Identified! MD - Woodlawn, WhtFem 279UFMD, 15-25, near cemetery, 'JP' Tattoo, Sep'76 - Margaret Fetterolf

[AkitasAreLovely]

If she was reported missing, I wonder if her file was destroyed once they believed she turned 18.

 

[Alleykins]

Have any articles explained her possible ties to Massachusetts or her tattoo?

 

[onceuponadecember]

Rest peacefully, Margaret.
(Photos are from 1972 and 1973).

 

[onceuponadecember]

Here’s the info I found so far:
-Born between September and December of ‘59
-Probably disappeared c. August 1975 (she has no yearbook photo in this year but is still mentioned)
-Member of school band

 

[imstilla.grandma]

In a video provided by county police, Cpl. Dona L. Carter, who works with the criminal investigations unit, said this is “significant” development in the case that could help catch the people involved in the murder.

“This is a really big break in the case,” she said in the video. “Because without knowing who she is or where she came from, we really don’t have too much to go on. We need to know who she may have been with to get some leads for this case.”

Carter said the department plans to head to Alexandria to try to drum up any leads in the area, including talking with and visiting the Hayfield Secondary School, where Fetterolf attended at the time she went missing. Detectives are also interested in talking with any friends or former classmates.

For years police said they believed that Fetterolf hailed from the Boston area after testing pollen particles that clung to her clothing in 2016. Authorities said the blend of cedar and mountain hemlock pollen, identified by a scientist with U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, was a combination only found at the Arnold Arboretum in Boston or the New York Botanical Garden.
Slain Va. teen identified almost 45 years after body found near a cemetery: police

 

[Andreee]

In a video provided by county police, Cpl. Dona L. Carter, who works with the criminal investigations unit, said this is “significant” development in the case that could help catch the people involved in the murder.

“This is a really big break in the case,” she said in the video. “Because without knowing who she is or where she came from, we really don’t have too much to go on. We need to know who she may have been with to get some leads for this case.”

Carter said the department plans to head to Alexandria to try to drum up any leads in the area, including talking with and visiting the Hayfield Secondary School, where Fetterolf attended at the time she went missing. Detectives are also interested in talking with any friends or former classmates.

For years police said they believed that Fetterolf hailed from the Boston area after testing pollen particles that clung to her clothing in 2016. Authorities said the blend of cedar and mountain hemlock pollen, identified by a scientist with U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, was a combination only found at the Arnold Arboretum in Boston or the New York Botanical Garden.
Slain Va. teen identified almost 45 years after body found near a cemetery: police

I hope that LE is able to track down the SOB(s) who committed this horrific crime and bring him/them to justice! Of course, made all the more difficult by the passage of time and possibility the murderer(s) have since died.

 

[Susikatze]

I guess she had a "boyfriend" in Massachusetts... whoever murdered her had a sadistic and utterly abusive personality, she was raped until bleeding point (!), masked with a bandana with cutouts for eyes and nose and on top of that, blindfolded with another bandana over the eyes. And she was drugged and gagged. Looks like she died slowly and in extreme pain, maybe her death was accidental...

In any case I hope they find the pig who did that.

 

[Susikatze]

Also noticeable, another case where the victim was so clearly believed to be Hispanic but turned out to be white, of German descent (Fetterolf is German).

Phenotype is pretty useless... DNA testing is the future.

 

[CCJD]

View attachment 312804 View attachment 312805
Rest peacefully, Margaret.
(Photos are from 1972 and 1973).

Link to photos source, please.

 

[onceuponadecember]

Link to photos source, please.

They’re from classmates.com. Search “Hayfield High School” and you can find them in the 1972 and 1973 yearbooks.

 

[onceuponadecember]

I know most people are gonna jump to the conclusion that the pollen is wrong, but it may be more of a helper than you may think; could it be that she was at one of those locations during the undocumented final months of her life?

 

[CCJD]

They’re from classmates.com. Search “Hayfield High School” and you can find them in the 1972 and 1973 yearbooks.

NOTE: When quoting an outside source, a link to the source must be included in the post. The same rule applies to posting images. All images require a link to the source.
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[othram]

Also noticeable, another case where the victim was so clearly believed to be Hispanic but turned out to be white, of German descent (Fetterolf is German).

Phenotype is pretty useless... DNA testing is the future.

Correct. Look at the other case we were involved in this week:
After 39 Years, Gwinnett Jane Doe (1982) is Identified

Original thought to be non-white as well.

 

[LucyOso]

RIP Margaret!

 

[Susikatze]

That somehow reminds me of the Evelyn Colon case... her "fiance" brutally murdered her (and her unborn daughter) and threw her away like trash. He lived a pretty good life in a nice neighborhood with a wife and kids for 40 years after that..

My gut feeling is that Margaret fell prey to a sadistic "boyfriend", too, who tortured and brutally murdered her when she wanted to break up. That guy may also have lived a nice and quiet life after...
And back then it seems LE did not put much effort in looking for teens they classified as "runaways". Her family had reported her missing before she even was found but there was no connection being made. That has changed for the better today.

JMOO

 

[Susikatze]

I also guess this "boyfriend" (or maybe husband? Some people married young) lived in Boston. She had a key to his apartment and possibly also visited the arboretum there. All the clues point into that direction.
I hope justice can still be served.

 

[Springrain]

Some of the details in the case, I wasn't even aware of before Margaret's identification. Her death was brutal, so horrible

I agree that it is definitely possible that the pollen analysis was correct, and that she had stayed in Massachusetts at some point during the roughly ~13 months since she had run away from home, and been there recently before her death. Even though she was from Virginia originally, the evidence pointing towards Massachusetts has to exist for a reason. I do wonder if Margaret was in fact staying in the Jamaica Plain area of Boston, and had the crude tattoo done because she was happy there and believed herself to be independent and free. Imo, in order for her murder to be solved, the ~13 month gap between her disappearance and her murder has to be filled in. What was she doing - was she working somewhere, hanging out with a boyfriend, hitchhiking frequently? Where was she living? How did she survive? Did she live or couch surf with a boyfriend, sketchy "friends"? I hope these things can be solved all this time later.

Also noticeable, another case where the victim was so clearly believed to be Hispanic but turned out to be white, of German descent (Fetterolf is German).

Another poster posted that they found out that Margaret may have been part Japanese, but yeah, Fetterolf is definitely a white last name. Either way she appears to not have been Hispanic. As a white/Asian woman, I could see Margaret being part Asian (based off her yearbook photos).

 

[Mireille]

Oh my lord, the identified her! I am so happy they figured out who she was.
Rest in peace Margaret. I am so sorry your life was cut short in such a brutal way.

 

[aThousandYearsWide]

I do wonder if Margaret was in fact staying in the Jamaica Plain area of Boston, and had the crude tattoo done because she was happy there and believed herself to be independent and free.

I was wondering if the tattoo could even be her killer's name! I know someone who goes by JP whose full name is John Paul. Could also be first and last name initials.

 

[Steleheart]

From my experience and the people I know, JP people take their JPness pretty seriously. I can't get over the pollen. There was a home for young people in mental health treatment there for a while. I'll try to find it again.