before she disappeared.

If anyone has any information about Moss or her murder, please call (408) 792-2466 or email [email protected].''