PA PA - Honesdale, "Bethany Bones", WhtFem 55-65, UP 14828, expensive gold dental work, Oct'77

[CCJD]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Unidentified Person / NamUs #UP14828 Female, White / Caucasian
Status Unidentified
Date Body Found October 24, 1977
Location Found Honesdale, Pennsylvania
Estimated Age Range 55-65 Years
Case Information

Case Numbers
ME/C Case Number R03-0028636
Demographics
Sex Female
Race / Ethnicity White / Caucasian

Estimated Age Group Adult - Pre 70
Estimated Age Range (Years) 55-65
Estimated Year of Death--
Estimated PMI--
Height 5' 7"(67 inches) , Estimated
Weight175 lbs, Estimated
Circumstances
Type Unidentified Deceased
Date Body Found October 24, 1977
NamUs Case Created February 29, 2016
ME/C QA Reviewed--

Location Found
Location Honesdale, Pennsylvania
County Wayne County

Circumstances of Recovery Hunters stumbled upon skeletal remains about 20 feet off a road in a wooded, uninhabited area between Bethany and Honesdale. Early reports stated that the remains had been stuffed into two plastic bags. Some reported that they were hidden in thick underbrush, another stated that they were found in a bunch of rhododendrons. State police interviewed a neighbor who resided less than a mile from where she was found. The neighbor told them earlier that year she saw a red pickup truck with New York tags parked near the discovery site.
Details of Recovery
Inventory of Remains --
Condition of Remains Not recognizable - Partial skeletal parts only
Circumstance Notes
Mystery of Bethany Bones still unresolved

Physical Description
Hair Color Unknown
Head Hair Description --
Body Hair Description --
Facial Hair Description --
Left Eye Color Unknown
Right Eye Color Unknown
Eye Description --
Distinctive Physical Features
No Known Information

Clothing and Accessories
No Information Entered

Contacts
Investigating Agencies

PA State Police

Address Honesdale, Pennsylvania

Agency Case NumberR03-0028636
Date Reported--
Wayne Thomas, Trooper


Case Contributors
Wayne County Coroner's Office Wayne County Coroner's Office, Medicolegal Death Investigator

Address 925 Court Street, County Courthouse Honesdale, Pennsylvania 18431
County Wayne County
Main Phone (570) 253-4952

 

[CCJD]

When found, authorities thought the remains were male - and possibly those of Jimmy Hoffa. Well, not Hoffa and the bones were later determined to be female.

 

[CCJD]

Article from 1981 when she was first determined to be female by studying pelvic bone structure.

 

[YaYa_521]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Excluded
MP2560 Maria Anjiras 02/12/1976 Fairfield CT

 

[Daisy1980]

"Cmriositty seekers flock to Hooesdaile, Pa. JY NEW YORK ( N.Yv )7 I l Susquehanna j New MMford Wfff I a A Honesdale 7 PENNSYLVANIA Map shows Bethany, Pa., southeast of Binghamton By TOM CAWLEV HONESDALE, PA. - This little town of 5,000. 15 miles south and east of the Triple Cities, is titilated today by the possibility that on Monday, one of Its well-known young men may or may not have found the skeletal remains of teamster boss James R. Hoffa, who disappeared two years ago from a Detroit suburb. The skeleton was found by a man in his early 20s named Gary Sprague, who was hunting in the rural bush of the Town of Dyberry five miles north of this borough. What Sprague found was a skeleton in a plastic bag. One leg and one arm were lying on the ground a few feet from the bag. The local coroner, Robert Jennings, got in touch with Dr. Dominick DiMaio, the chief medical examiner of New York City. DiMaio came here Tuesday and decided to send the skeleton to New York City. Today the medical examiner's office and Jennings are trying to determine whether the remains are those of Hoffa. Along lonely Route 455 north of this borough, State Police of Pennsylvania barred reporters from entering the area where the skeleton was found. On hand were Pennsylvania police and FBI agents from Philadelphia. In Honesdale, the personnel manager of a company known as The American Manufacturing Co. would not allow reporters to talk to Sprague. The personnel manager, Andrew Booths, said, "It is a matter of privacy. All calls or visits to Mr. Sprague must be cleared by the Pennsylvania state police." Coroner Jennings is reported to have been impressed by the amount of gold bridgework in the teeth of the skeleton. Hoffa was known to have been equipped with expensive gold-dental work. At the scene of the finding today, the state police had erected a barrier with a sign that said "Crime Center. Do Not Enter." Trooper Michael O'Day of the Honesdale station of the Pennsylvania state police was standing guard, but seemed to be lost in a crowd of network television cameramen and reporters who have been attracted here by the report the skeleton may be that of Hoffa. The neighbors along Route 455 where the skeleton was found are upset. Susan Torrick, 21, who is employed by an automobile appliance firm near the scene, said, "This is a very shocking thing for us, if it is true." John Megiven, a construction worker, said as he watched police cars going up the road toward the scene, "I suppose they will be dumping all of them up here now." Honesdale, in the Town of Dyberry, is not used to such events. Honesdale was a 19th century terminal for a canal that flowed to the Hudson River at Kingston bearing the boats that carried the rich anthracite coal from northeastern Pennsylvania to New York City. It is not a coal-mining town, but it is surrounded by hard coal fields. There is the usual skepticism among the local residents that the skeleton is that of Hoffa. One resident said, "The newspapers are just making a big thing out of it." . Coroner Jennings, however, is indeed ernest. He is a professional photographer who runs for the office of coroner, and gets elected. In Pennsylvania a coroner is not required to be a physician, as is the case in New York State. He was in Florida last weekend and when he heard that the plastic bag with the bones in it had been found he flew home and got in touch immediately with the New York City medical examiners office. The coroner talked on the telephone last night with James P. Hoffa Jr. and told him that he suspected the remains in the plastic bag were those of the missing father. He described, according to reports, the remains as that of a person measuring S feet S inches up to S feet 7 inches and that the hair, which remained with the bones, was gray and black. He also told young Hoffa about the gold bridgework in the teeth. Jennings is being quoted by the local press as having said that his father had a lot of gold crowns in ' his mouth. Meanwhile, this afternoon, the desolate brush country in the Town of Dyberry is becoming a magnet for curiousity seekers and the usual crowd of people who concentrate on the scene of any tragedy."

Press and Sun-Bulletin from Binghamton, New York on October 28, 1977 · 3

 

[Daisy1980]

HONEStALE (AP) (Medical examiners have failed to identify a dismembered body found in the woods near here earlier this week, but they are certain it was not the body of former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa. The New York City medical examiner's office ruled out Hoffa and anothel man Friday after a comparison of dental records. The second man; Eliza Zaccardi, has been missing about eight months and; was described as an underboss in the New York City crime family of the late Vito Genovese, FBI agent Carroll Uhlig said in Philadelphia Friday night. "Most of the medical examiners and law enforcement officers were 95 percent sure from the start that the body was not Hoffa's," Uhlig said. f'Zaccardi was more likely missing for eight months, right size and age. But it wasn't him either." Body found in two plastic bags The skeletal remains, found in two plastic bags by a hunter Monday, were taken to the New York City medical examiner's office because of its extensive experience in identifying bodies. Wayne bounty Coroner Robert Jennings said early today that the body wuld remain in New York for about two weeks for more tests. The cjause of death has not been determined, he said. "It isn'tla normal homicide, ft appears to be a gangland type killing," Jefmings said. "A guy just doesn't wrap himself up in two plastic bags! and die." The skeleton was that of a white man, 55 to 60 years old, aind about 5 foot 6. Hoffa stood 5 foot 54 and was 62 when he vanished in July 1975 from a restaurant parking lot in Detroit. The skeleton had been partially dismembered and was unclothed, according to Jennings. Parts of the hands and feet were missing, but the victim had a mouthful of expensive gold dental work. I I 'Wealthy or well-to-do person' "It is apparently a wealthy or well-to-do person to afford this type of work," Jennings said. "It is thejtype of work you would get in a metropolitan area, such as Los Angeles or New York. Such work is notlavailable in our area." Hoffa also had extensive gold dental work, but a comparison of charts definitely eliminated the missing union leader as a possibility, said Dr. Dominic DiMaio, New York City medical examiner. "Just one good look and you knew they weren't the same," DiMaio said. One marked difference was that the skeleton had an abnormal bone structure in the lower jaw and the back of the head, while Hoffa had no such deformities, he said. Hoffa also had more extensive capping of his teeth than the skeleton did. DiMaio said the high interest in the skeleton came about because "everybody just pitched in with Hoffa." The FBI has conducted a nationwide investigation into Hoffa's disappearance, brought dozens of witnesses before a federal grand jury and received thousands of tips about his supposed whereabouts. $300,030 offered by family Hoffa's family, which believes he was assassinated, has offered $300,000 for the arrest and conviction of those responsible for his disappearance. State police searched the wooded area where the skeleton was found as late as Friday, but found no additional clues, a trooper said. Jennings said the dental work is about the only means authorities have of positively identifying the victim, but bone deformities also will be considered. "We're going to try to develop the features," he said. "We're going to have a composit drawing made up to show what the person looked like." Uhlig said the body might never be identified. "It's like trying to find a needle in a haystack," he said. "In a country of 210 million, how many white males are there over 55 with blackish gray hair that can afford a $5,000 mouth that iiave been missing for eight months? That's what we're up against." hua , .mmmmummmm if . ' ,-,., - ,. s g r , fftinSai iiiiiilliiiHiTHfiiffi -irt -nrrTirffWi1fniriiiinvri.mm fr iiflmiinTiinmij . -i Authorities remove the skeletal remains of an unidentified gangland-style slaying victim from an uninhabited area near Bethany. At left is Wayne County Coroner Robert Jennings. Photo is from a WDAU-TV, Scranton, film. (AP Wirephoto)

Pottsville Republican from Pottsville, Pennsylvania on October 29, 1977 · 1

 

[Daisy1980]

Skeletal remains of a man found in Pennsylvania are not those of missing Teamsters boss James Hoffa. After a comparison of the skeleton's dental work with Hoffa's records, New York City Medical Examiner D o m i n i c k D i M a i o told reporters Friday, "We have decided the body we have downstairs is not James Hoffa. "One good look and we were pretty sure it wasn't Hoffa," DiMaio said. "Hoffa had extensive capping all across the front of his moulh, top and bottom. I think you call it the Hollywood look." The victim's dental work was not as extensive as Hoffa's, although (here were expensive gold inlays and filings reportedly costing up to $5,000, DiMaio said. The skeleton was found by a turkey hunter near Honesdale, Pa., on Monday. DiMaio examined the body at the request of Wayne County (Pa.) Coroner Robert Jennings, who said he did not have the facilities to conduct the necessary tests. DiMaio said the body was not clothed and that portions of the hands and feet were missing. He described the remains as that of a heavy-set, muscular white male, about 60,5-foot-S. The dead man's identity and the time and cause of UK death had not been determined Friday afternoon, but DiMaio said the death was "not natural." "There is no question in my opinion that it looted like a gangland style killing," Coroner Jennings said. He said the remains were found stuffed into two plastic bags and hidden in thick underbrush.

The Brownsville Herald from Brownsville, Texas on October 30, 1977 · Page 3

 

[Daisy1980]

She was laid to rest in late summer in an old cemetery

Among other things, says they have DNA, but no matches in "national missing persons database"

 

[madamx]

State police interviewed a neighbor who resided less than a mile from where she was found. The neighbor told them earlier that year she saw a red pickup truck with New York tags parked near the discovery site, Mrs. Lienert said.

Investigators were also told by neighbors that a few months before the discovery they smelled a strong stench in the area, but thought it was a dead animal. These tips produced no arrests nor shed any light on who Jane Doe 1977 was or how her body ended up off a rural road in



https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thetimes-tribune.com/news/mystery-of-bethany-bones-still-unresolved/article_e15212ec-37b3-5ebe-985c-6dac4fb387e3.amp.html

 

[YaYa_521]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Excluded
MP2560 Maria Anjiras 02/12/1976 Fairfield CT

2 Exclusions:
MP32965 Catherine Howard 06/25/1975 Nassau NY

 

[summergirl1]

It's interesting her hair was described as gray and black. So when she was younger, she would have had black hair, I'd assume. That's an important clue. Perhaps she was of Italian heritage. There's plenty of people with that background from NYC, and perhaps more so back then. Maybe her family or husband was even involved in some form of the mafia and had prior experience with murder and covering up unnatural deaths, although her murder, if it was one, obviously had nothing directly to do with the mafia. However, it is not outside the realm of possibility given where she was likely from and her possibly being of Italian heritage, that her killer or family had such ties. And that might explain her dental work too..her family or husband was wealthy from a crime family background. Hmm. The dental work is mentioned a lot, and it's interesting about the dental work being described as being from a metropolitan area like New York when there was a pick up with NY state license plates observed in the area. So it might be a good guess she maybe from New York City or nearby or had at least lived there for a time, before moving elsewhere in NY state. This seems like perhaps a husband who murdered his wife ( or a boyfriend who murdered his girlfriend, even) or possibly a murder by family members to get their hands on money ( she had a lot of gold dental work suggesting perhaps a wealthy background) or maybe even an natural death covered by family to keep collecting the victim's Social Security or pension or something. Perhaps her husband among other things couldn't deal with her health any longer, if she was bedbound as speculated. She was dismembered and her clothes removed, and my guess would be that was done to make it more difficult to identify her. Genetic genealogy would solve this.

 

[thordis]

It's interesting her hair was described as gray and black. So when she was younger, she would have had black hair, I'd assume. That's an important clue. Perhaps she was of Italian heritage. There's plenty of people with that background from NYC, and perhaps more so back then. Maybe her family or husband was even involved in some form of the mafia and had prior experience with murder and covering up unnatural deaths, although her murder, if it was one, obviously had nothing directly to do with the mafia. However, it is not outside the realm of possibility given where she was likely from and her possibly being of Italian heritage, that her killer or family had such ties. And that might explain her dental work too..her family or husband was wealthy from a crime family background. Hmm. The dental work is mentioned a lot, and it's interesting about the dental work being described as being from a metropolitan area like New York when there was a pick up with NY state license plates observed in the area. So it might be a good guess she maybe from New York City or nearby or had at least lived there for a time, before moving elsewhere in NY state. This seems like perhaps a husband who murdered his wife ( or a boyfriend who murdered his girlfriend, even) or possibly a murder by family members to get their hands on money ( she had a lot of gold dental work suggesting perhaps a wealthy background) or maybe even an natural death covered by family to keep collecting the victim's Social Security or pension or something. Perhaps her husband among other things couldn't deal with her health any longer, if she was bedbound as speculated. She was dismembered and her clothes removed, and my guess would be that was done to make it more difficult to identify her. Genetic genealogy would solve this.

I just dropped my son off at summer camp very near the location where this body was found. Many of the campers are from NY and the greater NY metropolitan area. The camp has been in operation for many years. It's possible that the camp is how someone from NY was familiar with such a remote location.

 

[Beccalicious]

Bumping

 

[madamx]

Geraldine Lisbon​

• 

Lisbon, circa 1977

• Missing Since03/10/1977
• Missing FromEast Harford, Connecticut
• ClassificationEndangered Missing
• SexFemale
• RaceWhite
• Age32 years old
• Height and Weight5'5, 120 pounds
• Distinguishing CharacteristicsCaucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Lisbon has a scar on her nose.

Details of Disappearance​

Lisbon was last seen in East Hartford, Connecticut on March 10, 1977. She has never been heard from again. Authorities believe she was the victim of a homicide, but her remains have never been recovered.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov