FL FL - Sanibel Island, WhtFem, 30-50, #UP5316, floating in the Gulf, Oct 1995

[Gardener1850]

Cold case update? New technology could help crack unidentified body found off Pine Island

July 4, 2019

New technology could help investigators identify a woman whose body was found off Pine Island nearly 25 years ago.

The woman, believed to be in her mid-40s, has remained unidentified since being pulled from the water near York Island, just south of St. James City.

No clues were found on the body, the closest identifying object was a red smock labeled Charleston SC V.A.Hospital.

The Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers, part of the Lee County Sheriff's Office, said in a press release issued Thursday that "there were no matches with any Charleston area hospital nor any VA medical facilities.

While there is a Department of Veterans Affairs medical center in Charleston, Virginia, its name was changed to the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center in 1991, four years before the body was found.

Investigators believe the woman was in her late 30s or early 40s, about 5-foot two-inches in height, had sustained fractures and surgeries in an ankle and her skull.

Using high-technology equipment, forensic anthropologists have created an electronic rendering of what the woman may have looked like when she went into the water. That image has been distributed by the Crimestoppers operation to the public for possible tips.

"Jane Doe," as the woman is referenced by the sheriff's office, was found days after a hurricane passed through the Gulf of Mexico.

The woman's body was pulled from the water off Pine Island on Oct. 7, 1995, three days after Hurricane Opal, a category 4 storm, made landfall in the northern Gulf of Mexico.

Read More: Cold case update? New technology could help crack unidentified body found off Pine Island

 

[YaYa_521]

A little summary from the NamUs profile and a few of your messages above.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Suggested (but not yet listed as exclusions) in earlier posts:
Mary Elizabeth Sloan – The Charley Project
Lurline Michelle Bergeron – The Charley Project
Maria Oliveras Negron – The Charley Project
Tiffany Louise Sessions – The Charley Project


NamUs #UP5316 Exclusions:
Missing Person / NamUs # MP10812
Brenda Snouffer,
Female, White / Caucasian
Date of Last ContactApril 21, 1995
StateFL
CountyPinellas

Missing Person / NamUs # MP11207
Diana Richardson,
Female, White / Caucasian
Date of Last ContactOctober 11, 1995
StateFL
CountySt. Johns

Missing Person / NamUs # MP29884
Christine Flahive,
Female, White / Caucasian
Date of Last ContactJanuary 4, 1995
StateFL
CountyCharlotte

Missing Person / NamUs # MP1726
Billie Hall,
Female, White / Caucasian
Date of Last ContactFebruary 28, 1985
StateMD
CountyHoward

Missing Person / NamUs # MP15519
Eryn McClary,
Female, White / Caucasian
Date of Last ContactAugust 4, 1995
StateOR
CountyLane

Missing Person / NamUs # MP5563
Patricia Leventhal,
Female, White / Caucasian
Date of Last ContactAugust 21, 1991
StateFL
CountyCollier

Missing Person / NamUs # MP16945
Colleen Voitik McHugh,
Female, White / Caucasian
Date of Last ContactApril 17, 1994
StateIL
CountyWill

Missing Person / NamUs # MP12567
Nancy Willis,
Female, White / Caucasian
Date of Last ContactDecember 23, 1986
StateTN
CountyBradley


Credits (pics removed)

Mary Elizabeth Sloan – The Charley Project
44 year old nurse from Ohio. Her car was later found at a GreyHound Bus Station in West Virginia.
Thoughts? I would imagine a C-Section would be mentioned in the Doe report...

Lurline Michelle Bergeron – The Charley Project
She would have only been 19, but I noticed that she has a surgical scar on the left of her head...

Maria Oliveras Negron – The Charley Project

Not any details about scars or surgeries, but take a look at her description... 5'0", 115 lbs, blonde, 51 years old, and missing from South Florida. Shes not on Exlusions, as far as I can tell (or NamUs for that matter).

Last seen Oct. 20th, 17 days before the Doe was found.

I'm posting this also because, although the new recon is wonderful, having a good look at her teeth is maybe also helpful.

Just going to throw this in. Not very likely, but somehow....chipped bottom tooth, all kinds of operations.....When she smiled, the right eye closed a little more than the left....Tiffany Louise Sessions, missing since 1989 from Gainesville, Florida? The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Tiffany Louise Sessions – The Charley Project

 

[YaYa_521]

What I collected on this case.

- Found in Lee County, Florida October 07, 1995 ,
- 30 to 50 year old,
- white female
- probable year of death 1995.
- Female found floating in Pine Island Sound, Approx. 50 feet from York island. The victim was located in the waters near Pine Island on October 7, 1995, Tucked in a sleeping bag and placed inside a sail bag, the body was discovered near the York Island, a tiny island south of St. James City off Pine Island, after a strong storm.
- Dark blond with red tinge (blond strawberry).
- Eye color unknown
- 61 height estimated, weight unknown. Approximate Height and Weight: 5'1-5'3"; 115 lbs.
- During life this woman had a left temporal craniotomy (operation where a flap is removed to get to the brain)
- Pott's fracture of right leg, that was surgically repaired with two orthopedic screws
- fracture of right arm, and fracture of left clavicle.
- Red or maroon scrub top "V" neck pullover. Lettering on the back was from Charleston S.C. V.A. Hospital, Size M.
- Right ear pierced x 2 left x 1.
- Might have been a smoker.
- Investigators with the Lee County, Fl., Sheriff's Office contacted officials at the Charleston South Carolina, V.A. (veterans affairs) Medical Center to find out if there were any records of similar surgeries performed on a woman. No such records were found.
- The left wrist had a small Timex watch, the band appears to be of nylon type material and has red stripes running the length of the band; yellow metal cameo type ring with a 2 mm round ivory colored stone; light weight bracelet

Ruled out (sorry can't recall the date)

Billie Jean Hall 1960 Florida

Patricia Leventhal 1959 Florida

Colleen Voitik McHugh 1963 Illinois

Nancy Willis 1961 Tennessee

Sorry for repeating info.

Thanks for this summary post!

 

[Ck45202]

How about Becky Jo Look The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Missing from Hallock Minnosota Missing- Oct 1 1995

Something that immediately stood out to me is that there was possible domestic violence between her and her boyfriend, and her boyfriend is believed to live in FL.
Becky Jo Look – The Charley Project

 

[Bit of hope]

How about Becky Jo Look The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Missing from Hallock Minnosota Missing- Oct 1 1995

Something that immediately stood out to me is that there was possible domestic violence between her and her boyfriend, and her boyfriend is believed to live in FL.
Becky Jo Look – The Charley Project

Thanks for joining us and welcome. Jane Doe doesn't seem to have a gap between the upper front teeth were Becky has. (a good identifier btw)

 

[Ck45202]

I forgot to add Becky Jo Look also says her right eye droops and is permanently dilated. And She has previously fractured her collarbone and shoulder.

 

[Joe Friday]

For those of you that are old enough to remember, wearing scrubs back in the late 80's and early 90's was a fad. Just like wearing jeans with holes in them is today.

Of course the place to easily get scrubs was a hospital and the theft of scrubs became a big problem back then.

She could have just been wearing the scrub top because that was in fashion back then and has nothing to do with her working in the medical field.

JMO

 

[Bit of hope]

For those of you that are old enough to remember, wearing scrubs back in the late 80's and early 90's was a fad. Just like wearing jeans with holes in them is today.

Of course the place to easily get scrubs was a hospital and the theft of scrubs became a big problem back then.

She could have just been wearing the scrub top because that was in fashion back then and has nothing to do with her working in the medical field.

JMO

The scrub top is still bothering me. Looked at a lot of pictures, can't found nothing that this was a rage back then. And if it was, would you wear one with a hospital logo....naaaaahhh I don't know. This is such a frustrating case. No recent news items. I think we should go back as far as 1990.

 

[Ginger21]

The scrub top is still bothering me. Looked at a lot of pictures, can't found nothing that this was a rage back then. And if it was, would you wear one with a hospital logo....naaaaahhh I don't know. This is such a frustrating case. No recent news items.

Did it say it had a hospital logo? If so I missed that. The scrubs could be related to a profession but not nursing. I work in housekeeping and it's common for us to wear scrubs because they're easier to move and clean in than 'normal' clothes.

 

[Bit of hope]

Did it say it had a hospital logo? If so I missed that. The scrubs could be related to a profession but not nursing. I work in housekeeping and it's common for us to wear scrubs because they're easier to move and clean in than 'normal' clothes.

The Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers, part of the Lee County Sheriff's Office, said in a press release issued Thursday that "there were no matches with any Charleston area hospital nor any VA medical facilities.

No clues were found on the body, the closest identifying object was a red smock labeled Charleston SC V.A.Hospital.

While there is a Department of Veterans Affairs medical center in Charleston, Virginia, its name was changed to the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center in 1991, four years before the body was found.

 

[Bit of hope]

As long we don't know what the cause of death was....Could it be an act of love....she dying, having lot's of pain, died, wanting a sailors grave, her last request, in the waters she loved? The words "tugged in" makes me associate with this.
Sounds strange...but it could be a possibility. Please don't be bold with me.

 

[Bit of hope]

I hope everybody is safe.....facing Dorian.

 

[Magnum P.E.]

The scrub top is still bothering me. Looked at a lot of pictures, can't found nothing that this was a rage back then. And if it was, would you wear one with a hospital logo....naaaaahhh I don't know. This is such a frustrating case. No recent news items. I think we should go back as far as 1990.

Yep, it was a style. I was at Pitt, and there were five hospitals around. A set of scrubs with a hospital logo was a prized possession. That was the most annoying fad besides the torn collar Flashdance look and glacier goggles, which made everyone look like a welder.

 

[canteloupe]

I thought I'd chime in here since I grew up close to Sanibel and have a parent who went to medical school at MUSC in late 1970s, where they regularly interned at this VA.

After some intergenerational brainstorming, I have some thoughts and questions:

1. Doe Network describes the scrubs as labeled on the back. This position indicates that it might not be a label (or embroidery), but rather an ink stamp, which is how hospital property is labeled. Patient gowns are a different garment.
2. Doctors and surgical staff are more likely than shift nurses to wear hospital-owned scrubs, which are laundered onsite...which can often make their way home (my pjs growing up).
3. The Charleston SC VA changed names in 1991. Let's roughly estimate rotation times for hospital-owned scrubs at 2 years. I'd add another year onto that to account for tighter budgets at VA hospitals.
4. As noted in this thread, the closest VA to Sanibel is Bay Pines, which is an easy trip (~5hrs) down the intercostal in a sailboat. You can take the gulf to save time, but at more peril.
5. In 1996, the VA established a traveling nurses program to compensate for regional staffing deficiencies and to support decentralized services (nursing homes).

So I think it's reasonable to suggest that Jane Doe, or her killer, lived in Charleston, SC ~1990-1992. In my experience, hospital-issued scrubs don't usually find their way to thrift stores because they are much thinner after repeat trips of industrial washers. I'd gamble that whoever owned the scrubs was surgical staff or a physician (there's no ER at the VA).

Based on the above, I'd like to know the following:

1. The size of the scrub top. Is it appropriate to her body? If not, maybe it's not hers.
2. If VA records can tell us how many nurses transferred from Charleston to Bay Pines or nearby VA-assisted nursing homes in 1996.
3. If not a nurse/surgical staff, then did any physicians move from Charleston to Bay Pines?
4. What kind of sail bag was found? How big was it?
5. Did any local sailboats change their port of origin from SC to the greater Tampa area during 1996?
6. How many times did the intercoastal bridge operators open for sailboats in the week preceding the body washing up?

I think the sailboat is the key here. For one, they are expensive. Bags for sails (if she was found in a sail pack) run north of $100 today.

I don't know what the average VA nurse/surgical staff salary was in 1996. But I did find a 1996 VA report that the average VA physician made $150,000. In today's dollars, that would be $245,000, which is a fantastic wage considering the VA covers malpractice and staffing costs (vs. group practice or independent physicians).

Of course, Dr. Sailboat might not be affiliated at all with Jane Doe...and might not be a doctor, at all.

 

[canteloupe]

Edit ^^all the 1996s above should all be 1995. Missed my editing window!

Also I see now that the scrub top was a size medium. That’s a bit big for her estimated size, but not overly so, especially if she were bustier. Standard size for smaller-framed men, as well.

 

[Joe Friday]

The scrub top is still bothering me. Looked at a lot of pictures, can't found nothing that this was a rage back then. And if it was, would you wear one with a hospital logo....naaaaahhh I don't know. This is such a frustrating case. No recent news items. I think we should go back as far as 1990.

Work uniform turned fashion statement, medical scrubs worn with white sneakers brought hospital style to the street. Nurses’ surgical scrubs became a popular fashion under the influence of television dramas like St. Elsewhere and Quincy, M.E. The devotion to the shows inspired a desire to copy the lifestyle, much like Private Benjamin and M*S*H helped to launch military fashions, or Miami Vice popularized pastels.


Medical scrubs: Old Memories

 

[Bit of hope]

Work uniform turned fashion statement, medical scrubs worn with white sneakers brought hospital style to the street. Nurses’ surgical scrubs became a popular fashion under the influence of television dramas like St. Elsewhere and Quincy, M.E. The devotion to the shows inspired a desire to copy the lifestyle, much like Private Benjamin and M*S*H helped to launch military fashions, or Miami Vice popularized pastels.


Medical scrubs: Old Memories

Thanks for pointing this out. Handy site. As it seems scrubs were a "thing" in the 80's, so applying it to this case I don't see immediately a relation with her wearing scrubs as a fashion item. But everything is possible.

 

[Bit of hope]

I thought I'd chime in here since I grew up close to Sanibel and have a parent who went to medical school at MUSC in late 1970s, where they regularly interned at this VA.

After some intergenerational brainstorming, I have some thoughts and questions:

1. Doe Network describes the scrubs as labeled on the back. This position indicates that it might not be a label (or embroidery), but rather an ink stamp, which is how hospital property is labeled. Patient gowns are a different garment.
2. Doctors and surgical staff are more likely than shift nurses to wear hospital-owned scrubs, which are laundered onsite...which can often make their way home (my pjs growing up).
3. The Charleston SC VA changed names in 1991. Let's roughly estimate rotation times for hospital-owned scrubs at 2 years. I'd add another year onto that to account for tighter budgets at VA hospitals.
4. As noted in this thread, the closest VA to Sanibel is Bay Pines, which is an easy trip (~5hrs) down the intercostal in a sailboat. You can take the gulf to save time, but at more peril.
5. In 1996, the VA established a traveling nurses program to compensate for regional staffing deficiencies and to support decentralized services (nursing homes).

So I think it's reasonable to suggest that Jane Doe, or her killer, lived in Charleston, SC ~1990-1992. In my experience, hospital-issued scrubs don't usually find their way to thrift stores because they are much thinner after repeat trips of industrial washers. I'd gamble that whoever owned the scrubs was surgical staff or a physician (there's no ER at the VA).

Based on the above, I'd like to know the following:

1. The size of the scrub top. Is it appropriate to her body? If not, maybe it's not hers.
2. If VA records can tell us how many nurses transferred from Charleston to Bay Pines or nearby VA-assisted nursing homes in 1996.
3. If not a nurse/surgical staff, then did any physicians move from Charleston to Bay Pines?
4. What kind of sail bag was found? How big was it?
5. Did any local sailboats change their port of origin from SC to the greater Tampa area during 1996?
6. How many times did the intercoastal bridge operators open for sailboats in the week preceding the body washing up?

I think the sailboat is the key here. For one, they are expensive. Bags for sails (if she was found in a sail pack) run north of $100 today.

I don't know what the average VA nurse/surgical staff salary was in 1996. But I did find a 1996 VA report that the average VA physician made $150,000. In today's dollars, that would be $245,000, which is a fantastic wage considering the VA covers malpractice and staffing costs (vs. group practice or independent physicians).

Of course, Dr. Sailboat might not be affiliated at all with Jane Doe...and might not be a doctor, at all.

Hi, good to have you around and thank you for your insights.

 

[Bit of hope]

Just a few women I could somehow associate with this Jane Doe. Height is off....

charleyproject.org/case/yvonne-m-martinez
The Doe Network: Case File 2911DFCA
Kristina Sue Allen – The Charley Project

 

[BigKeyManatee]

Just saying:
Fugitive Sebring race car driver John Paul had a history of “disappearing” his lady friends off of sailboats into Florida’s waters in 1981 and 2000.
The Mysterious Disappearance of Colleen Wood - Unsolved Mysteries
History | Chalice Paul
Perhaps this unfortunate woman crossed his path in 1995?