Identified! SC - Columbia, WhtFem 35-50, UP12594, schizophrenic, died in hospital, Feb'82 - Virginia Clyde Higgins Ray

[Searching4Sally]

I've been working on my family tree since I've never known most of them. My mother's mother left around 1962-63, in New York. Said she was going to get a job and never came back. I've dug everywhere else trying to find some record of her and nothing anywhere, so I decided to check the unidentified people since her ex husband has already passed and it lead me to this Jane Doe(and 2 others) that do kind of resemble my mother, sisters and I. It's possible she was a transient, mental health is also something highly likely. she got pregnant at 16 and took off about 10 years later so anything is really possible but knowing my family genetics I feel like she ended up on the streets/in unpleasant situations. I feel the strong urge to find out what happened to her though just not sure how or where.

 

[Puzzleworth]

I've been working on my family tree since I've never known most of them. My mother's mother left around 1962-63, in New York. Said she was going to get a job and never came back. I've dug everywhere else trying to find some record of her and nothing anywhere, so I decided to check the unidentified people since her ex husband has already passed and it lead me to this Jane Doe(and 2 others) that do kind of resemble my mother, sisters and I. It's possible she was a transient, mental health is also something highly likely. she got pregnant at 16 and took off about 10 years later so anything is really possible but knowing my family genetics I feel like she ended up on the streets/in unpleasant situations. I feel the strong urge to find out what happened to her though just not sure how or where.

Hello Searching4Sally!

This certainly sounds possible. This woman had been a wandering preacher for a long time, it seems, and didn't have any connection to South Carolina. It would be a good idea to contact the Richland County Coroner's Office with your mother's mother's information. (I'm not sure if I can post their phone number here, but it's available under the "Contacts" tab on NAMUS) If you have any documents from your mother's mother, like birth certificates or medical records, those can help. They can compare her DNA to yours as well.

On another note: Have you considered doing genetic genealogy, like Ancestry or FamilyTreeDNA? Lots of people have had success finding relatives with that. It seems like many people simply vanished from their lives in those days, only to start anew elsewhere.

Best of luck in your search.

 

[Romulus]

I've been researching and thinking about her for months. I'm waiting for the coroner's office to email me back. I think that there is a small possibility that this Jane Doe is my husband's aunt that disappeared without a trace. She would have been 49 in 1982. I don't have any photo's of his aunt, and most people that knew her are dead now, but in my opinion, she looks a lot like my late father in law. I have DNA that they could compare it to. I'm so anxious about it.

News with this?

 

[Searching4Sally]

Hello Searching4Sally!

This certainly sounds possible. This woman had been a wandering preacher for a long time, it seems, and didn't have any connection to South Carolina. It would be a good idea to contact the Richland County Coroner's Office with your mother's mother's information. (I'm not sure if I can post their phone number here, but it's available under the "Contacts" tab on NAMUS) If you have any documents from your mother's mother, like birth certificates or medical records, those can help. They can compare her DNA to yours as well.

On another note: Have you considered doing genetic genealogy, like Ancestry or FamilyTreeDNA? Lots of people have had success finding relatives with that. It seems like many people simply vanished from their lives in those days, only to start anew elsewhere.

Best of luck in your search.

Thank you so much for you quick reply. I don't have a relationship with my mother, she repeated history, but DNA is definitely a possibility now that I know where to contact.

I have been using familysearch and got quite a lot of my family tree, it's like she just vanished though. Thank you for your recommendations. I'm sure I'll be posting a thread of my own eventually for a little extra help once I exhaust my capabilities.

 

[carbuff]

Hi and welcome, @Searching4Sally.

Is Sally your mother's name?

Even if she's not this Doe, it sounds like she might well be an unidentified victim somewhere.

 

[Bit of hope]

I've been working on my family tree since I've never known most of them. My mother's mother left around 1962-63, in New York. Said she was going to get a job and never came back. I've dug everywhere else trying to find some record of her and nothing anywhere, so I decided to check the unidentified people since her ex husband has already passed and it lead me to this Jane Doe(and 2 others) that do kind of resemble my mother, sisters and I. It's possible she was a transient, mental health is also something highly likely. she got pregnant at 16 and took off about 10 years later so anything is really possible but knowing my family genetics I feel like she ended up on the streets/in unpleasant situations. I feel the strong urge to find out what happened to her though just not sure how or where.

Hi and welcome! Just reading now...

 

[John/Jane Doe]

@Caring1 Hey could you post the NamUs exclusion list for this Jane Doe?

 

[Caring1]

@Caring1 Hey could you post the NamUs exclusion list for this Jane Doe?

3 Missing Person Exclusions

Missing Person / NamUs #MP17106Sherry Jones
Date of Last ContactSeptember 01, 1972
StateSC
CountyGreenville

Missing Person / NamUs #MP50556Phyllis Corbin
Date of Last ContactNovember 01, 1963
StateMO
CountySt. Louis

Missing Person / NamUs #MP5556Eva Debruhl
Date of Last ContactJune 29, 1977
StateSC
CountyYork

 

[John/Jane Doe]

State Hospital Jane Doe | Genealogy For Justice™

Richland County's State Hospital Jane Doe was a patient at the South Carolina State Hospital when she died on February 15, 1982. Not long after being hospitalized, the patient had an accidental and fatal fall. She was buried in the Richland County Cemetery as "Jane Doe" by the Richland

genealogyforjustice.org

 

[imstilla.grandma]

The small, close knit North Carolina communities that our Jane Doe traces to reflect a lot of the same surnames seen over and over; however, we don't have the right matches yet to point to a particular missing individual," said forensic genetic genealogist Allison Peacock, president of FHD Forensics.

Peacock's company is collaborating with the Richland CountyCoroner's Office to identify the woman who was likely born in the area between 1935 to 1945. Her genetic matches place her origins in Wilkes and surrounding counties in North Carolina, especially the communities of Wilkesboro and Traphill. Research is now focused on locating relatives from the Prevette, Higgins, Pennington, Miller, Gilley, and Mahaffey families.

Investigators Close to the Identity of Unknown Woman with North Carolina Ties: Team Working 1982 Cold Case Seeks to Name State Hospital Jane Doe

Working with authorities in Richland County, South Carolina, investigators at FHD Forensics have made important progress in their efforts to identify a woman who died in 1982 shortly after being hospitalized at the South Carolina State Hospital. They are now seeking help from the public in a...

finance.yahoo.com

 

[Bit of hope]

The small, close knit North Carolina communities that our Jane Doe traces to reflect a lot of the same surnames seen over and over; however, we don't have the right matches yet to point to a particular missing individual," said forensic genetic genealogist Allison Peacock, president of FHD Forensics.

Peacock's company is collaborating with the Richland CountyCoroner's Office to identify the woman who was likely born in the area between 1935 to 1945. Her genetic matches place her origins in Wilkes and surrounding counties in North Carolina, especially the communities of Wilkesboro and Traphill. Research is now focused on locating relatives from the Prevette, Higgins, Pennington, Miller, Gilley, and Mahaffey families.

Investigators Close to the Identity of Unknown Woman with North Carolina Ties: Team Working 1982 Cold Case Seeks to Name State Hospital Jane Doe

Working with authorities in Richland County, South Carolina, investigators at FHD Forensics have made important progress in their efforts to identify a woman who died in 1982 shortly after being hospitalized at the South Carolina State Hospital. They are now seeking help from the public in a...

finance.yahoo.com

Hopes up they find the right family and she can go "home".

 

[HmmMysterious]

The small, close knit North Carolina communities that our Jane Doe traces to reflect a lot of the same surnames seen over and over; however, we don't have the right matches yet to point to a particular missing individual," said forensic genetic genealogist Allison Peacock, president of FHD Forensics.

Peacock's company is collaborating with the Richland CountyCoroner's Office to identify the woman who was likely born in the area between 1935 to 1945. Her genetic matches place her origins in Wilkes and surrounding counties in North Carolina, especially the communities of Wilkesboro and Traphill. Research is now focused on locating relatives from the Prevette, Higgins, Pennington, Miller, Gilley, and Mahaffey families.

Investigators Close to the Identity of Unknown Woman with North Carolina Ties: Team Working 1982 Cold Case Seeks to Name State Hospital Jane Doe

Working with authorities in Richland County, South Carolina, investigators at FHD Forensics have made important progress in their efforts to identify a woman who died in 1982 shortly after being hospitalized at the South Carolina State Hospital. They are now seeking help from the public in a...

finance.yahoo.com

This is all being funded by the families of formerly unidentified decedents, Dean and Tina Clouse, through their Dean and Tina Clouse Memorial Fund managed by Genealogy for Justice. Simply amazing

 

[DSCrime]

Peacock's company is collaborating with the Richland CountyCoroner's Office to identify the woman who was likely born in the area between 1935 to 1945. Her genetic matches place her origins in Wilkes and surrounding counties in North Carolina, especially the communities of Wilkesboro and Traphill. Research is now focused on locating relatives from the Prevette, Higgins, Pennington, Miller, Gilley, and Mahaffey families.

With local news outlets in NC & SC covering this case it will likely be solved soon. Glad that they are making progress.

This is all being funded by the families of formerly unidentified decedents, Dean and Tina Clouse, through their Dean and Tina Clouse Memorial Fund managed by Genealogy for Justice. Simply amazing

Agree @HmmMysterious This will help so many families get answers. What a compassionate way to turn their heartbreak into a force for the greater good.

 

[John/Jane Doe]

https://www.facebook.com/100051953260803/posts/793217992419969

 

[victoriarobinson642]

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Virginia Clyde Higgins Ray, 38 years old, was married at age 16 and had a son who passed away at 9 months old of pneumonia. She went on to have several more children and in the year before her disappearance, she had given birth to another child, who was placed up for adoption. She had checked herself out of a North Carolina mental health facility the first week of February 1982 where she was being treated for schizophrenia, boarded a bus, and ended up in South Carolina. Her family searched for years but hit a brick wall when they attempted to report her missing. Years ago, a DNA match showed a match to a possible granddaughter of Virginia, but certain relatives chose not to submit a DNA sample to confirm, nor did they mention that they had a missing family member

 

[HopeRains]

peace.

 

[Bit of hope]

What a sad life and end. Everybody deserves their name back. I'm kind of happy she has, thanks to all people who set their mind to it. Rest easy now Ms. Higgins.

 

[AliceInPain]

Sad to see this could have been solved years ago, but glad she finally has her name back.

 

[John/Jane Doe]

https://www.facebook.com/100051953260803/posts/794802365594865

 

[imstilla.grandma]

The Jane Doe who died in 1982 was recently identified as Virginia Higgins Ray, Coroner Naida Rutherford said Tuesday at a news conference. She was a Wilkesboro, North Carolina, native, according to FHD Forensics, a genealogy group that played a pivotal role in identifying Ray.

Ray never provided her name to the staff or physicians who treated her when she was admitted into the women’s ward of the former state hospital on Bull Street and diagnosed with schizophrenia, according to Rutherford. Ray was suffering a mental health crisis when admitted to the hospital on Feb. 15, 1982, FHD said.

Ray died at the hospital after suffering a grand mal seizure and subsequent fall, Rutherford said. Her cause of death was listed as aspiration due to gastric contents, according to Rutherford.

Ray remained nameless, identified only as Jane Doe when she was buried in the county cemetery, said Dr. William Stevens, a deputy coroner who is the director of anthropology in Richland County.

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article275908826.html