Identified! PA - White Haven, 'Beth Doe' & Unborn Baby 169UFPA, 16-22, Dec'76 - #1 - Evelyn Colon

[shadowangel]

The school was the Wassaic School for the Mentally Retarded. Here is the NYS missing page for Sheryl---http://www.troopers.state.ny.us/Wanted_&_Missing/Missing/view.cfm?ID=34

and the girl I thought was a possible match
http://www.doenetwork.us/cases/122ufny.html

Its very possible DNA was tested, the trooper just chose not to share that with me. Sorry, don't know much about pregnant women and moles...

 

[Yaya]

It does appear very similar. Perhaps a search of old Sears, Wards, and Penney's catalogs might turn up another match which would provide a date for reference. A bedspread like that one was likely NOT used in a motel, but would probably have come from a private residence. Is it a single bed or double bed style covering?

Althought it was not specified in her file, based on the pattern I believe it is more likely to have been for a double or what some people call a full size bed.
94" X 110" seems the most popular size for Vintage Chenille Spreads.

I agree... this is certainly the type of spread more likely to be found in a home rather than a hotel.

 

[LButler]

Shadowangel .... having problems accessing the Doenetwork, but will check that out as soon as the site is "back" or I get myself working.

Don't know if I'll get anything back, but I sent an e-mail on the PA Missing website asking if a photo exists of the writing on her hand or they have any other info they can share with us. Will pass on anything they respond with.

 

[LButler]

Just was able to look at the Doe. She had gold fillings and Sheryl's site says that no dentals are available. That may not be huge, but I would think the family would mention gold fillings if she had any. Maybe she got them later and the family wasn't even aware? I would think they would be expensive for a young lady at her first job?

I don't know, maybe the lack of dentals on Sheryl and the gold fillings mean nothing?

 

[shadowangel]

Shadowangel .... having problems accessing the Doenetwork, but will check that out as soon as the site is "back" or I get myself working.

Don't know if I'll get anything back, but I sent an e-mail on the PA Missing website asking if a photo exists of the writing on her hand or they have any other info they can share with us. Will pass on anything they respond with.

I sent some e-mails on the same subject last night---Maybe we'll get someone's attention!

 

[LButler]

What is that old saying .........

oh yeah,

GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE!!

Let's keep our fingers crossed!! I hope they don't tell us no on photos because they think they're too graphic. I really think morgue photos are better reference than reconstructs (when possible, I know a photo of a skeleton won't help us), but this girl was not a skeleton when found.

 

[shadowangel]

The markings on her hand are obviously open to interpretation, since nothing definitive can be said of them--only that LE is "fairly certain" about the WSR. A 4 is not a 7 is not a 5...But, as Yaya pointed out, some foreign countries use a 7 with a line through the middle which might resemble the number 4.

I think we need to see for ourselves, and I can't see photos of the young woman's hand being called "too graphic".

 

[Yaya]

I sent several emails to Chenille collectors asking for help in identifying the bedspread. I received a reply stating:

From what I can see, your example spread is an unusual pattern--I've never seen it before. But, with vintage Chenille’s, before mass production, it was whatever the person crafting it felt like making that day with what materials available. I'd say the style is probably 1950's, especially from the color combination (but could be earlier) and based on the multicolor pastel look that was popular and a medium weight could mean a summer spread in Pennsylvania, but originally chenilles were made in the South. It is also possible that the spread is part of a set that was sold at Wards in the early 1960’s. It came with curtains, spread, and shams. This was of a lower quality. The original photo of the spread has "cut tufts"--shaggy ends not curly ones that are knotted. Most Sears spreads were knotted.

 

[LButler]

Wow, a response already!! But, not great news. As follows:


Dear Lisa:

Unfortunately, there is no photo of Carbon County Jane Doe's hand (with the writing intact) in her case file. The one photo of her hand that exists is of very good quality, excellent resolution, to the point where the grooves and whorls of her palm are clearly evident. The fingers are smudged with black from where they took her fingerprints, which tells me that the photo was taken after her arm/hand were cleaned, erasing all traces of the notations. I haven't posted the photo on my web site since there just isn't anything there that would help in trying to identify her.

I wish there were, since I also think that the writing could be key. I also think that they are some kind of shorthand for a destination. Route 437 is just west of White Haven. Travel 11 miles north and you get to PA-309 N / WILKES BARRE-HAZELTON HWY. Could WSR actually be WSB? Short for Wilkes-Barre?

I've been reading the thread on Websleuths. With the 29th Anniversary of Jane Doe's murder quickly approaching, I'm truly grateful for the renewed interest in her case. While so many are caught up in the Christmas rush, there will be a lot of us remembering the young mother and her child that most of the world has forgotten.

Sorry I couldn't be more helpful. But keep trying. The more eyes looking, the better chance we have of finding out who she is.

Best wishes for a happy and safe Holiday Season.

Nancy Monahan
Pennsylvania Missing Persons
www.pennsylvaniamissing.com

 

[LButler]

Checked back to the first post to get this,

Police theorize that the killer, traveling westbound on I-80

If the writing on her hand was WSB for Wilkes-Barre as Ms. Monahan thought possible, that could mean that she was picked up in Wilkes-Barre, killed, and then dumped as the killer headed west since White Haven is west of W-B.

So, what can we find out about Wilkes-Barre that might help us?

 

[shadowangel]

If no photos of the writing on the hand exist, the value of the writing as evidence in the case decreases considerably for me...What exists, then? Someone's notes on what they saw and their personal interpretation? How reliable is that?

 

[KarlK]

LButler, I think they look very similar. The eyes/face look a lot alike.

But not the teeth. Doe's dentition appears to be in pretty bad shape while Sheryl's look almost perfect?

 

[LButler]

KarlK .... I didn't find any mention of Sheryl's teeth other than "dentals not available." They do look good from the second picture. And, our Doe did have teeth missing.

But, looking at the second photo of Sheryl, there is a noticeable gap in her front teeth and that shows somewhat on the Doe as well. I don't know?

Also, Laini, looking back through the posts, there is more than an 8-month time-gap in the two. Sheryl went missing September 73 and the Doe was found December 76. My thought on the time-gap was that maybe Sheryl had left with someone who turned out not to be "Mr. Right" and she was trying to leave or something to that effect. The fact that there is so little info available on Sheryl makes me think that she was not very close to her family.

I feel that some things match the two and some things don't. I just can't forget that "look" Sheryl has in the first photo and the similarities to the Doe.

Shadowangel ... I agree that not having any photos of the handwriting kind of "eliminates" it as anything to go on and that's a real shame. I guess at the time she was found, the "things to absolutely do in a homicide autopsy" was not common knowledge. Today, we'd have lots of photos of the writing and a computer expert analyzing it. No slam to LE here, the times have just changed.

 

[awagner]

I submitted that as a Possible Match while I was a doenetwork member. I belive that was submitted to Law enforcement..

I've been looking at this girl for a few days. Sheryl Ann Tillinghast

http://www.doenetwork.us/cases/1500dfny.html

I think the first photo of her (not smiling) looks somewhat like our Jane doe?

http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PubCaseSearchServlet?act=viewPoster&caseNum=400049&orgPrefix=NCMU&searchLang=en_UShttp://www.missingkids.com/missingk...earchLang=en_US

I may be way off on this, but wanted to post it.

Another strange thing that came to mind, is that Sheryl was employed at the Wassaic State School in NY at the time of her disappearance. I wonder if the WSR on her hand could have been a reference to the school? Could the 2 numbers have meant something at the time she worked there?

Please ignore me if I'm grasping here, but I feel guilty when I don't post my ramblings. Who knows?

 

[awagner]

That is definately intersting.. Here is another case that I wondered if was connected..


In Memory of Cheryl Fossyl


Cheryl, 16, was a Georgetown High School junior and studying law enforcement when she disappeared on June 4, 1977 in Georgetown, Ohio. She was not reported missing for nearly a week. Her severed head was found floating in Straight Creek in Brown County on June 11. Most of the rest of her body was found on June 28 in Adams County. Cheryl had been beaten to death before she was decapitated and dismembered.
A 1995 deathbed confession by a woman who claimed to have witnessed Cheryl's murder lead police and her family to suspects Thomas Aubrey "Frog" Watson, Michael R. Milligan, and Nick Tsanges. There has not been enough evidence to charge the men criminally, but in October 2002. Cheryl's siblings have filed a civil suit against them for wrongful death. They allege that Watson and Milligan killed Cheryl to keep her from telling police what she knew about the murder of a man in a local bar, and Tsanges help plan and then cover up the crime.
As of April 2004, however, Cheryl's murder is still officially unsolved

I ran across an article in the Syracuse Herald Journal dated 3/25/77 which reported that Devernon LeGrand (52) and his son Steven LeGrand (28) murdered two teenage girls and dumped their dismembered bodies into a pool on their 58 acre upstate New York property. One of the girls was the wife of another of LeGrand's son, and the other woman was her sister. Devernon wanted to prevent them from testifying against him in an upcoming rape case.

The DA's office at that time was investigating the disappearance of about 15 people associated with Devernon LeGrand. He had a "corps" of about 50 women who wore nuns' habits and begged about $250,000 a year for him.

I haven't had a chance to check further to see if any other murders were attributed to the LeGrands, but I wondered about Carbon County Jane Doe. Could it be possible that she was one of his "nuns"? I know that's a little farfetched, but I figured it was worth posting.

Edited to add: I'm running across more info about LeGrand, so apparently he's pretty well known. In one place he is referred to as the "Bluebeard of Brooklyn." It appears he may have been in jail during the time Carbon County Jane Doe was killed.

 

[LButler]

I've been wondering why they made reconstructions of her with both long and short hair. She was found rather soon after her death and although dismembered, it seems as though the only parts missing were her ears and nose. So, was her hair long or short at the time of her death?

 

[LButler]

I submitted that as a Possible Match while I was a doenetwork member. I belive that was submitted to Law enforcement..

Skipped over your post until now. So, I guess Sheryl was not our girl. Good and bad. Maybe Sheryl is alive and well, but then who is our Jane Doe?

 

[LButler]

29 years ago today that this young mother-to-be's remains were found. 29 years with no name and no justice. I can't stop thinking about her. I hope the media in the area where she was found will continue to remind folks about her. Someone will talk someday and the mystery will be solved.

 

[GraceBlue]

Hollow Here is your picture:

If this is the wrong thread, please let me know and I'll move it.

 

[Hollow]

This is the right thread, thanks Grace. This is an original drawing of Carbon County Jane Doe, thought it might help. To me it looks a lot different than the other drawing I seen of this woman.