Identified! NV - Las Vegas, 'Sahara Sue', WhtFem 17-25, UP159, dentures, jewelry, clothes, Aug'79 - Gwenn Marie Story

[tamar]

additional reconstruction from the latest postmortem.

 

[ctaylor]

A new appeal for information on this case...

http://www.mynews3.com/content/news/story/NCMEC-1979-Jane-Doe-Las-Vegas/a2DvIx7dlUa4Bpn9QihNwg.cspx

National group wants help to identify 1979 homicide victim

Published: 8/15 12:48 pm

LAS VEGAS (KSNV MyNews3.com) -- It's been 34 years and one day since the body of a young woman was found in a parking lot off the Las Vegas Strip. And that body has still not been identified.

But the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is still looking for clues and is requesting the public’s help.

The body of a young woman was found Aug. 14, 1979, in a parking lot at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Sahara.

...

 

[Ambercat]

Maybe I am wrong to say this, but the more I look at her PM photos combined with the dentures, I wonder if she was older than originally though (like maybe 30ish?).

 

[carbuff]

Nice work as always. The skin tone still looks dead, though, especially around the lips and eyes but also along the whole left side of her face (her right).

I thought for a minute there that was the exact same shirt Racine JD was wearing, but though it's similar it's not identical. That was a very popular style in the late 70's and early 80's.

 

[CarlK90245]

The skin tone still looks dead, though, especially around the lips and eyes but also along the whole left side of her face (her right).

Revised again to give a little more life to her complexion, and to remove the sunburned look.

 

[carbuff]

Much better

Is it an illusion of light that her upper lip has almost no dip in the center?

 

[killer Chaser]

:bump: Bump for image revision.

I've always thought she looked a lot like Mary Frances Gregory but it says her teeth were in fine shape. http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/350dfon.html

 

[Ambercat]

While I now know that almost nothing except for the full dental plate and the timing of her disappearance match up between Shannon Eileen Staal and this UID, I still see too much of a resemblance to dismiss her outright. Shannon was last seen in Riverside County, CA on July 10, 1979. While I suspect that the unidentified woman is older than LE's estimate, Shannon was 36 years old at the time of her disappearance and I don't know if they would even consider someone that much older.

Shannon Eileen Staal

oag.ca.gov

1277DFCA - Shannon Eileen Staal

Shannon Eileen Staal – The Charley Project

 

[LucyOso]

I've always thought she looked a lot like Mary Frances Gregory but it says her teeth were in fine shape. http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/350dfon.html

That is a good point. Something to keep in mind with teeth is they can decay or be removed after someone was last seen. I have known of many people, especially if they have an addiction, to get their teeth pulled only for the prescribed painkillers. And when I speak of addiction, many people during that time had legitimate addictions to pharmacueticals because they were readily prescribed. Many women because addicted to speed because it was prescribed for weight loss, etc. Anyway, the point being...it is not uncommon for people to have teeth pulled one at a time or in batches to get painkillers and many young/younger woman will have a full set of dentures for this reason...

 

[cvaldez1975]

my thoughts is she was a runaway for a good few years and a prostitute. i think her home life was poor and not good, and her teeth were never cared for. as she got older they got worse and she went to a free clinic and they were removed and she got inexpensive dentures. the man she was seen with was either a john or her pimp. i think she was partially undressed because she was turning a trick in a car and that is why her lower dentures and shoes are missing. the john pushed her from the car after stabbing her.

i hope they can someday find her name.

 

[CarlK90245]

Here is my facial reconstruction for Sahara Sue based on the newly posted postmortem photo.

:bump:

My Sahara Sue Recon got another make-over.

 

[JayFletcher6493]

any new information on this case?

 

[amputate]

my thoughts is she was a runaway for a good few years and a prostitute. i think her home life was poor and not good, and her teeth were never cared for. as she got older they got worse and she went to a free clinic and they were removed and she got inexpensive dentures. the man she was seen with was either a john or her pimp. i think she was partially undressed because she was turning a trick in a car and that is why her lower dentures and shoes are missing. the john pushed her from the car after stabbing her.

i hope they can someday find her name.

I have to agree with this, it seems like a very logical theory for as to why she was dressed the way she was. No one in their right mind would walk around Vegas barefoot in August.

 

[JayFletcher6493]

bump.

 

[Springrain]

I think she looked over 15-25, maybe 30ish. I also wonder why she was dressed like that. That attire would be hot in summer anywhere, but especially NV.

I keep thinking, maybe she was Amish, and they tried to file a report on her but had no photo since they do not take photos.

 

[carbuff]

Maybe I'm misremembering, but wasn't she wearing jeans and a blouse? Perfectly reasonable for me in summer.

 

[Springrain]

Maybe I'm misremembering, but wasn't she wearing jeans and a blouse? Perfectly reasonable for me in summer.

Yes, she was wearing a somewhat heavy looking blouse and jeans. In the 90-100 Las Vegas heat, I imagine that would be very hot.

 

[carbuff]

The blouse looks kind of heavy, but it's described as linen, which is a summer fabric. It looks to me like the kind of summer outfit I would have worn if I was going out someplace where it was going to be air conditioned, like a casino or restaurant or maybe working in a store, etc. Or going out for some shopping.

It gives me the impression that she was more or less local--not necessarily from the area originally, but living in Vegas, not a transient or tourist.

 

[Tulessa]

Maybe I'm misremembering, but wasn't she wearing jeans and a blouse? Perfectly reasonable for me in summer.

And me.

 

[rainwater]

There was ( and is) an area of Las Vegas called "Naked City". , directly west of the Stratosphere. The boundaries are (were) Las Vegas Blvd., Sahara Ave, Wyoming, and Industrial Rd. The neighborhood has been there since the 1950s; it is mainly (very low rent) apartments. At one time, the neighborhood was frequented by more "working girls" and drug dealers then are there now. The Las Vegas PD (aka Metro) spent years cleaning the neighborhood up, but it is still not an area where most people would want to take a stroll , especially at night, unless they were armed. I think there is a strong possibility that Sahara Sue was living/working in that area.