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

[nhmemorymaker]

#UP14649, a case involving partial and dismembered skeletal remains from 2016 in Columbus, Ohio, was resolved in 2020 after they did oxygen isotope testing from bone that found the person was likely very specifically from Corbin, Kentucky, and then were able to match the victim to a known missing person who had moved from there to Ohio and confirm it after DNA testing using the parents who actually still lived there;

Human remains identified in Mercer County - Sidney Daily News

CELINA — Mercer County authorities have identified the human remains found near Coldwater Creek on Jan. 3, 2016. Mercer County Sheriff Jeff Grey held a news conference Tuesday to announce the bones belonged to Ryan R. Zimmerman, 22, of Columbus and formerly of Corbin, Kentucky. Zimmerman had...

www.sidneydailynews.com

Oxygen Isotopes Help ID 2016 Human Remains

In May 2017, the Sheriff’s Office requested ISO Forensics to pull oxygen isotopes from the remains to predict areas of the United States that the victim could be from.

www.forensicmag.com

Transition, Rejection, and Murder: A Miami Valley Murder Mystery

One of the Miami Valley's most bizarre murder mysteries began with a young man’s search for his sexual identity, and ended in transition, rejection, and murder.

www.whio.com

Ryan Zimmerman – The Charley Project

This is the only one I can think of where the isotope testing itself was the main driver behind a case resolution. Plenty of others have had correct predictions though. I think it is a useful tool when used with caution.

Wellll this was an interesting rabbit's hole (another horribly sad case)... and a helpful discussion of just how the isotope testing is /was used.

 

[branmuffin]

#UP14649, a case involving partial and dismembered skeletal remains from 2016 in Columbus, Ohio, was resolved in 2020 after they did oxygen isotope testing from bone that found the person was likely very specifically from Corbin, Kentucky, and then were able to match the victim to a known missing person who had moved from there to Ohio and confirm it after DNA testing using the parents who actually still lived there;

Human remains identified in Mercer County - Sidney Daily News

CELINA — Mercer County authorities have identified the human remains found near Coldwater Creek on Jan. 3, 2016. Mercer County Sheriff Jeff Grey held a news conference Tuesday to announce the bones belonged to Ryan R. Zimmerman, 22, of Columbus and formerly of Corbin, Kentucky. Zimmerman had...

www.sidneydailynews.com

Oxygen Isotopes Help ID 2016 Human Remains

In May 2017, the Sheriff’s Office requested ISO Forensics to pull oxygen isotopes from the remains to predict areas of the United States that the victim could be from.

www.forensicmag.com

Transition, Rejection, and Murder: A Miami Valley Murder Mystery

One of the Miami Valley's most bizarre murder mysteries began with a young man’s search for his sexual identity, and ended in transition, rejection, and murder.

www.whio.com

Ryan Zimmerman – The Charley Project

This is the only one I can think of where the isotope testing itself was the main driver behind a case resolution. Plenty of others have had correct predictions though. I think it is a useful tool when used with caution.

Overall, I think isotope testing is not accurate enough. Police used isotope testing on the woman 'Jennifer Fairgate' who died in a hotel room in Oslo Norway in 1995 to track her origins. We still don't know who she is and I think again, the isotope testing can derail an investigation where precious time is wasted trying to track down someone based on shaky scientific evidence. In Europe's case there are laws that restrict the use of DNA testing so their options are limited.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

#UP14649, a case involving partial and dismembered skeletal remains from 2016 in Columbus, Ohio, was resolved in 2020 after they did oxygen isotope testing from bone that found the person was likely very specifically from Corbin, Kentucky, and then were able to match the victim to a known missing person who had moved from there to Ohio and confirm it after DNA testing using the parents who actually still lived there;

This is the only one I can think of where the isotope testing itself was the main driver behind a case resolution. Plenty of others have had correct predictions though. I think it is a useful tool when used with caution.

Very interesting. I was going to comment that I seem to recall that when Buckskin Girl was identified as Marcia King, her recent isotopes were found to correlate quite well with her known geographical movements in the time leading up to her death.

 

[Susikatze]

Very interesting. I was going to comment that I seem to recall that when Buckskin Girl was identified as Marcia King, her recent isotopes were found to correlate quite well with her known geographical movements in the time leading up to her death.

It seems that occasionally it conincidentally may be correct but id file that under the exception, not the norm.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

Overall, I think isotope testing is not accurate enough. Police used isotope testing on the woman 'Jennifer Fairgate' who died in a hotel room in Oslo Norway in 1995 to track her origins. We still don't know who she is and I think again, the isotope testing can derail an investigation where precious time is wasted trying to track down someone based on shaky scientific evidence. In Europe's case there are laws that restrict the use of DNA testing so their options are limited.

It sounds as though you have misunderstood the purpose of isotope analysis and what it can and can't do. I say again that it is not expected to identify a deceased person but to give LE an indication of where that person was born, grew up and has travelled more recently. In the case of Jennifer Fergate, no-one will know how accurate or otherwise if is until she is finally identified. Its purpose is to give LE an idea of where to look.

 

[summergirl1]

I believe that authorities thought embalming chemicals may have affected the isotope testing?

 

[Susikatze]

I believe that authorities thought embalming chemicals may have affected the isotope testing?

They may destroy the signatures but i believe from my archeological experience that they will not influence them.

 

[summergirl1]

What's interesting is the embalming chemicals did definitely affect DNA testing in her case, which doesn't always happen.

I was calculating how far her last address in Tampa was from where she was found- an hour. Back in those days, that was enough to make sure it usually wasn't reported in local media. I haven't looked, but I am not unsure it was ever reported on in Tampa at the time?

 

[Friday Fan]

What was her ethnicity? I am curious

NW Europe ancestry.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/150645718/maureen_lu-rowan

Her maiden name could have been British Isles, French, Irish or German etc. Her father's family was in the US since at least 1872. Her mother appears to have a relative from Quebec (French Canadian) who was born in 1759 and married British sounding names marrying for several generations in the US.

So, I'm pretty sure she was NW European. French and German names were very frequently anglicized in the 18th and 19th centuries.

 

[Friday Fan]

Lets patch together what we know.

Married in 1967 at the age of 17.
First baby in 1968, second baby in 1969 or 1970.
Was arrested in 1970 for check counterfeit.
Murdered probably in fall 1970
Husband files for divorce in November 1970
Body is found in February 1971
Divorce is granted in absentia in August 1971


jmoo

I'm surprised her fingerprints were in an FBI database!

Unless she was charged with a felony. "Check fraud" was a fairly common crime back in the day.

I worked in the maternity ward at the county hospital. The most common charges for jail inmates giving birth were "90 day check fraud" and "prostitution".

 

[The4TierBridge]

I'm surprised her fingerprints were in an FBI database!

Unless she was charged with a felony. "Check fraud" was a fairly common crime back in the day.

I worked in the maternity ward at the county hospital. The most common charges for jail inmates giving birth were "90 day check fraud" and "prostitution".

I think part of the problem is that her arrest prints were not in the FBI database where her autopsy prints had been previously submitted during the right time frame. They were only ever held locally by Hillsborough County until 2013 when they were digitized (and the autopsy prints were last submitted in 2006); they were only made accessible to investigators by chance after some of the Florida counties started sharing the STORM system earlier their year.

 

[Friday Fan]

I am Greek and in this photo she does look Greek to me...
Could she have been adopted?

The whole Greek ancestry was based on "being born and raised in Greece due to lead isotopes in her teeth due to her diet. And that she only came to Florida to visit the Greek community in Tarpon Springs a few weeks before her death".



None of this is true.


She is listed as living in Maine in the 1950 census. Her father died in Florida a few years after she died. There is no evidence that she ever lived in Greece.

Her DNA has never been revealed. They made a quirky hypothesis about her being from Laurium, Greece because she supposedly drank water from Laurium, Greece for most of her life! And they also said that she likely didn't eat corn, so she wasn't from the US.

They said "It was the water".

Well, she was born and raised in the US!!

Examining the lead isotopes in the victim's teeth, a geological scientist deduced that the victim had undoubtedly spent her childhood and adolescence in southern Europe close to the sea—most likely south of the Greek city of Athens—until within a year of her murder.<

The geological scientist George Kamenov pinpointed the most likely place as the fishing port of Laurium, Greece.

Given that there is a large Greek-American population in Tarpon Springs (about 117 kilometers [73 mi] from Lake Panasoffkee), and that the victim had been dead for about 30 days and had likely lived in Greece, it was possible to conclude that she had traveled to the United States to attend an Epiphany celebration.

Forensic examination of her hair supported the theory that she had been visiting temporarily. This was indicated by the fact that she had been in Florida for less than two months before her death.

Murder of Maureen Rowan - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[summergirl1]

tis what I found as well. There are many Greek communities scattered around New England, so I was trying ot find any possibilities of connections. But I too, only found Irish and Canadian.... so very common in Maine.

What I still do wonder, given that Maureen's family moved to the greater Jacksonville area at some point, she was in Florida when she met her husband. So, its not as if they were all the way up in Maine at the time of her disappearance.
What did they think of this husband?
WHY didn't THEY put in a missing person's report?
Did they spend time with Maureen's two children?

They both died in the 1970s (I believe 1973 and 1979) so they did not have time to live with the ongoing saga of this unidentified woman. But still.... where were they???

And has anyone picked up the specific details of WHY LE can declare the ex a POI???
It might feel obvious to us... but he would not have been identified until she was, so what are the details???

Maureen's parents both did die relatively young. Her father died only a little over two years after her disappearence. From what I found, I believe her mother eventually moved back to Maine sometime before she died in 1979. They may have been dealing with health issues in the years leading up to their deaths.

It was less common back then to report women missing where the spouse or boyfriend said they had run off. It's much easier to find people today (and has been for years), so that is not a particularly useful excuse anymore. It's much harder to voluntarily disappear today, even if you want to. It was much less of a red flag back then (and for years after) than it would today, if a spouse/boyfriend said that about a missing woman. Of course, both then and now, "no body" cases or cases where the body hasn't been linked to the missing person are difficult to bring to justice. The reasons people didn't file a missing person's report were sometimes different than they would be today.

There was less media then. Her parents probably never read or heard about her as a Doe at the time. They may have been afraid of the husband or maybe they simply believed him and thought she'd come back eventually when she was older and more settled down..then years went by. Also, it was often harder dealing with the police back then when trying to or reporting someone missing. Maybe her family did try to do that at some point. There was just less awareness about these types of issues than there would be today.

This article explains more about why LE said her ex/estranged husband was a person of interest-

'Little Miss Panasoffkee' identified over half a century later in Sumter County cold case

The unidentified woman was found on Feb. 19, 1971, under the Lake Panasoffkee bridge.

www.wesh.com

 

[Susikatze]

I'm surprised her fingerprints were in an FBI database!

Unless she was charged with a felony. "Check fraud" was a fairly common crime back in the day.

I worked in the maternity ward at the county hospital. The most common charges for jail inmates giving birth were "90 day check fraud" and "prostitution".

She was arrested briefly in 1970 for writing a bad check. Possibly her husband controlled the money.

 

[LucyOso]

Lets patch together what we know.

Married in 1967 at the age of 17.
First baby in 1968, second baby in 1969 or 1970.
Was arrested in 1970 for check counterfeit.
Murdered probably in fall 1970
Husband files for divorce in November 1970
Body is found in February 1971
Divorce is granted in absentia in August 1971


jmoo

She was arrested briefly in 1970 for writing a bad check. Possibly her husband controlled the money.

I agree 100%. While
women could have bank accounts during this time, they needed "permission" for many things until 1974.

Huge chance she wrote a check, maybe even for groceries or day to day needs, If this bounced or the husband was trying to control her, the husband could have easily said she did not have permission to do this. Resulting in arrest.

Cycle of domestic violence, isolation, and control that sadly ended in her death.

RIP Maureen. So glad you have your name back.

 

[Gemmie]

This is a short 4 yr old video but has some interesting info in it in relation to how/where she was found as well as other info.

 

[beubeubeu]

The whole Greek ancestry was based on "being born and raised in Greece due to lead isotopes in her teeth due to her diet. And that she only came to Florida to visit the Greek community in Tarpon Springs a few weeks before her death".


None of this is true.


She is listed as living in Maine in the 1950 census. Her father died in Florida a few years after she died. There is no evidence that she ever lived in Greece.

Her DNA has never been revealed. They made a quirky hypothesis about her being from Laurium, Greece because she supposedly drank water from Laurium, Greece for most of her life! And they also said that she likely didn't eat corn, so she wasn't from the US.

They said "It was the water".

Well, she was born and raised in the US!!

That was probably someone taking some results and running wild with it.
I dont know, but like 9 times out of 10 when I heard/read somewhere about isotopes it was clearly stated that results indicate that person lived in X area but its important to remember that factors Y, V and Z may come into play and that there is a chance that person was NOT living in x area but had a specific diet, or lived in appartement painted with some specific paint, or was under prolonged influence of something... which led to similar results as usually with people who indeed lived in X area.
Then there is a case like this, when it kept being repeated like its clear as a day that "these results" must mean that she was from Greece.

It surely didnt help that nobody seem to be able to locate Constantina. Where is she? She got send to US and never came back? Never send a letter? Never called anyone? Never reached anyone through social media?
It seems like there was at least a decent effort made in Greece to look for anyone who knows anything about her... that led to nothing. Does it mean that she's also an UID somewhere?

 

[Susikatze]

That was probably someone taking some results and running wild with it.
I dont know, but like 9 times out of 10 when I heard/read somewhere about isotopes it was clearly stated that results indicate that person lived in X area but its important to remember that factors Y, V and Z may come into play and that there is a chance that person was NOT living in x area but had a specific diet, or lived in appartement painted with some specific paint, or was under prolonged influence of something... which led to similar results as usually with people who indeed lived in X area.
Then there is a case like this, when it kept being repeated like its clear as a day that "these results" must mean that she was from Greece.

It surely didnt help that nobody seem to be able to locate Constantina. Where is she? She got send to US and never came back? Never send a letter? Never called anyone? Never reached anyone through social media?
It seems like there was at least a decent effort made in Greece to look for anyone who knows anything about her... that led to nothing. Does it mean that she's also an UID somewhere?

Konstantina was a red herring, who ever called her in may not even have remembered her name correctly after so many decades. Very vague claims that she may have gone as aupair to the US. The young woman claimed to be Konstantina in the Greek housekeepers school picture is likely a merry grandmother somewhere in Greece and has no idea people were looking for her.
Id file it under the same as the other Sumter mystery Doe „Jacques, the son of a Canadian doctor“ who turned out to be a Jim Freund from the US who was not a doctors son and not Canadian but a twice divorced Car mechanic hitchhiking with Pam, a former country singer, also recently divorced who went to travel the country and met a violent end.

 

[branmuffin]

It sounds as though you have misunderstood the purpose of isotope analysis and what it can and can't do. I say again that it is not expected to identify a deceased person but to give LE an indication of where that person was born, grew up and has travelled more recently. In the case of Jennifer Fergate, no-one will know how accurate or otherwise if is until she is finally identified. Its purpose is to give LE an idea of where to look.

It sounds as though you have misunderstood the efficacy of isotope analysis. The track record for isotope testing is abysmal. Here's another couple of UIDs where the isotope analysis lead LE and Websleuths members looking for a Hispanic woman from the Southwest when actually she was a white woman (Amy Yeary) from Illinois. Or how about Evelyn Colon who was identified as coming from central Europe when actually she was from New Jersey.

If I lived in Ireland for 4 years then moved to Italy for a couple of years then moved to Salt Lake city I'm sure my isotope testing of hair, teeth and nails would be a dizzying array of factors that contradicted each other because all geographical areas can share the same traits when it comes marine and terrestrial qualities for lead, strontium, plant based consumption and can imply characteristics that exist as factual when in FACT someone could have become a vegetarian in the last year of so of their lives after decades of eating meat while living in Miami.

 

[Susikatze]

It sounds as though you have misunderstood the efficacy of isotope analysis. The track record for isotope testing is abysmal. Here's another couple of UIDs where the isotope analysis lead LE and Websleuths members looking for a Hispanic woman from the Southwest when actually she was a white woman (Amy Yeary) from Illinois. Or how about Evelyn Colon who was identified as coming from central Europe when actually she was from New Jersey.

If I lived in Ireland for 4 years then moved to Italy for a couple of years then moved to Salt Lake city I'm sure my isotope testing of hair, teeth and nails would be a dizzying array of factors that contradicted each other because all geographical areas can share the same traits when it comes marine and terrestrial qualities for lead, strontium, plant based consumption and can imply characteristics that exist as factual when in FACT someone could have become a vegetarian in the last year of so of their lives after decades of eating meat while living in Miami.

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