PA PA - Uniontown, WhtFem 30-45, UP16509, in big rig accident, cigs, keychain, clothes, jewelry, May'86

[PunkRock]

Body of woman who died tragically in 1986 in Fayette County exhumed to determine her identity

“Thank you to Trooper Sigwalt, Coroner Baker and all of the folks involved for their efforts to hopefully bring long-awaited closure to a grieving family.”

www.wpxi.com

Body of woman who died tragically in 1986 in Fayette County exhumed to determine her identity​

FAYETTE COUNTY, Pa. — The body of an unidentified woman who died nearly four decades ago has been exhumed in Fayette County to hopefully give closure to the case.

Members of Pennsylvania State Police Uniontown and the Fayette County Coroner’s Office exhumed the body Monday morning, according to the Fayette County District Attorney’s Office.

The woman died in a traffic crash in Springhill Township in 1986.


After being exhumed, the body was taken to the Indiana County Coroner’s Office, officials say. The woman’s DNA will be collected and uploaded to various databases in an effort to determine her identity.


“Thank you to Trooper Sigwalt, Coroner Baker and all of the folks involved for their efforts to hopefully bring long-awaited closure to a grieving family,” the district attorney’s office said.

I was just talking to my brother about this again today when he googled it and this update came up!!
This is so amazing! Godspeed that we may get this poor woman her name back after all these years! ♥

 

[summergirl1]

The 39-year mystery of Fayette County’s ‘Springhill Jane Doe’

More than 15,000 men, women and children across the country remain nameless, their identities lost to circumstance and time. Some are clearly victims of...

www.post-gazette.com

 

[Magnum P.E.]

The 39-year mystery of Fayette County’s ‘Springhill Jane Doe’

More than 15,000 men, women and children across the country remain nameless, their identities lost to circumstance and time. Some are clearly victims of...

www.post-gazette.com

This is worth reading, and thanks for posting it. It settles once and for all that she was a passenger in the cab. One of her shoes and her cigarette pack were found inside.
I sure hope that they use GEDmatch and not just the CODIS database, or we will likely be no closer to finding her identity.

 

[summergirl1]

I was glad to see the article mentioned genetic genealogy-it certainly sounds like they are going to use it. If the man mentioned in the article hadn't paid for her funeral and burial, it's possible she would have been cremated and then there would be no DNA with which to identify her (as is the case with other 1980s Does), and as nothing else has worked, that's very likely the only way she is ever going to be identified. That was before the potential of DNA testing was even realized, and way before genetic genealogy, and he was being kind in paying for her burial and donating a plot in his family's plot, and in the long run, which is nothing anyone could have foreseen at the time, him doing that is highly likely to be the thing that leads to her identification.

 

[Magnum P.E.]

I now have a glimmer of hope that this doe could be identified using CODIS. A doe found in the 80s in Bay County, Florida was recently identified using CODIS. It only happened because the doe had relatives who successfully had their dna entered into CODIS in an effort to find their missing sister. They matched. This took a fortuitous series of events. They had to convince LE to take their dna, which is not a given. The remains in Florida had to also be entered into CODIS, also not a given. Finally, they had to be close relatives, which they were.
They Bay County case has a thread on Websleuths.

P

FL Thread 'FL - Bay County, WhtFem 18-35, UP140754, white dress, banded sash/belt, found in wooded area, Dec'80'

Mar 25, 2025

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Namus# UP140754
UID White/Caucasian Female
Bay County region of FL
"Bay County Jane Doe" (Dec 1980)

Case Numbers​

ME/C Case Number: ME24-0389 (images mention #8012 11857)

Demographics​

Biological Sex: Female
Race / Ethnicity: White / Caucasian
Estimated Age Group: Adult
Estimated Age Range (Years): 18-35
Height: 5' 3"-5' 5"(63-65 inches) , Estimated
Weight: 115-135 lbs, Estimated

Circumstances​

Type: Unidentified Deceased
Date Body Found: December 10, 1980
NamUs Case Created: March 24, 2025...

• ProudSuggestion3528
• Replies: 5
• Forum: The Unidentified

• 

 

[chaddylex]

Keystone Cold Cases just released an episode about this Jane Doe's Case

Listen Now | Keystone Cold Cases

www.kccpod.com

 

[Magnum P.E.]

Bumping.
Nothing yet, but it has been only a month since she was exhumed.
I wonder if some family member was searching for her and saw her pictures online and submitted DNA, spurring all this activity? There is some real hope if that is the case.
It will be interesting to find out where she was from. Very very doubtful that she was local, every few years they would publish her photo and ask for leads. No luck.

 

[The4TierBridge]

Bumping.
Nothing yet, but it has been only a month since she was exhumed.
I wonder if some family member was searching for her and saw her pictures online and submitted DNA, spurring all this activity? There is some real hope if that is the case.
It will be interesting to find out where she was from. Very very doubtful that she was local, every few years they would publish her photo and ask for leads. No luck.

Pennsylvania got a 1 million dollar grant from the Federal government for unidentified human remains cases to undergo testing at the University of South Florida. They dug up her with three other people to start with. I don’t know why these 4 specific cases were chosen outside of that remains were still available for testing.

Baby Agnes 1987: PA - Blair County #UP16549. WhtFem Infant in bag, February 5, 1987

“Albert Crazy Buffalo” 1992: PA - PA - Scranton, NativeMale 40-75, UP10315, "Albert Crazy Buffalo" from SD, multiple aliases, Sep'92

“Ronald Thomas”/I-80 John Doe 2002: PA - PA - Centre Co, WhtMale UnkAge, UP142840, died in MVA, Alias: Ronald Thomas, Aug'00

 

[Magnum P.E.]

Pennsylvania got a 1 million dollar grant from the Federal government for unidentified human remains cases to undergo testing at the University of South Florida. They dug up her with three other people to start with. I don’t know why these 4 specific cases were chosen outside of that remains were still available for testing.

Baby Agnes 1987: PA - Blair County #UP16549. WhtFem Infant in bag, February 5, 1987

“Albert Crazy Buffalo” 1992: PA - PA - Scranton, NativeMale 40-75, UP10315, "Albert Crazy Buffalo" from SD, multiple aliases, Sep'92

“Ronald Thomas”/I-80 John Doe 2002: PA - PA - Centre Co, WhtMale UnkAge, UP142840, died in MVA, Alias: Ronald Thomas, Aug'00

Yes. I was aware of the grant. The point being, why this particular case? I hope there is more going on than we know about, other than they just randomly decided to do this case.
The Mt. Jewett Jane Doe calvarium and Mr. Bones are sitting in evidence rooms, and it sounds like it would be a more efficient use of funds to pursue those. In fact, maybe they are….

 

[kforbes862]

What is the current list of rule outs for this case

 

[Caring1]

What is the current list of rule outs for this case

Just one.

 

[Magnum P.E.]

Bumping for the Springhill doe
Who lost her name forty years ago
Were you from Minsk or Saskatoon?
We hope to know this very soon.

 

[Magnum P.E.]

Bumping

Still no word
Still no news
So many questions, so few clues
In the dark of the night
In the Fayette gloom
Beneath a semi you met your doom

 

[Magnum P.E.]

I am hearing fairly reliable info that her identity is now known to LE. If that is true, I don’t know why there is a delay in making it public, unless they are having trouble locating a relative.
After 40 years, there may be no one left who knew her.
Let’s hope they make an announcement soon.

 

[truenoblesavage]

Oh wow, really? That would be so wonderful to see her get her name back! I think about this case often.

 

[kforbes862]

That would be awesome. I think about this one often too. I would love to hear what her story was.

 

[Magnum P.E.]

Bumping

Interrupted your sleep
Three months, not a peep
Your name is a secret
That you still keep

 

[MelmothTheLost]

I am hearing fairly reliable info that her identity is now known to LE. If that is true, I don’t know why there is a delay in making it public, unless they are having trouble locating a relative.
After 40 years, there may be no one left who knew her.
Let’s hope they make an announcement soon.

Is it inevitable that this information will be made public? Her family may ask for privacy for both themselves and for her.

 

[The4TierBridge]

Is it inevitable that this information will be made public? Her family may ask for privacy for both themselves and for her.

Since they made such a big news story about digging her up as part of the state she was found in getting a bunch of grant funding for this work, I’d think the investigating agencies would want be able to make announcement. I understand that you do professional work on similar cases in the UK and continental Europe where this isn’t the case, but withholding IDs is kind of the exception in the U.S. and not the norm even when the subject was not previously reported missing or did not die suspiciously (at least for long-term unidentified cases).

 

[Susikatze]

She will probably publicized but it can take a while due to logistic processes that vary from state to state, LE to LE and also from case to case. I think we have to just be patient