DC DC - Asian Female found in Rock Creek Park, 40-60, Feb '08

[SurrealisticSlumbers]

NamUs UP #871
Unidentified Asian Female

Date Found: February 21, 2008
Location Found: Washington, District of Columbia
Est. Date of Death: Hours prior that same day
State of Remains: Recognizable and fully intact
Cause of Death: Unknown

Physical Description

Estimated Age: 40-60 years old
Race: Asian
Gender: Female
Height: 5'0" (measured)
Weight: 138 lbs. (measured)
Hair Color: Her hair was colored/highlighted a reddish shade, but near the scalp it was growing in black. It was straight, cut in layers, and was about 5-6" in length.
Eye Color: Brown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Small, brown mole below the left side of her lower lip.

Identifiers

Dentals: Available
Fingerprints: Available
DNA: Samples submitted - Tests not complete

Clothing & Personal Items

Clothing: All manufacturer's labels had been removed from the clothing, except for the stamped size on her underwear, stating size 8. She wore a blue winter coat with a hood and front zipper, gray slacks, black turtleneck shirt, gray sweater, red shirt, black sleeveless shirt, beige 3/4 length knitted gloves, and black Basic Edition brand lace-up boots (size 8 1/2).

Jewelry: She wore a white metal rope chain with a white metal cross pendant; purple stone (amethyst?) in the center of the cross. White metal banded wristwatch with a white face, worn on her right wrist. A luggage tag was attached to a red canvas strap worn around her neck.

Additional Personal Items: Red plastic framed glasses. A small flashlight, lip balm, a small bag of nuts, and a small bag of wrapped hard candies were found in her jacket pockets.

Circumstances

Passers-by discovered the decedent, who was in a sitting position against a rock in a wooded area, within the confines of Rock Creek Park. She was appropriately dressed for the cold winter weather, with multiple layers of clothing (see above).

Address of Rock Creek Park: 16th & Aspen Streets NW, Washington, DC

Investigating Agency(s)

When calling, please reference Case # 08-0421.

Agency Name: DC State Medical Examiner's Office
Contact Person: Jennifer Love
Phone Number: (202) 698-9000

Links:

Doe Network: http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1315ufdc.html
NamUs: https://identifyus.org/cases/871

WARNING - Postmortem picture at the NamUs link.

 

[SurrealisticSlumbers]

The remains of Chandra Levy were also found in Rock Creek Park. People have been assaulted in this park.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/11/AR2011021102621.html

 

[sluethermac]

Curious as to who removed all the labels and brand on the clothing.

 

[WesternArtist]

Curious as to who removed all the labels and brand on the clothing.

I can’t remember for sure which ones but some outlet/discount/clearance type clothing stores sell clothing with the labels cut out.

 

[Paradise]

I have a feeling she’s at the higher end of the age range, I used to work in a nursing home that had a unit dedicated to Korean patients and I would often be surprised at their ages. They often looked much younger than they really were. Something about her strikes me as being in her 60’s-70’s.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Gardener1850]

A couple longshots:

Adela Feliciano Gaspar: https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/27588/

She is the wrong race and there is only one photo of her and it is not a good straight on photo, however, she has a mole in about the same location as UID (hard to see in photo but described in profile) and a similarly-shaped nose. Missing since 2000 at age 35, but 8 years later would be in the right age range.

Delfina Esiquio: https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/3866/

Also the wrong race and no visible mole, however there is a light spot under her lip in about the same place as the UID's mole. Perhaps the mole is covered with makeup? Although other face blemishes are visible in the picture so probably not. Delfina spoke a dialect called Misteco. She understands very little Spanish but no English.

If either of these looks good, please submit. I'm only suggesting here. TIA.

 

[rosesfromangels]

I have a feeling she’s at the higher end of the age range, I used to work in a nursing home that had a unit dedicated to Korean patients and I would often be surprised at their ages. They often looked much younger than they really were. Something about her strikes me as being in her 60’s-70’s.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Agree. She looks 60-70 to me, and I bet this was natural causes. I must say that is one of the more peaceful looking post mortem pics I’ve seen. I hope her transition was as peaceful as her face indicates.

 

[SurrealisticSlumbers]

I, too, am inclined to think it was a simple heart attack or something. It seems she was well-nourished, had all her teeth, appropriately clothed given the weather, and most likely not an indigent or homeless person. That being said, such a woman has to have family members out there who are wondering what happened to their mother or grandmother. Although, as I've seen with other cases (such as that of Angelica Castillo), people who are undocumented or who live in a different country from a missing relative may not know how to properly contact the U.S. authorities and file a missing person report. Or, may actually fear doing so if they are undocumented.

D.C. is a truly international enclave. You have people who've resided there since birth, people temporarily living there for work or traveling there for business, and those just passing through along the I-95 corridor. Both born-and-bred American citizens who call the city their home, as well as foreign nationals. Those from all walks of life, and nearly every nationality and ethnicity known to man. Who knows, this woman could have simply been a tourist spending some time in our nation's capital, seeing the major sights (luggage tag strongly suggests this, even though there was no name listed). Went on a nature walk, started feeling strange, leaned against the rock to catch her breath, and passed away. Family may not have known exactly where she was staying, or may have been out of touch with her in the months prior to her passing. This lady may not have been aware of any health problems, and/or had some kind of undiagnosed condition that didn't bother her too much to get it checked out.

No wedding ring, so probably unmarried. Hmm.

 

[Paradise]

I wonder if the nuts/candy were like those given out on a plane?

 

[SurrealisticSlumbers]

I wonder if the nuts/candy were like those given out on a plane?

I'm curious about that, too.

No evidence of foul play here. But there's still the issue of the luggage tag (w/ no identification on it?) and the removal of all labels on her clothing.

It seems that she was some kind of traveler, not resident, in the area and that she either had luggage and identification elsewhere (a hotel?) or her identification (little card in the luggage tag holder) was removed. Why it may have been removed, I have no clue.

I mean, lack of any purse or wallet is another thing that strikes me as odd. Even if she wasn't driving, she would have needed some cash or credit card on her to do things like ride the metro and pay for a hotel, et cetera.

 

[RosalindaA]

I'd agree, from working with quite a few Oriental colleagues over the years, they always looked significantly younger than they were. I had a Fillipina friend who was 60 and had no grey at all and didn't dye her hair ever. She looked about 45, if that. All of them were very fastidious. I know a few people who routinely always cut labels off as they just don't like them.

I know there was a watch and necklace left but I wonder if these were discounted as of little value by someone who potentially stole items like a wallet or wedding/engagement ring from the body. I've never heard of luggage tags being worn round the neck? Would that be a holder for a transport ticket or a ticket for luggage that the lady had left somewhere eg in a hotel? As she looks peaceful and no obvious signs of violence perhaps someone earlier found her deceased and took this, hoping that they could then retrieve her luggage with the ticket and ID? I don't know what your rules are over there and how strict hotels are at handing over items? I wonder if the police fingerprinted this tag.

Equally, she may have been threatened into handing these items over by someone who saw an easy victim, without any obvious signs of foul play being apparent, they left and she sat down trying to recover from the shock and had some sort of cardiac event brought on by stress. And why couldn't they find a cause of death? Doesn't sound like an awful lot was done to find out what happened to her? Seems like Rock Creek park wasn't a good place to die if you wanted a half decent investigation into your death. And yes, I am being a bit judgemental here but the amount of time it took this force to find Chandra Levy when they knew this park was likely the last place she went is just unbelievable.

 

[SurrealisticSlumbers]

Doesn't sound like an awful lot was done to find out what happened to her? Seems like Rock Creek park wasn't a good place to die if you wanted a half decent investigation into your death. And yes, I am being a bit judgemental here but the amount of time it took this force to find Chandra Levy when they knew this park was likely the last place she went is just unbelievable.

I know, right? Makes the DC police look pretty inept. Thank you for your comments, Rosalinda.

 

[Melt71]

UP871 has two ruleouts