Identified! FL - Sumter Co, 'Little Miss Panasoffkee', WhtFem 17-24, 470UFFL, Feb 1971 (Maureen L. Minor Rowan)

[iamshadow21]

I also find it funny that because Cookies isotope signature showed nitrogen values that indicate she did not eat corn on a regular basis it ruled her out as being American. Not every American lives on cornbread, corndogs, tortillas, popcorn, cornflakes and cornsyrup all day long. It is heavily regional and also individual.
I am European and I like corn, so I guess my signature would show me as „American“.
Isotope analysis is too unreliable and also we do not know all local signatures worldwide and also the isotopes accumulate in every body at a different rate. And people travel, drink imported water and eat imported foods, even in the 1950s, even way before that many foods and beverages were harvested and made not super locally. Mineral water was sold allover, even in the 18th and 19th centuries, vegetables, meat, fish also often were traded from more far away places. Even in Roman times, oil, wine, tallow, salted fish, grains and meat were traded long distance and even vegetables were grown and transported over many kilometers and regions.

jmoo

And garum! Romans were mad for garum. There was probably as much international trade in garum as there was olive oil and wine.

MOO

 

[Friday Fan]

I also find it funny that because Cookies isotope signature showed nitrogen values that indicate she did not eat corn on a regular basis it ruled her out as being American. Not every American lives on cornbread, corndogs, tortillas, popcorn, cornflakes and cornsyrup all day long. It is heavily regional and also individual.
I am European and I like corn, so I guess my signature would show me as „American“.
Isotope analysis is too unreliable and also we do not know all local signatures worldwide and also the isotopes accumulate in every body at a different rate. And people travel, drink imported water and eat imported foods, even in the 1950s, even way before that many foods and beverages were harvested and made not super locally. Mineral water was sold allover, even in the 18th and 19th centuries, vegetables, meat, fish also often were traded from more far away places. Even in Roman times, oil, wine, tallow, salted fish, grains and meat were traded long distance and even vegetables were grown and transported over many kilometers and regions.

jmoo

I thought maybe the corn came from the fact that most of our cattle and poultry is fed corn, hence it would show up in beef, chicken and milk products. Corn is also used in many other products, such as cornstarch etc. That is what I thought they meant by "corn based diet".

I know cattle and poultry were cornfed in the 1950s. And cornstarch was in many products.
Canned fruit was widely consumed and it was packed in heavy corn syrup. (ugh)

European cattle was probably not cornfed in 1950-1970. And I doubt that corn additives were as widespread in Europe as they were here. At least that's what I was thinking....

Since 1970, US diets have higher amounts of corn products. Products such corn based snacks, Mexican food, popcorn, high fructose corn syrup are more widely consumed than 1950-1970, but I thought they knew that when they did the testing. A traditional 1950s diet of beef, milk and processed foods would still likely be considered "corn based". At least that's what I thought the "scientific minds" were thinking.


Maybe it's just junk science, who knows?


Here is a poster from 1918

 

[summergirl1]

It seems like financial things may have had something to do with the divorce and and also her murder. Divorces can set off financial tensions and maybe financial issues about the divorce were the last straw in this case (as in other cases). If she was living in the winter of 1971, she still hadn't moved out.

 

[Rhysiare]

I’m so glad to hear she finally got her name back. Her case was one of those that just stuck with me, much like Debra Jackson’s (aka Orangesocks) from back in 1979.

Now, I’d love for us to hear a bit more about Cookie. What type of person was she? I’m presuming she had some interest in fashion given that she was discovered in an outfit with a matching green palette & the seemingly tasteful gold-coloured accoutrements she paired it with.

 

[phantomstrider]

Im glad she has been identified so she wasn’t from Greece after all. This further shows how isotope testing is inaccurate.

 

[Susikatze]

I thought maybe the corn came from the fact that most of our cattle and poultry is fed corn, hence it would show up in beef, chicken and milk products. Corn is also used in many other products, such as cornstarch etc. That is what I thought they meant by "corn based diet".

I know cattle and poultry were cornfed in the 1950s. And cornstarch was in many products.
Canned fruit was widely consumed and it was packed in heavy corn syrup. (ugh)

European cattle was probably not cornfed in 1950-1970. And I doubt that corn additives were as widespread in Europe as they were here. At least that's what I was thinking....

Since 1970, US diets have higher amounts of corn products. Products such corn based snacks, Mexican food, popcorn, high fructose corn syrup are more widely consumed than 1950-1970, but I thought they knew that when they did the testing. A traditional 1950s diet of beef, milk and processed foods would still likely be considered "corn based". At least that's what I thought the "scientific minds" were thinking.


Maybe it's just junk science, who knows?


Here is a poster from 1918

No, the diet of the animals does as far as i know not usually affect the isotope signature of the human eating them. Corn based in this context means eating corn products.

 

[summergirl1]

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/150645718/maureen-lu-rowan

 

[Friday Fan]

No, the diet of the animals does as far as i know not usually affect the isotope signature of the human eating them. Corn based in this context means eating corn products.

OMG! That makes the results even lamer!!! LOL

 

[silvernblack]

I have no trust in the Isotope methodology..... after following this website for ages it seems to me that it makes folks go on more wild goose chases than not even having that noise.

 

[beubeubeu]

Now, I’d love for us to hear a bit more about Cookie. What type of person was she? I’m presuming she had some interest in fashion given that she was discovered in an outfit with a matching green palette & the seemingly tasteful gold-coloured accoutrements she paired it with.

Now as Im thinking about it...
Doesnt it seem kinda ridiculous to strongly consider that some rather poor young girl who just came from Europe was dressed this way?
Her outfit screamed "I managed to build up a nice wardrobe for myself, there is no randomness with my clothes".
So... unlikely a fresh European immigant or visitor. Cause that more likely than not would mean that she had some stable resources - either money (to buy, or, to the very least store and carry around not just some basic clothes but nice outfits) or family in the country.
Yet she wasnt reported missing as she should. Young mother travelling to USA from Europe and nobody was looking for her? Not likely. Young mother on a trip to visit family in US goes missing and nobody was looking for her? Not likely. Young mother who just moved to US to work and dressed so nicely? That more likely than not wouldnt be the kind of job that people tend to randomly drop to never show up again so there should be some concerned, surprised or even angry employer trying to locate her... yet there wasnt. There was not.

Handsight indeed is 20/20. She wore an outfit of an ellegant woman who has somewhat stable life and the most likely reason why such a woman wasnt reported as missing would be that people around her knew what happened to her and didnt wanted cops to look for her and find out.

Wasnt her outfit like the biggest clue?
Yet it kinda got overlooked and I bet that isotope results influenced the newest sketches. Cause the older ones looked pretty accurate, and on the newer... that woman definitely looked like a woman with Greek ancestry.

On the other hand... as I now looked at these newer sketches...
If her face wasnt so long on all of them resemblance would be stunning.
I shortened it in all three middle pic examples.

It breaks my heart and mind cause it was and still is so easy for the murderers to go away with it. So many, so scarily many cases where a woman who had no prior history of disappearing, no history of frequenting bars, hitchhiking, nothing like that, most often a young devoted mother goes missing and all what her murderer has to say is that she "ran away with some random dude she just met" and nobody is really questioning that out loud.
Instead of: waait a minute, it doesnt make sense...
Its: what? im shocked that she abandoned her kids like that, she must be totally different than she appeared to be.
And it seems to be a totally bulletproof story EVEN with women like that, not to mention some who didnt have anyone around that could tell what their habits were like and if "running away with a sailor" sounded like a possible scenario.
It hits me so hard cause these murderers not only rob these women from the life they could have, from the time they could spend with their children... theyre taking away their past too. Lying to convince any possible friends, parents, family members who dont know their fate and especially their kids that their victims werent who they appeared to be. That they didnt care. And not only "ran away with a dude they just met" but also never felt a need to call, visit, send a birthday gift, anything. Thats horrendous.

Not sure what I was expecting after wondering who she was and hoping that someday she will get her name back for years. It was obvious that she got robbed of her life and for that there will be no justice ever.

 

[beubeubeu]

She wore an outfit of an ellegant woman who has somewhat stable life and the most likely reason why such a woman wasnt reported as missing would be that people around her knew what happened to her and didnt wanted cops to look for her and find out.

By that I didnt meant that there was some grand scheme involving multiple people.
Just that its scarily often enough to have one evil person close that doesnt want cops to look for a missing person and find out what happened cause they are responsible and KNOW (really know) what happened. With the others lied to, possibly even brainwashed into thinking that they "know" what happened (but its just that ridiculous story that perp did whatever they could to make appear possible) with same outcome: not pushing through to report and investigate.

 

[Rhysiare]

Now as Im thinking about it...
Doesnt it seem kinda ridiculous to strongly consider that some rather poor young girl who just came from Europe was dressed this way?
Her outfit screamed "I managed to build up a nice wardrobe for myself, there is no randomness with my clothes".
So... unlikely a fresh European immigant or visitor. Cause that more likely than not would mean that she had some stable resources - either money (to buy, or, to the very least store and carry around not just some basic clothes but nice outfits) or family in the country.
Yet she wasnt reported missing as she should. Young mother travelling to USA from Europe and nobody was looking for her? Not likely. Young mother on a trip to visit family in US goes missing and nobody was looking for her? Not likely. Young mother who just moved to US to work and dressed so nicely? That more likely than not wouldnt be the kind of job that people tend to randomly drop to never show up again so there should be some concerned, surprised or even angry employer trying to locate her... yet there wasnt. There was not.

Handsight indeed is 20/20. She wore an outfit of an ellegant woman who has somewhat stable life and the most likely reason why such a woman wasnt reported as missing would be that people around her knew what happened to her and didnt wanted cops to look for her and find out.

Wasnt her outfit like the biggest clue?
Yet it kinda got overlooked and I bet that isotope results influenced the newest sketches. Cause the older ones looked pretty accurate, and on the newer... that woman definitely looked like a woman with Greek ancestry.

On the other hand... as I now looked at these newer sketches...
If her face wasnt so long on all of them resemblance would be stunning.
I shortened it in all three middle pic examples.

View attachment 624248

It breaks my heart and mind cause it was and still is so easy for the murderers to go away with it. So many, so scarily many cases where a woman who had no prior history of disappearing, no history of frequenting bars, hitchhiking, nothing like that, most often a young devoted mother goes missing and all what her murderer has to say is that she "ran away with some random dude she just met" and nobody is really questioning that out loud.
Instead of: waait a minute, it doesnt make sense...
Its: what? im shocked that she abandoned her kids like that, she must be totally different than she appeared to be.
And it seems to be a totally bulletproof story EVEN with women like that, not to mention some who didnt have anyone around that could tell what their habits were like and if "running away with a sailor" sounded like a possible scenario.
It hits me so hard cause these murderers not only rob these women from the life they could have, from the time they could spend with their children... theyre taking away their past too. Lying to convince any possible friends, parents, family members who dont know their fate and especially their kids that their victims werent who they appeared to be. That they didnt care. And not only "ran away with a dude they just met" but also never felt a need to call, visit, send a birthday gift, anything. Thats horrendous.

Not sure what I was expecting after wondering who she was and hoping that someday she will get her name back for years. It was obvious that she got robbed of her life and for that there will be no justice ever.

You’re absolutely right. The outfit should’ve been much more scrutinized by LE. It is completely not the kind of ensemble a fresh-off-the-boat so to speak gal would likely have.

Even if Cookie was young, that clothing and the jewelry she had on said two very clear things that, to our knowledge, LE never seemed to have brought up or did vaguely:

1. She was relatively well-off. Like you said, her outfit was something quite unlikely for a foreign worker in a blue-collar housekeeping work program to wear/own. So, queries should've focused on the Greek visiting worker theory much much less than they did. Hindsight is, as you’ve said, 20/20, still this avenue of investigation should’ve been much more obvious.

2. She was found with her jewelry still on her, meaning her murder was likely quite personal. The perpetrator wanted her dead more than they ever cared about her wealth/status. LE likely addressed this part, but I’ve not seen any original investigation info which focused on this aspect. If a murder is personal, then the number one thing you want to consider is who’d benefit most, even if the victim’s identity is unknown.

 

[Friday Fan]

Now as Im thinking about it...
Doesnt it seem kinda ridiculous to strongly consider that some rather poor young girl who just came from Europe was dressed this way?
Her outfit screamed "I managed to build up a nice wardrobe for myself, there is no randomness with my clothes".
So... unlikely a fresh European immigant or visitor. Cause that more likely than not would mean that she had some stable resources - either money (to buy, or, to the very least store and carry around not just some basic clothes but nice outfits) or family in the country.
Yet she wasnt reported missing as she should. Young mother travelling to USA from Europe and nobody was looking for her? Not likely. Young mother on a trip to visit family in US goes missing and nobody was looking for her? Not likely. Young mother who just moved to US to work and dressed so nicely? That more likely than not wouldnt be the kind of job that people tend to randomly drop to never show up again so there should be some concerned, surprised or even angry employer trying to locate her... yet there wasnt. There was not.

Handsight indeed is 20/20. She wore an outfit of an ellegant woman who has somewhat stable life and the most likely reason why such a woman wasnt reported as missing would be that people around her knew what happened to her and didnt wanted cops to look for her and find out.

Wasnt her outfit like the biggest clue?
Yet it kinda got overlooked and I bet that isotope results influenced the newest sketches. Cause the older ones looked pretty accurate, and on the newer... that woman definitely looked like a woman with Greek ancestry.

On the other hand... as I now looked at these newer sketches...
If her face wasnt so long on all of them resemblance would be stunning.
I shortened it in all three middle pic examples.

View attachment 624248

It breaks my heart and mind cause it was and still is so easy for the murderers to go away with it. So many, so scarily many cases where a woman who had no prior history of disappearing, no history of frequenting bars, hitchhiking, nothing like that, most often a young devoted mother goes missing and all what her murderer has to say is that she "ran away with some random dude she just met" and nobody is really questioning that out loud.
Instead of: waait a minute, it doesnt make sense...
Its: what? im shocked that she abandoned her kids like that, she must be totally different than she appeared to be.
And it seems to be a totally bulletproof story EVEN with women like that, not to mention some who didnt have anyone around that could tell what their habits were like and if "running away with a sailor" sounded like a possible scenario.
It hits me so hard cause these murderers not only rob these women from the life they could have, from the time they could spend with their children... theyre taking away their past too. Lying to convince any possible friends, parents, family members who dont know their fate and especially their kids that their victims werent who they appeared to be. That they didnt care. And not only "ran away with a dude they just met" but also never felt a need to call, visit, send a birthday gift, anything. Thats horrendous.

Not sure what I was expecting after wondering who she was and hoping that someday she will get her name back for years. It was obvious that she got robbed of her life and for that there will be no justice ever.

We also cannot forget the watch. Why would a visitor from Greece to the Tarpon Springs Greek Epiphany Festival wear a watch from Zayles???

(An aside why would someone travel from Greece to attend a festival in Tarpon Springs Florida? Wouldn't there be better festivals in Greece?)

But, then the story was changed to maybe she was an immigrant, which is different than a visitor

The whole thing was about "fitting the story to the isotopes".

 

[Spindlebrook]

We also cannot forget the watch. Why would a visitor from Greece to the Tarpon Springs Greek Epiphany Festival wear a watch from Zayles???

(An aside why would someone travel from Greece to attend a festival in Tarpon Springs Florida? Wouldn't there be better festivals in Greece?)

But, then the story was changed to maybe she was an immigrant, which is different than a visitor

The whole thing was about "fitting the story to the isotopes".

What’s most infuriating is that the husband was still alive at the time that they performed the isotope “analysis” in 2012.

He could have been held accountable. Instead they were looking for leads in Greece instead of their own backyard thanks to a “scientist” and his “readings”.

 

[Rhysiare]

What’s most infuriating is that the husband was still alive at the time that they performed the isotope “analysis” in 2012.

He could have been held accountable. Instead they were looking for leads in Greece instead of their own backyard thanks to a “scientist” and his “readings”.

I mean yes, but if she wasn’t reported missing, which she wasn’t, then he likely wasn’t ever on their radar in 2012.

They definitely dropped the ball with focusing so heavily on the isotope deal. When LE has an unidentified doe, especially one that has been unidentified a long time, I wish they’d do a large dragnet sweep about people who have just up & gone, regardless of if they’ve had a missing persons report ever filed.

Do like a big sweep of about 50 miles to start, sending flyers to any residences saying “have you lost contact with a loved one circa late 1970 to early 1971? If yes, and they match or are similar to (descriptors here), and if you haven’t known their whereabouts or wellbeing since that time, please contact (phone number, email here)”.

That way, it should hopefully entice people who were also told, like the kids in this case, that their mom supposedly ran off.

I think most kids, especially ones told that their parent supposedly left them at a young age, will at some point begin to wonder about their long-lost parent. Or that’s been my experience, for example, my cousin was raised away from anyone in our related family by his mom when he was 1-2 years old (I wasn’t even born yet). But, after 37 years, we ended up finding each other on Ancestry, because he’s been curious about his biological dad.

So I’m sure Cookie’s kids were still wondering about their mom even if they were told she had abandoned them/the family.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

I mean yes, but if she wasn’t reported missing, which she wasn’t, then he likely wasn’t ever on their radar in 2012.

They definitely dropped the ball with focusing so heavily on the isotope deal. When LE has an unidentified doe, especially one that has been unidentified a long time, I wish they’d do a large dragnet sweep about people who have just up & gone, regardless of if they’ve had a missing persons report ever filed.

Do like a big sweep of about 50 miles to start, sending flyers to any residences saying “have you lost contact with a loved one circa late 1970 to early 1971? If yes, and they match or are similar to (descriptors here), and if you haven’t known their whereabouts or wellbeing since that time, please contact (phone number, email here)”.

That way, it should hopefully entice people who were also told, like the kids in this case, that their mom supposedly ran off.

I think most kids, especially ones told that their parent supposedly left them at a young age, will at some point begin to wonder about their long-lost parent. Or that’s been my experience, for example, my cousin was raised away from anyone in our related family by his mom when he was 1-2 years old (I wasn’t even born yet). But, after 37 years, we ended up finding each other on Ancestry, because he’s been curious about his biological dad.

So I’m sure Cookie’s kids were still wondering about their mom even if they were told she had abandoned them/the family.

Though both of her parents did die within 10 years of her absense, WHY weren't they looking for her? They lived in the Jacksonville area at the time?

But my guess, over time, her kids spent more time with the father's side of the family so they were isolated to some degree.

of course this is imo......
but we just have this "more enlightend" sense of discovery in 2025, than we did back then.... so we want "better answers"...
I hope her children speak out publicly eventually, but they have to do this with new knowledge of their father, right?

 

[summergirl1]

Her father did die in the Jacksonville area in 1973. Her mother eventually moved back to Maine sometime before her death in 1979 and is apparently buried in Maryland. Judging from the new article below, everyone simply believed her soon to be ex-husband when he said she ran off. In another article from when the discovery of her identity was announced, it was said a family member almost called after seeing her as a Doe on Unsolved Mysteries in 1992, but didn't due to being unsure. So by then, family members presumably wondered if she was deceased.

Florida investigators seek more on Enigma ties of victim of 55 year-old homicide and husband: HELP REQUESTED*

www.laniercountynewsonline.com

 

[Blurgle]

Now as Im thinking about it...
Doesnt it seem kinda ridiculous to strongly consider that some rather poor young girl who just came from Europe was dressed this way?
Her outfit screamed "I managed to build up a nice wardrobe for myself, there is no randomness with my clothes".
So... unlikely a fresh European immigant or visitor. Cause that more likely than not would mean that she had some stable resources - either money (to buy, or, to the very least store and carry around not just some basic clothes but nice outfits) or family in the country.
Yet she wasnt reported missing as she should. Young mother travelling to USA from Europe and nobody was looking for her? Not likely. Young mother on a trip to visit family in US goes missing and nobody was looking for her? Not likely. Young mother who just moved to US to work and dressed so nicely? That more likely than not wouldnt be the kind of job that people tend to randomly drop to never show up again so there should be some concerned, surprised or even angry employer trying to locate her... yet there wasnt. There was not.

Handsight indeed is 20/20. She wore an outfit of an ellegant woman who has somewhat stable life and the most likely reason why such a woman wasnt reported as missing would be that people around her knew what happened to her and didnt wanted cops to look for her and find out.

Wasnt her outfit like the biggest clue?
Yet it kinda got overlooked and I bet that isotope results influenced the newest sketches. Cause the older ones looked pretty accurate, and on the newer... that woman definitely looked like a woman with Greek ancestry.

On the other hand... as I now looked at these newer sketches...
If her face wasnt so long on all of them resemblance would be stunning.
I shortened it in all three middle pic examples.

View attachment 624248

It breaks my heart and mind cause it was and still is so easy for the murderers to go away with it. So many, so scarily many cases where a woman who had no prior history of disappearing, no history of frequenting bars, hitchhiking, nothing like that, most often a young devoted mother goes missing and all what her murderer has to say is that she "ran away with some random dude she just met" and nobody is really questioning that out loud.
Instead of: waait a minute, it doesnt make sense...
Its: what? im shocked that she abandoned her kids like that, she must be totally different than she appeared to be.
And it seems to be a totally bulletproof story EVEN with women like that, not to mention some who didnt have anyone around that could tell what their habits were like and if "running away with a sailor" sounded like a possible scenario.
It hits me so hard cause these murderers not only rob these women from the life they could have, from the time they could spend with their children... theyre taking away their past too. Lying to convince any possible friends, parents, family members who dont know their fate and especially their kids that their victims werent who they appeared to be. That they didnt care. And not only "ran away with a dude they just met" but also never felt a need to call, visit, send a birthday gift, anything. Thats horrendous.

Not sure what I was expecting after wondering who she was and hoping that someday she will get her name back for years. It was obvious that she got robbed of her life and for that there will be no justice ever.

All you needed was for a man to call you a cheating w***e and your entire past, your entire personality, everything you were could be instantly and permanently erased.

 

[DustinTerry]

Just wanted to let y’all know I was able to interview Maureen Rowan’s daughter who reached out to me. She’s looking for information on people who knew her parents. Little Miss Panasoffkee Maureen Rowan’s Daughter Speaks Out in Exclusive Interview

 

[MarziPanda]

Ann seems like such a lovely lady. She looks so much like her mother! So sad that she resented her mother for so many years and now feels so much guilt for that. And good to know that she didn't grow up with her father. Cookie seems to have dropped her children off with her parents to protect them from him. I wonder who the kids lived with after Cookie's parents died? I would assume one of their aunts.