Identified! VA - Annandale, WhtFem 245UFVA, ~60, 'NO CODE, DNR, No Penicillin', Dec'96

[pokypuppy67]

My hesitation with the overlay technique is that the drawing will have inaccuracies.

That said, the hold up isn't with Shirley's DNA, it is with Jane's. Shirley's sample has been submitted and tests are complete. Jane's samples have been submitted but are not complete. It seems odd that her tests aren't done; I wonder if there has been an issue with the sample.

That's good to know. I didn't realize exactly what the hang-up was. I just figured it was forgotten under a skyscraper-sized stack of paperwork.

 

[pokypuppy67]

Exactly; not trying to discount your hard work, Poky, but I assume you compared a slightly angled photo of Shirley to an artist's rendition of a morgue photo... I've yet to see an artist's rendition that looks 110% spot on.

But, time will tell. Hopefully it's a match. And, of course, thank you for all your time and dedication!

There would have been an angled photo too. Even if they didn't photoshop a photo they would trace from an actual photo as opposed to creating a drawing free-hand. In this case they've got an actual face, not significantly decomposed. Their job is to be as precise as possible in the details. Where they really depart from actual likeness is when they only have skeletal or decomposed remains to work with. Then they have to imagine how the soft tissue areas would have looked, and guess at whether they were thin or chunky. When they have to impose their own ideas that's when things can start wildly straying from reality. I study this a lot; I don't mean to sound like a know-it-all. I know I can come off that way; I don't mean to. This is just something I've researched out of intense interest.

 

[astridxx]

Well, let's hope you're right!

 

[pokypuppy67]

Call me fickle but I'm starting to think that the Lincoln PD DIDN'T log that call date wrong. I know. I was the one who was insistent about that. :doh:

 

[CallMeTres]

I found this on the Lincoln, NE PD website. I can order a history for $10; I don't know if the "contact" would be on there if it did not result in arrest.

I'm happy to foot the bill for a background report of some sort if anyone knows of a really good service.

http://www.lincoln.ne.gov/city/police/stats/chist.htm

 

[carbuff]

Usually if it was a phone call, the missing person descriptions say there was a phone call. "Contact" usually means a ticket or arrest or something. But not always.

I wonder if Shirley's NAMUS contact would have the information.

 

[FiveFelines]

I'm sticking with my completely uneducated guess that she was pulled over for a traffic violation. Or someone was who used her ID.

 

[pokypuppy67]

I found this on the Lincoln, NE PD website. I can order a history for $10; I don't know if the "contact" would be on there if it did not result in arrest.

I'm happy to foot the bill for a background report of some sort if anyone knows of a really good service.

http://www.lincoln.ne.gov/city/police/stats/chist.htm

Wow! That's a brilliant idea. And very generous of you, Tres. Thank you!

Finding out about her possible criminal history is an excellent idea. It could direct us toward or away from a particular theory depending on whether she had legal problems or not. And possibly explain the reason for that contact. I don't know anything about the services offered, though. It looked to me like maybe we could order that info right from the Lincoln P.D. Websites. I could be wrong about that, though.

 

[FiveFelines]

Looks like we would need Shirley's DOB for that. Does anyone have it? I only know the year (1936).

 

[FiveFelines]

Incidentally, I am looking at Shirley on Ancestry.com and you cannot believe the number of traffic violations she had in the '60s and '70s. Speeding, fender benders, collisions—and in 1977 she even hit a pedestrian!

ETA: Before anyone asks, it doesn't look like the pedestrian was killed or seriously hurt, and no, it didn't occur on December 18.

 

[pokypuppy67]

Incidentally, I am looking at Shirley on Ancestry.com and you cannot believe the number of traffic violations she had in the '60s and '70s. Speeding, fender benders, collisions—and in 1977 she even hit a pedestrian!

ETA: Before anyone asks, it doesn't look like the pedestrian was killed or seriously hurt, and no, it didn't occur on December 18.

Wow! Nice find! I wonder why she was such a bad driver. That's interesting, actually, because in 1990 she either didn't have a car or she didn't have a license; she left her parents' home in a taxi.

 

[FiveFelines]

Wow! Nice find! I wonder why she was such a bad driver. That's interesting, actually, because in 1990 she either didn't have a car or she didn't have a license; she left her parents' home in a taxi.

That's right! Good point.

 

[rosesfromangels]

You guys are GOOD! : )

 

[pokypuppy67]

THE SUICIDE NOTE: Possible Translation

"Deceased by own hand...prefer no autopsy...please order cremation with funds provided...Thank you, Jane Doe"



"Deceased by own hand"
...so don't ya go suspectin' or investigatin' anyone

"Prefer no autopsy"
...I don't need ya cuttin' her open and discoverin' how she really died

"Please order cremation with funds provided"
...I need ya to burn her up good to get rid of the evidence, and here's some cash, so don't go snoopin' around lookin' for people who knew her

"Thank you, Jane Doe"
...well, I cain't have ya learnin' her real name now, can I

Since she hadn't planned on dyin' I had to write the suicide note for her. Well, I didn't "write" it, exactly. I typed it. I couldn't have y'all realizin' it wasn't written in her handwriting...and I sure as heck couldn't have you identifyin' mine.

I got tired of that ol' hag with her uppity clothes and snobby ways. She hated my redneck tapes so I drugged her up and made her listen to one as she died. Then I took her to that secluded cemetery where nobody would see us in the dead of night, and set it up like she'd done herself in. The Christmas tree was a brilliant touch. And that little poem too. And to top it all off I had my girl call the Nebraska cops the next day, sayin' she was her.

 

[apearn]

Does ancestory.com have relatives of Shirley?

 

[pokypuppy67]

I think you missed my point. Look at that suicide note and tell me that it wouldn't serve a killer's interests perfectly. It's weird for a suicide note -- no emotions, no apologies, no thank you's or "I'll miss you's...not even a hint of explanation as to why she would commit suicide. And she signs it "Jane Doe?" Not to mention that it wasn't handwritten, it was typed. As a suicide note it had all the emotion of a grocery list.

SUICIDE NOTE: "Deceased by own hand… prefer no autopsy… please order cremation with funds provided… Thank you, Jane Doe."

Now imagine that a killer had created it. Suddenly, everything that didn't make sense before makes perfect sense now. Why it was typed, why full sentences were not used, why she didn't sign it with her real name, why she stresses the point that SHE killed HERSELF (effectively using a suicide note to identify itself as a suicide note), and why she would care about whether an autopsy was performed given that, afterward, she was going to be turned into a smoldering heap of ash anyway. It even explains the police contact the next day, when she was already dead at that point. A woman calls in, claiming to be Shirley, and voila...documentation of her being alive at that next day, which would effectively rule her out as being the woman who had died in the cemetery.

Don't get me wrong. This is just conjecture. I have no way of knowing what really happened to her. But there are so many things about this case that don't make sense, unless you look at it as a murder (or even assisted suicide).

 

[FiveFelines]

Does ancestory.com have relatives of Shirley?

Probably but I have to get the full log-in info from my sister (it's her account). I know the names of Shirley's parents (both deceased) and brother. You can find them via a Google search. I don't want to post her brother's name here because I believe he is still living.

 

[FiveFelines]

I don't think it's actually that unusual for someone to type a suicide note or to be instructional in it (vs emotional). There are many different kinds of notes (only about 1/4 of people even leave one). I found this study particularly interesting.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9879789

Suicide notes written by young people were longer, rich in emotions, and often begging for forgiveness. Suicide notes written by the elderly were shorter, contained specific instructions, and were less emotional.

ETA: I can think of a very good reason why Jane might have typed the note: She didn't want to be identified by her handwriting.

 

[pokypuppy67]

Probably but I have to get the full log-in info from my sister (it's her account). I know the names of Shirley's parents (both deceased) and brother. You can find them via a Google search. I don't want to post her brother's name here because I believe he is still living.

You can find relatives' names on the online white pages, I think. There are a lot of male names associated with Shirley's family and the Two Rivers, WI area. That they at least had a history of living there at some point. I facebook messaged one but nothing so far.

 

[pokypuppy67]

I don't think it's actually that unusual for someone to type a suicide note or to be instructional in it (vs emotional). There are many different kinds of notes (only about 1/4 of people even leave one). I found this study particularly interesting.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9879789



ETA: I can think of a very good reason why Jane might have typed the note: She didn't want to be identified by her handwriting.

Well, that's the logical conclusion one would come to with this presented as a suicide, but I do think it is unusual for a person to sign their suicide note as Jane Doe. To not want to be identified in death. To want to disappear off the face of the earth. To wipe themselves out of existence and leave no shred of who they were behind. It could be a suicide, just as presented, but there are elements that have more in common with murder than suicide. And it would be a brilliant murder. They would have tricked the police into destroying the evidence for them.

And what does ETA stand for? Just curious.