On Saturday, March 7, kids found a skull in the woods behind their Gregory Creek Lane home in West Chester Twp. Rain and snow made finding additional remains difficult, Mannix said. But when the weather cleared, all of the woman’s remains were collected along with other items believed to have belonged to her.
There were no forms of identification with or around the remains.
With the help of Murray, a biological profile was developed and determined the remains were those of a white woman between the ages of 35 and 60, who stood between 5-foot-3 and 5-foot-9 inches tall. Mannix said while a range of height is provided, Murray determined the woman was likely about 5-foot-6 inches tall.
Strands of hair, medium brown with some gray, were found with the skull. And the woman had full upper and lower dentures. She was wearing Faded Glory-brand jeans, size 12, and a medium white, short-sleeved, pullover shirt with red and blue horizontal stripes. Prescription glasses and reading glasses were also found near the woman’s skeletal remains.
While the woman had average features and clothing in average sizes, she was wearing a distinctive brand of shoes that are popular among people who walk a lot or are on their feet all day at work, the doctors concluded. Her black SAS (San Antonio Shoemakers) lace up shoes were so worn, a size could not be determined, Mannix said.
“Where did she get the shoes,” Mannix said. “She could have gotten them used or from someone else. If she wore them because she walked a lot, where did she walk from.”
A black fanny pack, containing lip balm, a disposable lighter, a small Swiss Army knife and scissors, that is believed to have belonged to the woman, may also be a clue to her identity. The fanny pack was inside a blue denim tote bag.
“We have been able to find her DNA on some of the items,” Mannix said, noting that leads them to believe they were in her possession.
The woman’s DNA taken during a preliminary testing has been run through the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System with no hit returned. Additional, more detained DNA testing is now underway at the University of North Texas, Mannix said.
Additionally, “Jane Doe’s” profile along with photos of her belongings, is now a part of NamUs, which is a national centralized repository and resource center for missing persons and unidentified decedent records. It is a free online system that can be searched by medical examiners, coroners, law enforcement officials and the general public.
Mannix said a person found in Butler County in 2001 was identified through the system in 2013.
If additional DNA testing does not turn up a match for “Jane Doe,” a forensic artist will likely be contacted to do a facial rendering of the woman.
“At this point, I can’t rule out foul play because we just don’t know what happened. The likelihood of finding out how she died is not good. But it is more important to find out who she is so that a family can have closure,” Mannix said.
If a positive ID is made, Mannix said that will also provide clues about her life that could lead to discovering what happened to her.
“You know we think locally. But we have interstates, train tracks and lot of other things that point to this not being a local,” she said.
It is not the only unidentified person case currently at the Butler County Coroner’s Office. On May 18, 1997, a man’s remains were found in the Great Miami River in Fairfield Twp. at the south end of Horseshoe Dam. He remains unidentified, but his information has also been entered since 2008 in NamUS.
The man is a white male approximately 30 to 60 years old, wearing Structure-brand cut-off blue jean shorts, white jockey shorts, a belt with a gold-colored buckle and a silver-colored necklace with black beads. The man would also have a scar on the inside edge of his right eye from an old facial injury.
Mannix said it is important for family members with missing loved ones to filed a police report and provide a family member’s DNA, so that the information can be entered into NamUs.
West Chester Police are also investigating the “Jane Doe” case, but the coroner’s office has taken the led.
Anyone with information that may assist in identifying these two individuals can call the coroner’s office at 513-785-5860 or West Chester Twp. police at 513-759-7270.
More information about NamUs can be found at www.namus.gov
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