Identified! NY - Mount Vernon, WhtFem 51UFNY, 18-25, Left Near Junkyard, Feb'88 - Veronica Wiederhold

[Lwieckowicz]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[Lwieckowicz]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Anybody think she could be a potential match? Says she was transient as well so could explain the distance?

 

[CCJD]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Anybody think she could be a potential match? Says she was transient as well so could explain the distance?

Doris has "thick burn scars on her neck, chest, stomach, and arms".
No such scars noted for UID. 51UFNY

 

[Nell91]

RIP Ronnie.

 

[jessr927]

Mount Vernon Jane Doe has been identified!

DNA identifies Veronica Wiederhold as Mount Vernon homicide victim

Veronica Wiederhold, 19, of NYC.

 

[Feme98]

Rest in peace Veronica! 33 years have passed, but today is the beginning of closure.

 

[Alleykins]

Wow. Just, wow.
This blows me away.
All I can say is hallelujah and RIP Veronica.

 

[Moonwalker9]

Wow this is amazing news. One of the cases I've been following and was hoping for a closure. This comes very unexpected since it seemed like the state of NY were very reluctant to test her in the fist place.

Rip Veronica. Hope we get to see your photo soon.

 

[Bit of hope]

Just blown away by this news.....finally sweetie, we know your name....I would like to see her real face...just waiting patiently. RIP Veronica...may you fly with the angels.

 

[chaddylex]

I just saw Carl K posted that she has been identified on FB. I actually started tracking her NamUs profile this morning (well the UID).

I am glad her family has closure. RIP Veronica

 

[ntt1]

From the article:

In the Mount Vernon case, Detective Brent Gamble reached out to the FBI in the summer of 2020 to see if genetic genealogy could identify Jane Doe.

Once the Westchester forensics lab determined that it had sufficient DNA from the victim, the FBI’s genetic genealogy unit was able to link it to possible relatives who had submitted their DNA to a genealogy website.

Murphy said it was fortunate that there was sufficient DNA to test because in the late 1980s DNA collection in criminal investigations was in its infancy.

[...]

The DNA match positively identifying Wiederhold was made in April and her family was notified.

[...]

Wiederhold's relatives, in Queens and Brooklyn, had last seen her at the end of 1987.

Once the identity was confirmed, Westchester investigators could find no record of Wiederhold in missing person databases.

 

[Springrain]

RIP Veronica! I am so happy she can finally be brought back home and laid to rest. Now, we just have to bring her killer to justice!

 

[Lewie]

A day I thought may never come! HUGE thank you to @jessr927 and all those on this thread who kept her case at top of mind. I’m sure that encouragement was a big factor in getting Veronica her name back.

 

[elmomom]

That was the best news I have heard in a very long time. Rest In Peace, I am so glad you are no longer lost.

 

[Mrs. Badcrumble]

I second the emotions here, especially @jessr927's relentless work through the years ♡ Well done!

Has her grave been located yet?

 

[Feme98]

I second the emotions here, especially @jessr927's relentless work through the years ♡ Well done!

Has her grave been located yet?

I’d asume that they did, given that they obtained a DNA profile for her.

I remember that it wasn’t know her burial site.

 

[Springrain]

I second the emotions here, especially @jessr927's relentless work through the years ♡ Well done!

Has her grave been located yet?

I just asked @jessr927 and she reported back that she has never heard anything on the location or status of Veronica's grave or other resting place. So no answers yet.

 

[Mrs. Badcrumble]

I’d asume that they did, given that they obtained a DNA profile for her.

I remember that it wasn’t know her burial site.

No, AFAIK LE obtained biological material from her when she was discovered. It's implied in the link in post #925:

Once the Westchester forensics lab determined that it had sufficient DNA from the victim, the FBI’s genetic genealogy unit was able to link it to possible relatives who had submitted their DNA to a genealogy website.

Murphy said it was fortunate there was sufficient DNA to test, because in the late 1980s DNA collection in criminal investigations was in its infancy.

I just asked @jessr927 and she reported back that she has never heard anything on the location or status of Veronica's grave or other resting place. So no answers yet.

Thank you! I do really hope she's located so that her loved ones don't have to go through losing her all over again

 

[Springrain]

Thank you! I do really hope she's located so that her loved ones don't have to go through losing her all over again

Personally I have wondered if she was buried in a paupers' grave, possibly at Hart Island, but I'm not sure what the rules for Hart Island burials are, like if the decedent has to die in NYC proper or what. I'm not sure of NY laws.

 

[ntt1]

No, AFAIK LE obtained biological material from her when she was discovered. It's implied in the link in post #925:

Thank you! I do really hope she's located so that her loved ones don't have to go through losing her all over again

It could have been an article of clothing that DNA was obtained from, similar to Kern County Jane Doe 1980 (Shirley Soosay).