MS MS - Olive Branch, WhtFem 20-40, UP8675, smoker, nail biter, tatts, surgical scar, Jan'85 - Lorie Ann Mealer Pennell

[tifflee]

I did a search for this Jane Doe but did not find anything in the UID forum. Apologies ahead of time if it is a duplicate.

The Doe Network:
Case File 369UFMS

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/369ufms.html

Reconstruction of Victim

Unidentified White Female
The victim was discovered on January 24, 1985 in Desoto County, Mississippi

Vital Statistics
* Estimated age: 30-35 years old
* Approximate Height and Weight: 5'4"; 130 lbs.
* Distinguishing Characteristics: Dark blonde to strawberry blonde hair. Short to medium length & wavy. Grey eyes. Freckled complexion. Small frame. Tattoos: Right ankle ~T.H.C., Left Ankle ~ R.C.J. 12 cm. diagonal scar on back of left forearm. Scar on left hand's PIP joint, on second and third Fingers 1.5 and 2 cm. Scars on base of thumb.
* Dentals: Available
* Clothing: A light peach-colored blouse and blue jeans.
* Fingerprints:Not available
* DNA: Not available

Case History
The victim was located on U.S. 78, Southeast of Olive Branch, MS., west of the rest area. The body was spotted about 7:30am, January 24, just east of the Coldwater river bridge, by a southbound truck driver, who subsequently notified authorities.

Investigators
If you have any information about this case please contact:
Desoto County Sheriffs Department
Commander Blackston
901-527-6581
You may remain anonymous when submitting information.

 

[tifflee]

I could not find this UID on NamUs. I did find two articles on the case from 2001 and 2002.

The first requires a subscription so perhaps someone with access can read the full article at some point. Article access link here.

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica] Published on April 23, 2001, The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.)[/FONT] [FONT=Arial,Helvetica] Miss. investigators await files from state in '85 case[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica] DeSoto County authorities are awaiting a response to their request for the case file in the 1985 discovery of a woman's body near Olive Branch.Cmdr. Mark Blackson of the DeSoto County Sheriff's Department said he asked the Mississippi Crime Laboratory for the file more than three weeks ago.The victim, who was found near the Coldwater River along U.S. 78, has never been identified. The case had been dormant until recently, when Michigan authorities suggested [/FONT]

Here is another article. It gives more details on the tattoos - possibly homemade?

Mark Blackson, chief of detectives and spokesman for the Sheriff's office, has been looking for leads in the 1985 discovery of a young woman's body near the Coldwater River along U.S. 78. The woman, who was slender, had reddish-blond hair and two crude tattoos on her ankles, has never been identified. Authorities investigating the case in the mid-1980s speculated she might have been a wandering prostitute or hitchhiker. She is buried in an unmarked grave in Blocker Cemetery in Olive Branch.

It also seems to contradict the age given on Doe Network or maybe I am reading this wrong. Maybe it is the other victims who are in their early to mid-20s and this Jane Doe is still estimated to be 30-35?

Anthony Ronning is already serving a life sentence for a 1986 abduction and murder near Pocahontas, Ark. Ronning, 43, a former construction worker, confessed to three Michigan murders and is also suspected in abductions and murders in Sacramento, Calif., and Grand Prairie, Texas. The abductions and murders have similarities in the victims' physical appearance, the way they were killed and the way in which their bodies were disposed. "The M.O. (in the Olive Branch case) is very similar to the others," he said. "The victims are young, in the early to mid-20s. They all have red hair. All or most of them have been strangled and left off major roadways in rural areas."

 

[tifflee]

I just found this thread: Redhead Murders - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community.

Apparently this victim might be part of a string of women murdered with red hair found along freeways.

 

[reasypeasy]

THC? Like the active ingredient in pot
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetrahydrocannabinol
or is it initials?

Closest set of initials I know to that is Toni Maree Cavanagh, but she's missing from Australia 1979 and a bit below this Doe's age range. Passible resemblence to the recon though.

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/654dfnsw.html

 

[Cubby]

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/369ufms.html

 

[webrocket]

to me the telltale feature here is the gray eyes. not a common color. looking at Namus for missing females with gray eyes and I came up with only one who seems like a remotely possible match Faye Self, missing from Louisiana on March 31, 1983. Faye is a little shorter than the UID and 20 pounds lighter in weight. Faye's hair color is deceiving as she had dyed it:

https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/1370/0/

Assuming the missing person's family reported the eyes as blue, there is this far better match with Kathleen Randall, who lived a transient lifestyle, regularly hitchhiking and she had a drug and alcohol problem. she was last known alive in the fall of 1982. Her height is correct (estimated between 5'3 and 5'5") and the weight is not far off either (estimated at 120). she would have been about 28 on the date the UID was discovered.

https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/715/5/

 

[Cubby]

Both reasonable possibilities webrocket. I think the date last seen for Faye would probably put her out of the range for this Jane as authorities were able to determine eye color. The recon isn't great. I would consider submitting Kathleen. Even if she wasn't known to have tat's when she was last seen, she could have gotten them at a later date.

jmo

 

[Donjeta]

Is there any indication whether she's given birth? Could the two tattoos with different sets of initials be her children?

 

[tifflee]

I was thinking of emailing some questions to Commander Mark Blackson who is mentioned in the articles and listed as the contact on Doe Network (typo on the "Commander Blackston," I think), but unfortunately, it looks like he was forced out by his department when they found a replacement for him while he was deployed to Iraq.

It is unfortunate since it seems like he was really dedicated to the case. In one article linked before, he said:

Blackson said he doesn't know when he'll be able to speak with Ronning or if Arkansas officials will allow the interview. But he's determined to follow the lead. "It's become personal, I guess," Blackson said. "Closure is a big part of this."

After this development in the case, I guess there is no specific contact person to reach out to.

 

[webrocket]

that explains why when I went to the website for the DeSoto County Sheriff there was no option to send him an email.

 

[CarlK90245]

There are two postmortem photos now available in NamUs for this UID.

Warning - Postmortem Photo At Link
https://identifyus.org/cases/8675

Her facial structure was quite different from the facial reconstruction.

ETA:

to me the telltale feature here is the gray eyes. not a common color. looking at Namus for missing females with gray eyes and I came up with only one who seems like a remotely possible match Faye Self, missing from Louisiana on March 31, 1983. Faye is a little shorter than the UID and 20 pounds lighter in weight. Faye's hair color is deceiving as she had dyed it:

https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/1370/0/

Assuming the missing person's family reported the eyes as blue, there is this far better match with Kathleen Randall, who lived a transient lifestyle, regularly hitchhiking and she had a drug and alcohol problem. she was last known alive in the fall of 1982. Her height is correct (estimated between 5'3 and 5'5") and the weight is not far off either (estimated at 120). she would have been about 28 on the date the UID was discovered.

https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/715/5/

She does look alot like Kathleen Randall.

ETA (Again):
The Postmortem photo aligns nearly perfectly to Kathleen's photo when you superimpose them over one another.

I sent in an e-mail to Candace Coleman of the DeSoto County Coroner's office.

 

[webrocket]

thanks for submitting Carl. time will tell. I hope someone responds. I do see the facial similarities - both the UID and Kathleen have very full faces and the noses look the same.

what a difference seeing the actual photo makes. the recon at Doe Network bears little resemblance to the actual deceased.

 

[CarlK90245]

Here's my recon of this Jane Doe:

After a couple of hours of focusing on the photo, I am doubting a bit that She's Kathleen Randall.

 

[webrocket]

anything in particular Carl?

if it is Kathleen, you have to keep in mind that 1. it is not clear when the picture in her profile was taken and 2. from what info is available, she drank heavily which will prematurely age one's appearance.

 

[CarlK90245]

anything in particular Carl?

if it is Kathleen, you have to keep in mind that 1. it is not clear when the picture in her profile was taken and 2. from what info is available, she drank heavily which will prematurely age one's appearance.

Although the photo of Jane Doe's teeth is not real clear, it doesn't appear that her front teeth (8&9) are gapped, as Kathleen's 8&9 appear to be. Also, Kathleen's nose is a little bit broader at the base.

There is also that intangible sense that it just doesn't look quite right. I did submit though, so hopefully they will take the submission seriously.

 

[carbuff]

The Jane Doe's teeth look chipped more than gapped to me. But that's a question for a forensic dentist to look at -- your reconstruction is looking very good.

 

[tifflee]

Thanks for the reconstruction, CarlK!

Here is Jane Doe's Find A Grave Memorial page: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=11368527. I am glad to see flowers on her resting place. Somehow it makes me feel better to know that she has not been without visitors.

The page does not add much new information besides an uncited tidbit on the murder weapon ("An autopsy has disclosed the woman was strangled with a narrow object."), but I wanted to add it to the list of links related to her here.

 

[tamar]

Here is my take on "Olive" Doe

 

[webrocket]

I checked the Namus page again and it says that it was last modified on June 1, 2011. it is not known what was modified but there is a second picture of the deceased which I don't recall seeing earlier. it is a side view of her face.

for whatever it is worth, she does have thin eyebrows like Kathleen as well as high and full cheeks.

as of this point in time there are 10 rule-outs, but I have no way of knowing if that is the same number that existed when the thread was started:

Darcy Brown
Peggy Byars-Baisden
Evelyn Hartley
Mary Little
Mary Mclaughlin
Betty Roberts
Doris SCANDALIS
Beverly Sharpman
Floradean Walker
Mildred Zentner

 

[chaddylex]

I think this UID does look like Kathleen Randall. Here is her Charley Page. http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/r/randall_kathleen.html

Kathleen is to have had extensive dental work with her two front teeth capped.

Kathleen is listed as having blue eyes
The UID Coroner's Report has the eye color listed as brown. The Autopsy report has the eye color listed as gray. ....

My eyes are blue, but sometimes they look gray. I was told I look like I have "wolf eyes" by my husband, nice huh!

Carl,

Did you ever hear back from Candace Coleman of the DeSoto County Coroner's office?