WA WA - Elma, AsianFem 25-40, 330UFWA, Sz6 pearl Avon ring, gold earring w/5 blue sapphires, Oct'88

[Via Marple]

I can't speak to how accurate this is but her admixture has been uploaded and indicates that she's largely of east asian descent.

I am not familiar with admixture categories at all. I have recently done Ancestry DNA and their ancestry region categories are more precise. So they might have checked this Elma Doe's East Asian ancestry is actually Cambodian?

In my case, and not giving away too much... I have mainly East Asian, and a bit of South East Asian ethnic blood. I was however born in Hong Kong, and have been in Australia since the 80s.

With more global migration in the last century, we may not assume that a person with Cambodian ancestry necessarily came from Cambodia, and just look for her family there. MOO

 

[Melt71]

I am not familiar with admixture categories at all. I have recently done Ancestry DNA and their ancestry region categories are more precise. So they might have checked this Elma Doe's East Asian ancestry is actually Cambodian?

In my case, and not giving away too much... I have mainly East Asian, and a bit of South East Asian ethnic blood. I was however born in Hong Kong, and have been in Australia since the 80s.

With more global migration in the last century, we may not assume that a person with Cambodian ancestry necessarily came from Cambodia, and just look for her family there. MOO

I suspect it's a combination of admixture (SE Asian - published upthread in October 2021 and I've posted it here again for ease of reference) and DNA matches. Though highest match in the post from Oct 2021 below indicates very low cM I'm guessing they are all/mostly of Khmer origin. There is also the anecdotal evidence that she was engaged in an activity (mushroom picking) which at the time was known to be undertaken by members of the Cambodian community.

Though DNA Doe's page says she could be either Asian or Native American, I believe NA has been ruled out by the admixture and they just haven't updated their page (Grays Harbor Co Jane Doe 1988 | DNA Doe Project)

Sadly, due to the Pol Pot days of The Killing Fields in 1975-79 those with Khmer heritage will, I imagine, be similar to the Jews after the Holocaust. Whole extended families were exterminated with perhaps 1-2 lucky survivors. There will be unfixable and untraceable holes in so many Cambodian family trees. For example my former partner was a child in 1975 and the only member of their very large extended family who survived was one of his grandmothers.

I'd invite you to read the whole thread when you have time - I've posted quite a few odds and ends about why I think she is of Khmer heritage and why she was a relatively new migrant to the US.

Elma Doe's first appearance on the DDP spreadsheet - not shockingly, she has a very low highest match.

I can't speak to how accurate this is but her admixture has been uploaded and indicates that she's largely of east asian descent.

 

[Melt71]

I just wanted to add that the style of this Doe's earring is to me sooo Khmer. It is a design I recall was popular still when I lived in Cambodia in the early 90s. But more than that, it's the style of workmanship. Local jewellers did/do not have refined machinery or techniques so the settings tend to be quite chunky,in order to secure the stones. Also, Khmer blue sapphires are often dark blue and because the jewellers tend to embed them deeply in the settings, they can appear almost black like these ones (I have a large one as my wedding ring).



Here's an example of a recent Cambodian market photo I picked off Tripadvisor - the settings of the rings I circled remind me of the workmanship in the Doe's earrings. Very close set and quite 'heavy' settings that hold the stones close together.

Picture from https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attract...CLUDING_RESTRICTED&albumid=-160&category=-160