Identified! OR - Sweet Home - 'Swamp Mountain Doe' - Am Ind/Native/WhtFem 18-40 - UP7765 - Jul'76 Marion McWhorter

[SpecZ_!]

Another exclusion has been added. Total is now 18.

View attachment 436866

Does anyone know what Native American tribe/group that Mary Sylvestre was a part of? Or which Native American tribes possess such a similar facial structure? With such a similar face structure it puts up the possibility that Mary Sylvestre and Swamp Mountain Jane Doe are in the same/similar Native American genetic population. This facial structure trait you'll see in some Native Americans (to the looks of it more up in Canada in Alaska) however I can't seem to find which tribes are the ones that possess this trait.

Although Mary Sylvestre isn't Swamp Mountain Jane Doe, I think she might point to the direction of where Swamp Mountain Jane Doe lived.

 

[SleutherGirl]

Does anyone know what Native American tribe/group that Mary Sylvestre was a part of? Or which Native American tribes possess such a similar facial structure? With such a similar face structure it puts up the possibility that Mary Sylvestre and Swamp Mountain Jane Doe are in the same/similar Native American genetic population. This facial structure trait you'll see in some Native Americans (to the looks of it more up in Canada in Alaska) however I can't seem to find which tribes are the ones that possess this trait.

Although Mary Sylvestre isn't Swamp Mountain Jane Doe, I think she might point to the direction of where Swamp Mountain Jane Doe lived.

Charley Project says she was originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Edit: Her daughter has a face book dedicated to the mother. Not sure if I am allowed to link it.
2nd edit: The daughter's got a phone number up on her facebook.
3rd edit: Her maiden name was Ward and I can find nothing that references Native blood at all.

 

[SpecZ_!]

Charley Project says she was originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Edit: Her daughter has a face book dedicated to the mother. Not sure if I am allowed to link it.
2nd edit: The daughter's got a phone number up on her facebook.
3rd edit: Her maiden name was Ward and I can find nothing that references Native blood at all.

Yeah, after some digging, it actually appears that Mary Sylvestre doesn't even have Native American blood at all. Her daughter also made entries for her family in find grave with photos of them. None of Mary Sylvestre parents were Native American. This appears to have been an error by Namus and the Charley Project which both state that she is Native American.

 

[Crimestopper88888]

John ackroyd could be a suspect in this case.

John Arthur Ackroyd - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[SpecZ_!]

John ackroyd could be a suspect in this case.

John Arthur Ackroyd - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Yeah it's a possibility but as of right now the link isn't too strong. What does match up was that John Ackroyd lived in Sweet Home. However if I'm correct John Ackroyd was not yet apart of ODOT in 1976. When John Ackroyd was hired by ODOT was when he really started frequenting Highway 20 and also when the killings started up along Highway 20. Swamp Mountain Jane Doe was murdered anywhere from early 1976 to 1966 (although likely in the 70s). It's also uncertain because of the rape he committed in 1977. In 1977, Marlene Gabrielsen hitchhiked with John Ackroyd from Sister Oregon after visiting Sister, Oregon for their rodeo. Along Highway 20 John Ackroyd proceeded to turn along an old wagon road and rape her. After it was done, by Marlene account John Ackroyd said to her "Well what am I going to do with you now"? With her response "You're going to take me home". In which he did. She tried to press charges, even with proof by taking a rape kit. But the police disregarded her unfortunately.

Investigators mark this as John Ackroyd's first crime. Every other attempt proceeding Marlene Gabrielsen ended in him killing or attempting to kill his victim. Marlene Gabrielsen case indicates that he was new to commiting such crimes and was uncertain of what he should do. Although, the area in which the crime occurred is pretty close to the area where Swamp Mountain Doe's body was found.

 

[Melt71]

Although, the area in which the crime occurred is pretty close to the area where Swamp Mountain Doe's body was found.

I wonder if there a possibility that he was already familiar with the roads/tracks in the area when he raped Marlene (ie: that he may have scoped them out earlier in Swamp Mountain Doe's case)?

 

[theshadow45]

Swamp Mountain Jane Doe has been unidentified for 49 years today.

 

[iulia]

Her NamUs page is down at the moment.

 

[The4TierBridge]

Her NamUs page is down at the moment.

Most of these recent NamUs profiles removed from Oregon were cases with phenotype reports from Parabon Nanolabs. I think they must have done IGG work with them too.

 

[Mrs. Badcrumble]

Most of these recent NamUs profiles removed from Oregon were cases with phenotype reports from Parabon Nanolabs. I think they must have done IGG work with them too.

The Oregon State Medical Examiner (OSME) has been collaborating with PN since 2018 when they (OSME) received National Institute of Justice (NIJ) grant funds to perform forensic genetic genealogy and DNA phenotyping on 100 unidentified human skeletal remains cases.

 

[Caring1]

Identified as Marion Vinetta Nagel McWhorter.

September 16, 2025

Now, five decades later, the woman long known by investigators as Swamp Mountain Doe has a name: Marion Vinetta Nagle McWhorter.

Oregon State Police on Tuesday said it had confirmed McWhorter’s identity through genetic genealogy.

It’s still not clear if Ackroyd had any connection to McWhorter’s disappearance.

McWhorter, then 21, called a relative from a pay phone in Tigard in October 1974. Her family never heard from her again.

Highway 20 cold case solved: DNA identifies ‘Swamp Mountain Doe’ as missing woman from mid-70s

Now, five decades later, the woman long known by investigators as Swamp Mountain Doe has a name: Marion Vinetta Nagle McWhorter.

www.oregonlive.com

 

[outback]

I love she now has a name. What a beautiful young lady.

 

[John/Jane Doe]

https://www.facebook.com/100070207066774/posts/849590170724544

 

[victoriarobinson642]

Highway 20 cold case solved: DNA identifies ‘Swamp Mountain Doe’ as missing woman from mid-70s

Now, five decades later, the woman long known by investigators as Swamp Mountain Doe has a name: Marion Vinetta Nagle McWhorter.

www.oregonlive.com

The case went nowhere until earlier this year when McWhorter’s cousin “spontaneously uploaded their genetic profile” to a family tree DNA database, giving genealogists a clearer picture of the unidentified woman’s family tree.

She said her mother was Alaska Native from the Ahtna Athabascan people in the Copper River area in southeastern Alaska, and her oldest sister was named for an aunt who died in 1940 in an American Indian boarding school in Alaska.

McWhorter had two children, both girls, Nagle said. Her sister gave up one child for adoption when she was 16 and left her older child behind with her ex-husband.

She said her sister was fleeing an abusive relationship at the time she vanished. According to police reports, McWhorter’s nose previously had been broken and healed.

Rest well, Marion.

 

[summergirl1]

Yeah it's a possibility but as of right now the link isn't too strong. What does match up was that John Ackroyd lived in Sweet Home. However if I'm correct John Ackroyd was not yet apart of ODOT in 1976. When John Ackroyd was hired by ODOT was when he really started frequenting Highway 20 and also when the killings started up along Highway 20. Swamp Mountain Jane Doe was murdered anywhere from early 1976 to 1966 (although likely in the 70s). It's also uncertain because of the rape he committed in 1977. In 1977, Marlene Gabrielsen hitchhiked with John Ackroyd from Sister Oregon after visiting Sister, Oregon for their rodeo. Along Highway 20 John Ackroyd proceeded to turn along an old wagon road and rape her. After it was done, by Marlene account John Ackroyd said to her "Well what am I going to do with you now"? With her response "You're going to take me home". In which he did. She tried to press charges, even with proof by taking a rape kit. But the police disregarded her unfortunately.

Investigators mark this as John Ackroyd's first crime. Every other attempt proceeding Marlene Gabrielsen ended in him killing or attempting to kill his victim. Marlene Gabrielsen case indicates that he was new to commiting such crimes and was uncertain of what he should do. Although, the area in which the crime occurred is pretty close to the area where Swamp Mountain Doe's body was found.

I think instead of "proceeding Marlene Gabrielsen", you mean after Marlene Gabrielsen.

 

[summergirl1]

Identified as Marion Vinetta Nagel McWhorter.

September 16, 2025

Now, five decades later, the woman long known by investigators as Swamp Mountain Doe has a name: Marion Vinetta Nagle McWhorter.

Oregon State Police on Tuesday said it had confirmed McWhorter’s identity through genetic genealogy.

It’s still not clear if Ackroyd had any connection to McWhorter’s disappearance.

McWhorter, then 21, called a relative from a pay phone in Tigard in October 1974. Her family never heard from her again.

View attachment 614864
View attachment 614865

Highway 20 cold case solved: DNA identifies ‘Swamp Mountain Doe’ as missing woman from mid-70s

Now, five decades later, the woman long known by investigators as Swamp Mountain Doe has a name: Marion Vinetta Nagle McWhorter.

www.oregonlive.com

McWhorter's aunt said she said from the payphone that a man driving a white pickup had offered to give her a ride. I wonder if there's any evidence Ackroyd had access to such a vehicle when/if he was on leave in late 1974?

 

[summergirl1]

Another interesting point I noticed in the above article is the fact Ackroyd was cited for possessing a pistol in 1976, and in a different part of the article is this about McWhorter's cause of death:
"McWhorter also appears to have died by homicide.

According to a 2010 Linn County Sheriff’s Office report, a medical examiner identified a “wound track” on her skull, “which could have been caused by something similar in size to an ice pick or small caliber firearm."

 

[arielilane]

PORTLAND, Ore. — Valerie Nagle spent decades wondering what happened to her older sister who was last seen in Oregon in 1974. She searched online databases of unidentified persons cases looking for her and sent DNA to a popular ancestry website in the hopes of finding a match.

That all changed in June when authorities in Oregon called Nagle “out of the blue” to ask about comparing her DNA to a cold caseknown as “Swamp Mountain Jane Doe,” she said. Nagle’s DNA ultimately helped confirm that the remains of a woman found near a mountain creek in Oregon’s Central Cascades in 1976 were that of her sister, Marion Vinetta Nagle McWhorter.

Oregon State Police publicly released the news this week after the remains were identified in June.

A woman's remains were found in Oregon in 1976. They've been identified 49 years later thanks to DNA

Marion Vinetta Nagle McWhorter was last seen at a shopping mall in the Portland suburb of Tigard when she was 21.

www.nbcnews.com

Sept 19

A woman's remains were found in Oregon in 1976. They've been identified 49 years later thanks to DNA.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1969034993117598065