Identified! FL - Palm Beach Co, WhtFem, UP16715, 22-44, in wooded area, two diamond rings, Dec'82 - Leona Jean Keller

[othram]

Sorry folks, we missed this one. Story is up now:

After four decades, "Jewelry Mom" (1982) is Identified

Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office Teams with Othram to Identify a 1982 Homicide Victim

dnasolves.com

 

[MagicCityMan]

My research in My Heritage shows that a Leona Jean Keller was born in Philadelphia on either 12/13/1944 or 12/13/1945. She had 2 marriages - the first to a man named Albert Goldstein, and the 2nd to Herbert Keller. She married Herbert Keller in Broward County, Florida in 1976. Her maiden name was Ritzius. She had 4 children. I am wondering whether this was domestic violence.

I live in Palm Beach County and have been interested in this case...

I have attached a marriage record from My Heritage. It is difficult to link data from My Heritage, as one must have an account.

I'm thinking husband # 2, if alive, is gonna have some splainin to do in my humblest of opinions.

 

[smarties]

I'm thinking husband # 2, if alive, is gonna have some splainin to do in my humblest of opinions.

I was also thinking it might be the husband or a boyfriend. Not reported missing, her jewellery wasn't missing....just a shot to the back of the head, no robbery. Where was the husband? Her husbands may be deceased but she had kids, so they might know something.
The location she was found in was also near a property owned by Christopher Wilder, serial killer. It's also possible she was one of his victims but we'll never know.

 

[Warwick1991]

I'm thinking husband # 2, if alive, is gonna have some splainin to do in my humblest of opinions.

The only Herbert Harry Keller I've been able to find a trace of is a man who died in Florida in 1985. I can't find any biographical information about him. Leona would have been his second marriage. I would guess that local law enforcement agencies have already looked into this.

Family members may have information. Perhaps he told a child that their mother just left, or something similar - what by now is a common type of attempt to deflect questions. Also, she does not seem to have been reported missing - also a red flag for domestic violence.

 

[MagicCityMan]

I was also thinking it might be the husband or a boyfriend. Not reported missing, her jewellery wasn't missing....just a shot to the back of the head, no robbery. Where was the husband? Her husbands may be deceased but she had kids, so they might know something.
The location she was found in was also near a property owned by Christopher Wilder, serial killer. It's also possible she was one of his victims but we'll never know.

I wasn't aware of the property owned by Wilder...that surely is interesting. Normally I would say the serial killer theory is a very low probability but....we have seen it before.

Identified! Thread 'FL - Broward Co., WhtFem UP1090, 46-60, in Everglades, Dec'98 - Eileen Truppner'

Jan 8, 2016

The Doe Network:

Case File 240UFFL

​

Sketches of Victim

Unidentified White Female

• Located on Saturday evening, December 19, 1998 in Everglades, Broward County...

• Romulus
• Replies: 40
• Forum: Identified!

• 

Considering Wilder was active and in this area at that time definitely lends some credibility to the possibility that he is responsible.

 

[smarties]

I wasn't aware of the property owned by Wilder...that surely is interesting. Normally I would say the serial killer theory is a very low probability but....we have seen it before.

Identified! Thread 'FL - Broward Co., WhtFem UP1090, 46-60, in Everglades, Dec'98 - Eileen Truppner'

Jan 8, 2016

The Doe Network:

Case File 240UFFL

​

Sketches of Victim

Unidentified White Female

• Located on Saturday evening, December 19, 1998 in Everglades, Broward County...

• Romulus
• Replies: 40
• Forum: Identified!

• 

Considering Wilder was active and in this area at that time definitely lends some credibility to the possibility that he is responsible.

Anything is possible, you can't rule anything in OR out. We know there are women he killed who were never found OR identified.
However, in this case I wonder if perhaps it was a case where Dad told the kids that Mommy left or whatever.

 

[Warwick1991]

I did some more research on Leona in My Heritage. I found her first marriage, which was in 1961. Her first husband's name was Alfred Goldstein, not Albert as I posted above.

 

[Warwick1991]

I just checked Broward County, Florida Clerk of Courts records, and Herbert Keller filed to dissolve his marriage to Leona in 1982 based on her abandonment of their home, and the final judgement was signed in February, 1983. The serial number begins with 82, meaning the dissolution was probably filed immediately after Leona was killed. The judgement also gives him her interest in their property; since she's deceased, she couldn't object. The name(s) of children are redacted.

Records Official Records Search

www.broward.org

Search using: Keller, Herbert

KELLER,HERBERT HARRY

To

KELLER,LEONA JEAN

02/10/1983

O

10665/649

83041434

$0.00

82-20811

Final Judgment

 

[Warwick1991]

More thoughts about Leona and her husband at the time of her death. With regard to Herbert Keller's filing to dissolve his marriage, it would be interesting to know the exact date that he first filed in 1982. The FDLE notes for Leona indicated that she was found on December 19, 1982, but was severely decomposed. It's uncertain as to the time of death/PMI, and the climate in Florida causes quick decomposition of a body. The dissolution of her marriage was final on February 10, 1983. There's no record of the initial filing for dissolution of the marriage in the Broward County database.

Much points to Herbert Keller as a suspect, IMO, although with what we have access to, we can't be certain.

He never reported her missing. She wasn't on any Florida missing persons database

His initial dissolution of marriage petition in 1982 was, IMO, probably close to the time of her murder, perhaps a few weeks afterward.

The final order gives him all of the property they held, and custody of their child. He knows, IMO, that she's deceased and can't object.

As far as his character is concerned, there is a great deal of litigation under his name, mainly civil disputes. This may indicate a very argumentative person. I have not found any criminal cases for Herbert in Broward County, as they are not searchable for older cases

 

[imstilla.grandma]

The remains were found by a real estate agent assessing land in Loxahatchee, Florida, in December 1982, according to a news release from Othram, a company that uses genetic genealogy to help solve cold cases. Loxahatchee is in Palm Beach County, Florida, north of Miami

A sketch of the woman, based on the remains.OTHRAM INC.
Alongside the remains were five pieces of jewelry, described by Othram as "a silver handcrafted heart-shaped pinky ring, a gold mariner's anchor necklace with a 180-degree twist, a wristwatch, a four marquis cut ring, and a diamond ring with 14K white gold setting." When the remains could not be identified, the woman was nicknamed "Jeweled Mom."

"Jeweled Mom" murder victim identified 43 years after body found by real estate agent in Florida

Florida investigators teamed up with a forensic genetic genealogy company to make a DNA profile that led to the identification.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[Tricia]

Tomorrow, Friday, Feb 14th, we will be upgrading our server and will be offline temporarily. Hopefully, it won't be for long. If you can't log in, please don't worry; keep trying. Click here for more info

 

[MagicCityMan]

I just checked Broward County, Florida Clerk of Courts records, and Herbert Keller filed to dissolve his marriage to Leona in 1982 based on her abandonment of their home, and the final judgement was signed in February, 1983. The serial number begins with 82, meaning the dissolution was probably filed immediately after Leona was killed. The judgement also gives him her interest in their property; since she's deceased, she couldn't object. The name(s) of children are redacted.

Records Official Records Search

www.broward.org

Search using: Keller, Herbert

KELLER,HERBERT HARRY

To

KELLER,LEONA JEAN

02/10/1983

O

10665/649

83041434

$0.00

82-20811

Final Judgment

Because is it of course perfectly normal to petition for a dissolution of marriage immediately after your wife vanishes into thin air. Sincerely hope this man is alive and an effort will be made by law enforcement to have a word with him...

 

[LucyOso]

RIP Leona.

​

 

[LucyOso]

Leona Jean Ritzius Keller (1944-1982) - Find a...

Leona was a beautiful soul. Survived by four children, her life was taken from her much too soon.

www.findagrave.com

Leona Jean Ritzius Keller
Leona was a beautiful soul. Survived by four children, her life was taken from her much too soon.

Interestingly this find a grave posting was created in 2023. Also saying she was cremated. Is this the story provided to people over the years? Confusing.

 

[DS2021]

Interestingly this find a grave posting was created in 2023

Im pretty sure if they created the grave for the jane doe, they could've updated it with her name once she was identified.

 

[LucyOso]

Im pretty sure if they created the grave for the jane doe, they could've updated it with her name once she was identified.

Fair enough-makes sense! I didn't see an updated history, but maybe it does not show that there!

 

[Melquiades]

The proximity of Christopher Wilder is interesting but Wilder almost exclusively attacked girls in their teens or early 20s. I don’t think a 37 y/o mother of 4 fits his victim profile very well.

The 2nd husband has to be the runaway leader in the Prime Suspect Sweepstakes here.