The Doe Network, Part 3: Who is Princess Blue?

[LionRun]

Hi all-I posted a picture of the ring and links to the Princess Blue story on a new forum that was brought to my attention, the City Data Forum, people search. People post looking for relatives and friends there, so under the Houston section I started a thread called "Class of 1975 Robert Lee High."
Here is the link to the forum:
http://www.city-data.com/forum/people-search/

And here is the link to the thread:
http://www.city-data.com/forum/houston/215159-class-1975-robert-lee-high-school.html

Please let me know if this was a mis-step. I was posting some other cases over there and got a jones about putting something up for Princess Blue.

Believe, I think what you did could be helpful, and thank you very much! I can't get the link to the thread to work though. Can you post the whole link? I can't find the thread. TIA.

Lion

 

[believe09]

Interestingly enough, some member deleted my post...I posted it again under People Search:
http://www.city-data.com/forum/people-search/215462-class-1975-lee-high-school-houston.html

Hmm...I cannot get this link to work, although I can find my post-go to city data, then to general forum's then to people search and you will find the link.....let me know if I should delete it.

 

[LionRun]

I found it believe. The thread looks fine, except if you can you may want to remove the sentence that talks about the "L" inlaid in the ring. We learned a while back that all of the 1975 REL HS rings had the inlaid, "L" because it stood for the school mascot, Robert E. Lee.

Lion

 

[believe09]

I found it believe. The thread looks fine, except if you can you may want to remove the sentence that talks about the "L" inlaid in the ring. We learned a while back that all of the 1975 REL HS rings had the inlaid, "L" because it stood for the school mascot, Robert E. Lee.

Lion

thank you!!!

 

[dee10134]

Hi aj. Though, most if not all of us agree that the HS ring found on Princess's finger may not lead the answers we are searching for, it is still a good lead. IIRC, we researched the possibility of the ring having been bought at a pawn shop.

Balfords (the name of the company that made Princess's ring) in or near Houston said it is very uncommon for anyone to pawn an HS ring, and that they only recall having bought two rings in 30 years. I called two pawn shops in Austin some time ago, and they said pretty much the same thing. This makes sense because only a limited number of people would want to buy an HS ring the the school and city name on on it.

But, the ring could have been given to Princess by a mom, aunt, or much older sister, Princess could have found it, or the ring could have been stolen.

Lion

Since mostly all class rings are custom made, wouldn't Balfords have a record of every ring made by their company??? Couldn't they help narrow down the list of people that had a ladies' gold class ring, made in 1974 or 1975 (usually they do class rings in Junior year of high school), that had a blue smooth sapphire colored stone, with an "L" underneath and help narrow down the list of possible owners of that particular ring??

 

[dee10134]

I found it believe. The thread looks fine, except if you can you may want to remove the sentence that talks about the "L" inlaid in the ring. We learned a while back that all of the 1975 REL HS rings had the inlaid, "L" because it stood for the school mascot, Robert E. Lee.

Lion

Are you sure about that? Granted, I'm not fully up to date on this thread and I attended H.S. in 1994, but I remember our rings being fully customizable; we could inlay whatever character we wanted under the stone... I also remember having the opportunity to put the mascot on one of the sides of the ring.

 

[aj1020]

Are you sure about that? Granted, I'm not fully up to date on this thread and I attended H.S. in 1994, but I remember our rings being fully customizable; we could inlay whatever character we wanted under the stone... I also remember having the opportunity to put the mascot on one of the sides of the ring.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the librarian at REL high school was contacted about the yearbooks, and she also happened to be a gradute of REL. She confirmed that all of the class rings had the "L" inlaid in the stone.

 

[Jaded]

Since mostly all class rings are custom made, wouldn't Balfords have a record of every ring made by their company??? Couldn't they help narrow down the list of people that had a ladies' gold class ring, made in 1974 or 1975 (usually they do class rings in Junior year of high school), that had a blue smooth sapphire colored stone, with an "L" underneath and help narrow down the list of possible owners of that particular ring??

Unfortunately, they do not have records from that far back. We had contacted them regarding this issue, as well as to inquire if they kept records for resizing.

 

[Earthbound Misfit I]

We talked to individuals (one of them was the librarian) who went to REL High School in Houston, TX and they said that the rings had the inlaid L in them as it was the school mascot (General Robert E Lee). Also, on the class ring that Princess Blue was found wearing does have the school mascot on the side of the ring.

Are you sure about that? Granted, I'm not fully up to date on this thread and I attended H.S. in 1994, but I remember our rings being fully customizable; we could inlay whatever character we wanted under the stone... I also remember having the opportunity to put the mascot on one of the sides of the ring.

 

[believe09]

a moderator at City Data was kind enough to modify my post and put the ring picture on the thread. Both the ring posting and the Benjamin Kyle(another case) post I did are getting a respectable amount of traffic...here's hoping something shakes loose for either or both cases!!

 

[Earthbound Misfit I]

Cool believe!! I've got my fingers crossed for both cases! Let us know if you find out anything.

a moderator at City Data was kind enough to modify my post and put the ring picture on the thread. Both the ring posting and the Benjamin Kyle(another case) post I did are getting a respectable amount of traffic...here's hoping something shakes loose for either or both cases!!

 

[believe09]

Boy, I am dusting off the cobwebs, but in my day we all bought our birthstones for our ring. Granted, this person might have chosen the faux sapphire because they thought it was pretty, but ideally you might be looking for a student who was a September baby in the yearbook which I am sure you have already considered. March and December can also use blue stones, although usually not one as dark as a sapphire.:twocents:

 

[LionRun]

The ring was more likely not originally Princess Blue's (although it is remotely possible), but it is true that the original owner may have chosen her birthstone for the ring. We discussed this as well in previous posts on one of the three Princess threads here at ws.

It was more common years ago for girls to choose their birthstones for their HS rings. But, some chose the stone they liked regardless of their birth month. So, we decided a few months back that we won't rule out a September birth month for the original owner, yet we can't focus on that too much, either.

Hey, thanks for the info on the traffic about Princess Blue and Benjaman Kyle!

 

[Spazkat9696]

Could it be Princess's mommy the ring's owner was a teen mother and the stone was her child's, princess's, birth stone. I know that really doesn't make a difference, or help ID Princess, but it's just another reason to not focus too much on the relationship between the stone and it's owner. I know it was rare back then but she could have went away for a while and came back with a baby "sister". I know I didn't want my birthstone, a pearl, in my class ring, so I just got a green stone because that was one of my HS colors. Another girl I know got blue because she said it matched her eyes.

 

[LionRun]

Yes, Spazkat, this is what we were thinking a while back, too. Still the ring had to have originally belonged to one of the approximately 300 girls of the graduating class of 1975. There were about 600 grads altogether that year.

From there one of those rings was either given away to Princess, given away to someone who then gave it to Princess, was stolen, lost or something else.

I think it was a good idea for believe to start a new thread, and richandfamous did a few months ago as well. In addition, the articles and media coverage initiated by Sgt. Coffman and then Craig Malisow may eventually lead to something. If we keep her story out there, then someday someone looking for a missing, young lady may find info online that leads to the discovery of Princess Blue's identity. This is what I hope and pray for.

Lion

 

[Angel4Alpha]

This one though looks like the model drawing to me - even though shes 29 - is it possible to be a little off on age on an unidentified?
Maria Trinidad Velasquez

Date Of Birth: September 23, 1956
Age at Time of Disappearance: 29 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'3"; 130 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: Hispanic female. Black hair; brown eyes.
Marks, Scars: She has burn scars on the front of both thighs.

Angie, do you have a link for Maria Velasquez?

Lion

Hi lion -Here is the link to this one i posted above :http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/475dftx.html- maria is the right age for it to be her ring and she was also born in september so could have chosen the stone for her birthdate and imo she resembles the newest drawing albeit older than the drawing looks. She went missing in 1986 in houston also and Velasquez could be a married name different than her high school maiden name. Any hispanic females named maria in the graduating class of 1975?

Could it be possible that they are just off on the age on the remains? 29 isnt too far from 22 - and it could be possible couldn't it that the remains were where they were found for 4 years or moved there?

 

[Spazkat9696]

You order your ring your JR year. What if the date is off by a year. You guys are using a yearbook from what should have been her Sr year right? But if she was held back a year she would still be listed as a Jr. Also if was absent on picture day would she still be listed. I know a few friends who skipped out on picture day to avoid being in the yearbook. This is assuming you are going by a yearbook for the names of the class members.

 

[Angel4Alpha]

Even getting the ring the junior year doesnt change the graduating class date - the ring would still belong to a member of the graduating class of 75. Also most people even if they missed the picture their name would be there without one.

 

[LionRun]

Are you sure about that? Granted, I'm not fully up to date on this thread and I attended H.S. in 1994, but I remember our rings being fully customizable; we could inlay whatever character we wanted under the stone... I also remember having the opportunity to put the mascot on one of the sides of the ring.

Good question, dee. I'm pretty sure about it, though. From 1975 to 1994 a lot more leeway was given to customize HS rings, and even more nowadays. But, I spoke with the Lee HS (formerly the Robert E. Lee HS where the ring came from) librarian about 8 months ago. Coincidentally, she graduated from that HS in 1980, and she said that the, "L" was inlaid to give credence to the mascot, Robert E. Lee. IIRC, she said the, "L" was inlaid most of the rings and was a popular option. Actually, we talked about this, too in one of the many posts here. But, there is so much reading with all of these posts in three threads, that I can see why this and other facts and info would be overlooked.

Lion

 

[LionRun]

Good thoughts about the graduating class anomalies. We have a list of all of the seniors not pictured. Also, from post 485 at this link,

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1511238&highlight=librarian#post1511238

seniors ordered school rings in the fall of their senior year.

Lion