Identified! UT - Millard Co, WhtFem UP63967, in a shallow grave under a juniper tree, Aug'79 - Sandra Matott

[Mrs. Badcrumble]

An older case has entered NamUs. A part of me wanted to name her Juniper Doe in the thread title, but the other part of me thought that would be a wee bit bold, but with your permission I'm going to nickname her Juniper Doe, anyway. I had a lot of those trees in my old garden; fond memories and a pleasant smell

Anyway:

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Female
White / Caucasian
Date Body Found: August 19, 1979
Location Found: Rural, Utah
Estimated Age Range: --

Case Numbers
NCMEC Number: --
ME/C Case Number: 197900752

Demographics
Sex: Female
Race / Ethnicity: White / Caucasian

Possible First Name: --
Possible Middle Name: --
Possible Last Name: --
Possible Nickname: --

Estimated Age Group: Adult - Pre 40
Estimated Age Range (Years): --
Estimated Year of Death: --
Estimated PMI: --

Height: 4' 8"-5' 3"(56-63 inches) , Estimated
Weight: Cannot Estimate

Circumstances
Type: Unidentified Deceased
Date Body Found: August 19, 1979
NamUs Case Created: January 2, 2020
ME/C QA Reviewed: --

Location Found Map
Location: Rural, Utah
County: Millard County
GPS Coordinates (Not Mapped): --

Circumstances of Recovery:
Skeletal remains were found in a shallow grave under a juniper tree 50 meters off a dirt road near the I-15 Cove Fort exit.

Details of Recovery
Inventory of Remains: --
Condition of Remains: Not recognizable - Near complete or complete skeleton

Physical Description
Hair Color: Brown
Head Hair Description: --
Body Hair Description: --
Facial Hair Description: --
Left Eye Color: Unknown
Right Eye Color: Unknown
Eye Description: --

Distinctive Physical Features
No Information Entered

Clothing and Accessories
Clothing: Short sleeve pullover shirt size medium. Brassiere size 32A. On the Body

 

[JovanSrna]

I consider giving nicknames to unidentified decedents to be a useful practice.
It individualizes the decedent more and draws more attention to them.
It also helps differentiate decedents from similar locations and time periods.

 

[MadMcGoo]

Yes! @Mrs. Badcrumble , I agree with @JovanSrna ! I am much more likely to remember her now! I always say, they’ve been without their true name long enough, “UID” just doesn’t seem fair. Juniper Doe is quite lovely, and fitting.

ETA: fwiw, I’ve named a few myself on here, none in the thread title as they’ve been older cases, but I don’t think anyone’s noticed

 

[MadMcGoo]

Could these be talking about Juniper Doe? They were from August 29th and 30th of 1979. I haven’t come across any follow up articles, but it sounds like it may be in the same area?

If so, it could help narrow the search a little. I’m going to see if I can find any others...


Eta: another clipping... maybe it’s not her? I can’t find anymore and I’ve run out of key words to search

 

[GJKJR]

Could these be talking about Juniper Doe? They were from August 29th and 30th of 1979. I haven’t come across any follow up articles, but it sounds like it may be in the same area?

If so, it could help narrow the search a little. I’m going to see if I can find any others...
View attachment 223570 View attachment 223571
View attachment 223573
Eta: another clipping... maybe it’s not her? I can’t find anymore and I’ve run out of key words to search

No, that can't be Juniper Doe. Farmington, Utah, is in Davis County, Utah, which is around Salt Lake City and Ogden. Millard County is central-west Utah, and seems quite rural (at least, I'd imagine with 1.8 people per square mile, lol).

The area described on NamUs, near Cove Fort, Utah, is near the intersection of I-15 and the west terminus of I-70. Rural area, but there's some major highways going through it.

 

[GJKJR]

This gives a LOT more information. I'm 99.9% sure this is Juniper Doe.

- Toothless
- Found in a shallow grave near Cove Fort, UT
- initial age range of 35-50 y/o
- initial PMI of about 6 months
- very badly decomposed, initially CoD could not be determined
- Foul play suspected, partial burial and nude from the waist down
- Suspected to have been a missing hitchhiker passing through the area six months prior. Description matched very closely, but not confirmed at the time of the publication of this article (August 22, 1979).
- A man from Kanosh, UT found the body while hunting for firewood.
- Along with a bra and a shirt, there was a watch and a ring.

I hope there was an update on the hitchhiker situation. I'll start looking further and see if I can dig anything else up.

 

[MadMcGoo]

Oh yeah! Thanks for that info @GJKJR ! I couldn’t find anything other than what I posted, the discovery of dinosaur bones and then a 3 ton rhino - speaks volumes of my newspaper sleuthing abilities

This is great though, it gives us a better picture of Juniper Doe! I wonder what ring and watch looked like...or why they aren’t mentioned. Gives us more to go by when searching for sure...

 

[GJKJR]

Here's more details on Juniper Doe:

- Body was discovered at 11 a.m. on August 19, 1979, specifically.
- Covered with debris from a "pack rat's nest?" Grave about 8 inches deep with tree branches/brush and sticks on it.
- Preliminary examination put the woman at 30-50 y/o, 5'2", 4-6 month PMI, but autopsy narrowed it down to around 35 y/o. No bones broken.
- Some describe the shirt as a blouse instead. The ring is described as a "costume ring containing a green stone." Watch described as an "electric wristwatch which was still running (but was 2 minutes fast)."
- Metal detectors used, nothing found
- Investigated as homicide, with possible sexual assault
- W/ regards to the "toothless" part, no natural teeth nor dentures found
- Location: near the Cove Fort Interchange of I-15, approx. 20-35 miles south of Fillmore, UT
- No people from Millard Co. who match victim, LE throughout Utah along with other states asked to check records.

Sorry if I'm rambling slightly, but that's the details I can gather.

 

[GJKJR]

Woops, guess I overlapped with your posting. Guess that answers your ring and watch question (to an extent), haha. If it helps, I only found it so fast because someone else clipped an article about it a while ago, and that got me some keywords to look for.

 

[MadMcGoo]

Great finds!! That does clear up a lot of questions! I noticed the ring’s green stone was described as 1 inch in length and 1/4 inch wide, that would be something that could be seen in photographs I think. (I’ve been looking through yearbooks for Princess Blue )

I had to actually Google a few things so I’ll post links for anyone else who might be curious ...
Electric Watches
Pack Rats
The ring description reminded me of those mood rings, like these.

So, I’m going to look through MP files, but out of curiosity, what do you make of the teeth? Dentures or removed by killer? Would there be evidence that they were forcibly removed postmortem?

 

[Melt71]

What about this Utah missing person Sandra Haymes Matott?

- Body foundAugust 19, 1979 (MP missing since 10 July 1979)
- Woman at 30-50 y/o, 5'2" (MP 37yo and 5''4')
- Some describe the shirt as a blouse instead. (MP described a wearing a "white top" when she was last seen.
- The ring is described as a "costume ring containing a green stone." Watch described as an "electric wristwatch which was still running (but was 2 minutes fast)." (MP wore a ring with a turquoise-colored stone, no watch mentioned)
- "toothless" part, no natural teeth nor dentures found (MP normally wore both upper & lower dentures but did not have them when she went missing)
- Location: near the Cove Fort Interchange of I-15, approx. 20-35 miles south of Fillmore, UT (2+driving time from where Sandra was last seen in Salt Lake City but a straight run down I-15).

@MadMcGoo any ruleouts on this case?

 

[rosesfromangels]

People take out their dentures when they sleep. Perhaps they were in her pants pocket, of which were not recovered. Of course, she might not have worn dentures at all. I’m thinking this woman was homeless, but something about the working watch defies that speculation.

amateur opinion and speculation

 

[MadMcGoo]

That looks like a good possibility @Melt71 ! That’s about how I pictured Juniper! I had to change my NamUs password and somehow managed to lock myself out ... so I can’t check rule outs until hopefully tomorrow.

I think she’s worth submitting...Sandra’s compound fracture occurred at the age of 4 so it may not show up on x-rays? I think...depending on the location and extent of the fracture. It could be a way to rule her in or out if images are available though...JMO

That’s true about the dentures, she may not have ever been fitted for them. I think that’s more probable than the killer removing all her teeth. I agree about the watch also, FWIW

 

[rosesfromangels]

I like the name Juniper Doe, Mrs.Badcrumble. It reminds me of Donavan’s song “Jennifer Juniper”
: )

 

[MadMcGoo]

Oh, how incredibly lovely!! I love that. Very fitting indeed. Thanks for sharing @rosesfromangels

 

[Melt71]

- The ring is described as a "costume ring containing a green stone." Watch described as an "electric wristwatch which was still running (but was 2 minutes fast)." (MP wore a ring with a turquoise-colored stone, no watch mentioned)

Correction to the above. The original Namus report quoted in post #1 here only mentioned the ring. But the current Namus report says the Sandra wore both a ring with turquoise stone & watch. As did the UID.

I think I might actually submit this one.

 

[MadMcGoo]

Oh wow! Yah, I’d definitely submit her. Good find!

I haven’t found anyone yet but did come across one profile that made me remember something. Ted Bundy. I forgot that he offended in this area. The PMI doesn’t fit, he last escaped in late ‘77 IIRC, but the circumstances are similar to some of his confessed crimes...

Per Charley Project re: Julie Cunningham -
“...Bundy stated Cunningham regained consciousness at some point and tried to escape, but he caught her. He strangled her before disposing of her body in a shallow grave near Rife, Colorado. Bundy said the gravesite was in a high desert area with a circular drive and some large trees. In April 1989, a team of experts who specialized in finding bodies brought a bloodhound to a likely spot, but their search didn't turn up anything of interest. ...”

A couple of other girls linked on her profile, he described burying them in shallow graves near highways, and some within a couple of hours from Millard County. I’ve not familiarized myself with much of Bundy so I don’t know how accurate his confessions were as far as locations go. Just something to keep in mind if Sandra isn’t a match or it’s ever determined the PMI is greater than what’s listed now...

ETA: I’m not suggesting necessarily that this is Janet, I was just using her as an example. In other words, if the PMI is off then Juniper could possibly be a victim of TB... (I think Sandra is a very good potential match though)

 

[GJKJR]

Great finds!! That does clear up a lot of questions! I noticed the ring’s green stone was described as 1 inch in length and 1/4 inch wide, that would be something that could be seen in photographs I think. (I’ve been looking through yearbooks for Princess Blue )

I had to actually Google a few things so I’ll post links for anyone else who might be curious ...
Electric Watches
Pack Rats
The ring description reminded me of those mood rings, like these.

So, I’m going to look through MP files, but out of curiosity, what do you make of the teeth? Dentures or removed by killer? Would there be evidence that they were forcibly removed postmortem?

My first guess would be that Juniper Doe had dentures and just wasn't wearing them at the time of her death. Removal by the killer is possible, but I imagine there'd be at least some evidence of forceful removal perimortem or postmortem (unhealed sockets?)

There's no ruleouts listed on NamUs for Juniper Doe, BTW.

Sandra Matott seems like a pretty good match - went missing from Utah, same general statistics (e.g. age, sex, race, height is a bit off but nothing extreme, hair color is a bit off too but also not out of possibility), the watch and ring being a close match is very interesting, had dentures but wasn't wearing them (would explain being toothless).

The only issue is the PMI: Matott went missing a bit more than a month before Juniper Doe was discovered, while PMI was estimated at 4-6 months. I don't think that's rule-out-worthy, though; Marilee Bruszer's case comes to mind (coincidentally, she was found in Juab County, which borders Millard County). Also, it was summer, so if it was particularly hot, combined with animal scavenging, a month doesn't seem too unreasonable.

Also, I can find hardly anything about Sandra Matott's disappearance on newspaper archives, which makes me sad. Of note, though, is an obituary for her brother that lists her as deceased.

There's also that hitchhiker that police suspected could be Juniper Doe, but I never saw any follow-up in the newspaper archives about that, so who knows what happened with that. I think either Sandra Matott or that hitchhiker could very well be Juniper Doe.

 

[Melt71]

Per my above posts #11 and#16. I've not had a situation with so many matching facts before. I'm gratified that after I submitted on 5 Jan, I received a response on 6 Jan (just the usual, but still more than normal). Now Namus shows updates were done on the MP/UID on 6 Jan and 7 Jan respectively. No updates from Namus but I don't expect any and I'm satisfied my potential match was taken seriously.

Can anyone check the R/o list please to see if Sandra has formally been r/o for this UID?

 

[MadMcGoo]

Per my above posts #11 and#16. I've not had a situation with so many matching facts before. I'm gratified that after I submitted on 5 Jan, I received a response on 6 Jan (just the usual, but still more than normal). Now Namus shows updates were done on the MP/UID on 6 Jan and 7 Jan respectively. No updates from Namus but I don't expect any and I'm satisfied my potential match was taken seriously.

Can anyone check the R/o list please to see if Sandra has formally been r/o for this UID?

No exclusions listed! I don’t know what else they could have been updating unless it was Investigating agency info...everything else looks the same on Juniper’s NamUs. And I don’t see any obvious changes to Sandra’s, unless a different UID was added.