IL IL - Chicago, BlkFem Pre40, UP117200, clothed skel, found in crawlspace on 6000 S Vernon Ave, Jun'95

[ProudSuggestion3528]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) - PM Not Available
NamUs# 117200
UID Skeletal Black Female
Chicago, IL

Case Numbers​

ME/C Case Number: 208Jun95

Demographics​

Biological Sex: Female
Race / Ethnicity: Black / African American
Estimated Age Group: Adult - Pre 40
Height: 5' 0"-5' 7"(60-67 inches) , Estimated
Weight: Cannot Estimate

Circumstances​

Type: Unidentified Deceased
Date Body Found: June 9, 1995
NamUs Case Created: February 28, 2024
ME/C QA Reviewed

Location Found Map​

Location: Chicago, Illinois 60637
County: Cook County
Found On Tribal Land: No
Circumstances of Recovery: A plumber was replacing a leaking fixture in a crawlspace in the 6000 block of South Vernon Ave when they noticed clothed skeletal remains.

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Details of Recovery​

Condition of RemainsNot recognizable - Near complete or complete skeleton

Physical Description​

Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: N/A

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No Distinctive Physical Features

Clothing and Accessories​

Clothing: One white t-shirt with a "National People Action" emblem One blue baseball cap, One blue sweater, One pair of long john pants, One blue and white striped shirt, one pair of socks, one pair of lace red underpants, one shredded lower garment (possible jean material). - On the Body

0 MP Exclusions

 

[ifindedout]

The 6000 block of S. Vernon

6000 S Vernon Ave · 6000 S Vernon Ave, Chicago, IL 60637

6000 S Vernon Ave, Chicago, IL 60637

www.google.com

 

[victoriarobinson642]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

Strongly considering Sylvia McElroy as a match. She was found half a mile from where Sylvia disappeared and also wore a blue+white shirt.

 

[SimsGuy67]

It turns out she was found in a cellar which hadn't been occupied since 1990. She may have been there for years.

Police seek identity of skeleton in cellar

Clipping found in Chicago Tribune published in Chicago, Illinois on 6/11/1995. Police seek identity of skeleton in cellar

www.newspapers.com

 

[SimsGuy67]

Here's some missing women from the area post-1990, but I'm not sure if any of them could be considered strong matches.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

There's also a missing woman from Chicago who was last seen three months before the remains were found, but timeline seems too close, and Jane Doe wasn't found with glasses.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

 

[iamshadow21]

Sounds like NPA was founded in the '70s.

People's Action - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[sunflowermomma]

I reached out to NPA and shared the Namus link. I asked if they could share when the shirt was made and if they could circulate the info to anyone who is still active who was volunteering with them in the 80s and 90s.

The hat is a St. Louis Cardinals hat.

 

[sunflowermomma]

MOO I feel like the DID would be on the younger end of the age range due to the fashion style and activist t-shirt.

Here are some potential matches. It's hard without a reconstruction.

Mary Cox from OH - The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Dorothy Johnson from IL - The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Tracey Turner from MO (St Louis, goes with the hat) - The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Sandra Harper from MI - The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Ardora Hogan from IN - The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Melissa Page from IL (the fashion style fits here IMO) - The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Gerri Anderson from MI - The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[sm981s]

I reached out to NPA and shared the Namus link. I asked if they could share when the shirt was made and if they could circulate the info to anyone who is still active who was volunteering with them in the 80s and 90s.

The hat is a St. Louis Cardinals hat.

Any follow up on this?

 

[Mskey215]

bumping

 

[frosty46]

I am currently looking through namus cases. there is one that went missing too soon before they found the skeleton. Dorothy Johnson The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

she was last seen 3 months before the body was found, 3 months is definetely not long enough for complete decomposition.

i am mentioning her because she was mentioned here before.

through my research i came to the conclusion that the only person from the people mentioned in this thread that is plausible as the identity of our jane doe is, Sylvia Mcelroy The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) her age at the time matches our age range, her height matches. the clothes she was last seen wearing arent an exact match but close.

I am also leaning on the possibility that either: our jane doe went missing in a different state than Illinois and was just found there. OR that there was never a missing person report filed.

 

[Lagonas]

I am looking into this case myself, and thought to take a look at specifically the clothing if I can find anything that can narrow down a timeline when this person was deceased. I have not found / really looked into the shirts, but was able to identify the cap 95% sure. After the multiple hours spent on researching the caps, I just thought to post it in the off chance that it actually results to something.

Unfortunately we only have a picture of the front of the cap, and not of the back / inside, so there is very limited information to go on.

During the time this cap was actually produced by 2 companies. Sport specialties and New era.
Sport specialties made caps in "the pro line" from 1984 till 1995. After the 1993 season, New era gained exclusive licensing rights for all MLB caps after which there was a short overlap in designs.

The main difference between the older and the newer caps is the stitching lines on the beak, and from the images that I found also the color.

Sport Specialties

New era

As you can see, the stitching lines on the beak of the New era caps continue much further to the center, where the sport specialties cap stops more consistent with the cap on namus, and the color of the New era cap appears to be darker.

This shows me that this cap is from sport specialties, which at least rules out that the cap could only have been made between 1993 and 1995. It is still possible that it is from these years as sport specialties still made caps, but, the popularity of sport specialties greatly reduced with the new era caps being released.

To summarize; This cap was produced between 1984 and 1995. The only thing we can rule out is that this is a cap that was only sold from 1993.

I'll try to also find info on the shirts, although much more complicated.