IN IN - Porter Co, near La Porte Co, UnkFem/Age, UP76518, Sz 8 shoe, clothes, gold fillings, Nov'45

[victoriarobinson642]

Very, very old UID case added to NAMUS today.
---
Demographics
Sex - Female
Race / Ethnicity - Uncertain
Estimated Age Group - Adult - Pre 60
Height - 5' 6"(66 inches) , Measured
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Circumstances
Type - Unidentified Deceased
Date Body Found - November 13, 1945
NamUs Case Created - December 17, 2020
ME/C QA Reviewed--
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Location Found Map
Location - Indiana
County - Porter County
GPS Coordinates (Not Mapped)--
Found On Tribal Land - No
Circumstances of Recovery - Skeletal remains found by a hunter in a dense thicket. 1/2 mile south of US 6, 5 miles east of SR 49, and 1 1/2 miles west of the La Porte County line. Coroner, Sheriff, and State Police involved in recovery. Wearing a bluish-gray coat, additional rotted and discolored garments, nylon hosiery. Size 8 shoe and gold-filled teeth.
---
Details of Recovery
Condition of Remains - Not recognizable - Partial skeletal parts only
---
Physical Description
Hair Color - Brown
Left Eye Color - Missing Eye
Right Eye Color - Missing Eye
---
NAMUS LINK: The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[victoriarobinson642]

The Doe Network: Mary Lazzara - 2169DFIN
Mary Lazzara is the only even remote match I could find.

 

[Romulus]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Skeletal remains found by a hunter in dense thicket. 1/2 mile south of US 6, 5 miles east of SR 49 and 1 1/2 miles west of the La Porte County line. Coroner, Sheriff and State Police involved in recovery. Wearing a bluish gray coat, additional rotted and discolored garments, nylon hosiery. Size 8 shoe and gold filled teeth.

 

[StarrChance]

17 November 1945

 

[StarrChance]

November 14 1945

 

[rainwaterstill]

Click map to enlarge. Porter and La Porte counties are very close to the IL and MI borders.

There are a few women missing from Ohio who fit the time frame and had dental issues.

Mary Jane VanGuilder, age 33, missing from Willard, OH sine March 8, 1945 had decaying damaged teeth at the time of her disappearance,
Mary Jane Vangilder – The Charley Project

Ruth Elizabeth Baumgardner, age 22, disappeared from her Tri-Delt sorority house at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware Ohio sometime after 11 p.m. on the evening of May 4, 1937. She had bridgework on her teeth. She had talked about being extremely stressed about possibly not graduating, said goodbye to her friends, and had tidied up her room, which was not typical of her, before disappearing. She left her sorority pin, keys, and other items behind.
Ruth Elizabeth Baumgardner – The Charley Project

 

[MadMcGoo]

The Doe Network: Mary Lazzara - 2169DFIN
Mary Lazzara is the only even remote match I could find.

Surely they would have already compared the two? I’d suspect so, but it wouldn’t hurt to submit just in case.

 

[victoriarobinson642]

Surely they would have already compared the two? I’d suspect so, but it wouldn’t hurt to submit just in case.

You would think so, but she doesn't have any identifiers in her profile, so I imagine that would be hard.

 

[UncoolNegated]

Submitted a candidate for a rule-out comparison: Martha Nehring Pilnok. A lot overlaps between the two cases. Things that do not overlap aren't critical, like slight differences in height. This Jane Doe was thought to be Martha Nehring Pilnok in December 1945 journalism. I wonder if they should take a second look with modern forensics.

Clipping from The Indianapolis News - Newspapers.com

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[UncoolNegated]

You would think so, but she doesn't have any identifiers in her profile, so I imagine that would be hard.

If they are not listed as comparisons at NamUs, then assume then did not compare them. Those lists need to be accurate.

 

[UncoolNegated]

You would think so, but she doesn't have any identifiers in her profile, so I imagine that would be hard.

There are loads of identifiers that were in the newspapers.

Martha Nehring Pilnok (NamUs #MP77033) vs. Jane Doe #UP76518

 

[victoriarobinson642]

There are loads of identifiers that were in the newspapers.

Martha Nehring Pilnok (NamUs #MP77033) vs. Jane Doe #UP76518

I certainly think that Jane Doe's case deserves a fresh look from a modern perspective. I have no idea if Martha has any living descendants since no children are listed, but I do see someone on find a grave claiming to be a great-niece of hers.

 

[UncoolNegated]

I certainly think that Jane Doe's case deserves a fresh look from a modern perspective. I have no idea if Martha has any living descendants since no children are listed, but I do see someone on find a grave claiming to be a great-niece of hers.

I found a child but don't know if the child had children. Her child was named Margaret A. Stetson. She died in 2011 as per the family tree at Ancestry. Now that I think about it, that tree said that there were living descendants.

 

[victoriarobinson642]

I certainly think that Jane Doe's case deserves a fresh look from a modern perspective. I have no idea if Martha has any living descendants since no children are listed, but I do see someone on find a grave claiming to be a great-niece of hers.

Okay, I'm pretty deep into a Google rabbit hole, but I do see a daughter of hers from western Indiana [MAS], born when Martha was a teen, who had six children and two dozen grandchildren. If they were to reopen these cases, a DNA comparison would definitely be possible.

 

[UncoolNegated]

Okay, I'm pretty deep into a Google rabbit hole, but I do see a daughter of hers from western Indiana [MAS], born when Martha was a teen, who had six children and two dozen grandchildren. If they were to reopen these cases, a DNA comparison would definitely be possible.

Nice. My guess is that this won't happen for a while. I'm not actually sure that all my emails to NamUs get read. Sometimes the responses are very quick, other times it takes a very long time or no response at all. Broken system really. I guess calling the police directly is an option but I'm Canadian and few strange calling a case in another country. Also, in these complicated situations I like the email option so you can explain. However, both the Jane Doe and Martha profiles can be enhanced because there is much more known about them than what's published at NamUs.

 

[victoriarobinson642]

1644UFIN
Added to the doe network.

 

[aThousandYearsWide]

1644UFIN - Unidentified Female

Date of Discovery: November 13, 1945
Location of Discovery: Porter County, Indiana
Estimated Date of Death: Up to 1 year prior
State of Remains: Not recognizable - Partial skeletal parts only
Cause of Death: Unknown

Physical Description

Estimated Age: Adult; pre 60 years old
Race: Unknown
Sex: Female
Height: 5'6" to 5'7"
Weight: Unknown
Hair Color: Dark brown with a tinge of gray
Eye Color: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Prominent lower jaw

Identifiers

Dentals: Available, charting; a number of gold fillings
Fingerprints: Unknown
DNA: Unknown

Clothing & Personal Items

Clothing: Red, blue, and gray tweed coat with a blue and red plaid lining; nylon stockings; black leather, open-toed shoes, showing little wear, size 8 1/2
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: A pasteboard box containing discolored and rotting clothing: a pair of canvas wedge-type shoes, black dress with a zipper on the side and back, size 38; tan pocketbook with brass clasp containing a handkerchief

Circumstances of Discovery

The decedent's skeletonized remains were found by hunters in dense woods near Quakerdom School in Jackson Township, 1/2 mile south of S.R. 6, 5 miles east of SR 49, and 1 1/2 miles west of the La Porte county line.

Her body was found fully clothed, lying on her back, arms placed evenly along the sides, legs lying straight with the feet together, and her head resting on the root of a tree. Near her body was a box with rotted clothing and a pocketbook.

The coroner found a blow to her head but further anaylsis showed there was no sign of trauma or fractures to any of the bones. The cause of death is undetermined but the coroner didn't believe she died where she was found.

According to newspaper articles written at the time of discovery, she was believed to be white, 30 to 45 years of age, and weighed between 135-150 pounds.

Investigating Agency(s)

Agency Name: Shelby Police Department
Agency Contact Person: Unknown
Agency Phone Number: 317-392-5118
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: Unknown

NCIC Case Number: Unknown
NamUs Case Number: 76518

Information Source(s)

NamUs
Vidette-Messenger of Porter County (Valparaiso, IN) - November 14 & 15, and December 5, 1945
The South Bend Tribune (South Bend, IN) - November 15, 1945

Admin Notes

Added: 8/31/21; Last Updated: 8/31/21


1644UFIN

 

[snowgoose]

Here's the direct link to her NamUs page since Doe Network is down for me at the moment. The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[carbuff]

I wonder whether the clothes were rotting when they were placed there, or did they decay from lying out in the open so long? I presume the latter, since there were only partial skeletal remains.

 

[Mrs. Badcrumble]

Mary Jane VanGuilder, age 33, missing from Willard, OH sine March 8, 1945 had decaying damaged teeth at the time of her disappearance,
Mary Jane Vangilder – The Charley Project

Things seems to be heating up for Valparaiso Jane Doe!
According to this article, she's going to get exhumed in order to be compared to Mary Jane, and also to another person who went missing in 1945, but wasn't reported missing until last December.

Shelby police detective taking part in exhumations to ID bodies

Body found in Indiana could provide answers
Turner found an article on Find a Grave, a website that allows the public to search and add to an online database of cemetery records, regarding a Jane Doe near Valparaiso, Indiana, in November 1945.

"It was a skeleton that was found in the woods by a hunter," the detective said. "It still had clothing on it, but the skin had decayed."

Turner reached out to officials in Indiana for additional information. The body was found in Chesterton.

"A reporter pulled up old articles," Turner said.

The body was traced to a private cemetery. Turner reached out to the county coroner, thinking there might be a connection.

The fact that VanGilder was last seen in Willard could be a link in the case.

"There's a distance, but the B&O railroad went from Willard and would have gone right through the area," Turner said.

The exhumation was scheduled for Thursday and Friday. Turner said the town council and the prosecutor were on board.

Jane Doe's body has no marker. In 2001, a trustee spoke to the then-mayor, who remembered the incident and the area of the cemetery where the body was buried.

"Indiana State Police used ground-penetrating radar and found some anomalies," Turner said.

Those anomalies included voids in the ground and disturbed soil.

The University of Indianapolis was scheduled to do the dig.

"She was probably buried in a pine box, which would be gone," Turner said, adding the diggers would have to retrieve bones from the dirt.

The detective said he also learned of another case that drew his attention.

"Randomly, somebody reports a missing person from 1945 in Valparaiso," Turner said. "In December 2020, Valparaiso police were contacted by family members.

"Valparaiso will also be involved. It was one of those strange occurrences where all this was happening at once."

Mary Jane Croft VanGilder's WS thread:
OH - OH - Mary J. Croft Vangilder, 43, Plymouth, 1945