VT VT - Danby, AsianFem 15-40, UP10004, along roadside, Feb'12

Detectives, troopers and canines were combing the [Danby] area to find human remains -- more of them.

'Like four, five cops drove by," said Devon White, who lives at the bottom of Danby Hill Road. That's where police said someone found a human skull.

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The medical examiner determined the skull belongs to a young adult woman and said that it showed signs of trauma. State police said that could be a sign of foul play ...

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Troopers said they are also considering the proximity and multitude of graveyards on Danby Hill Road because they said it's possible someone or something dug up a skull from one of the graves.

The woman's identity has yet to be determined. State police confirmed that the skull had been on the side of the road for quite some time.

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Read more: http://www.wptz.com/news/30470259/detail.html#ixzz1mX1R0kIy

I immediately thought of two names:

Brianna Maitland and Maura Murray


http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/maitland_brianna.html
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/murray_maura.html

... but neither of them were missing from that immediate vicinity. Brianna was last seen about 150 miles from Danby, and Maura was last seen about 100 miles from Danby.


Heide Wilbur is another possibility. Middletown Springs is only about 15 miles from Danby.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/w/wilbur_heide.html

I'm still looking for Tammie Anne McCormick...



https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/5531/2/

About 60 miles away... Probably a long shot after all this time...

Human skull found in Danby

http://www.wcax.com/story/16942953/human-skull-found-in-danby

video included at link

Kellisue Ackernecht was last seen 83 miles from Danby VT.
It is probably not Kelli but you never know I just watched an Americas Most Wanted and they found a girls legs in Illinois she was last seen in Las Vegas so you never know.
http://findkellisue.wordpress.com/
We pray for closure every day.

http://www.wcax.com/story/16953533/skull-discovery-matches-2-vt-missing-persons-cases

The discovery of a human skull in Danby has police re-examining missing persons cases-- and two cases in particular have caught the attention of investigators.

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While awaiting DNA analysis that could identify the victim, detectives are checking missing persons cases. Two that appear to fit the criteria are Brianna Maitland who disappeared from Montgomery in 2004, and Heide Wilbur who went missing from Middletown Springs in 1991.

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Do we have any clue on the approximate age of this skull yet? I read about it on a Maura Murray blog and immediately had several possibilities jump to mind in addition to the ones already suggested, but most of them were from the 1970s or '80s. My bets would be on Heidi Wilbur from the location but again depending on the age there are many other possibilities if you cast a larger radius including Selinda Winegar, Lynn Burdick (from MA but only about 60 miles from Danby), Iris Brown, Lynn Katheryn Shultz, etc.

Has there been an ID of the skull yet?

allaster said:

Has there been an ID of the skull yet?

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Nothing yet. This article mentions Brianna Maitland and Heidi Wilbur, but say only that they fit the general description.

The discovery of a human skull in Danby has police re-examining two missing persons cases in particular. While awaiting DNA analysis that could identify the victim, detectives are checking missing persons cases. Two that appear to fit the criteria are Brianna Maitland who disappeared from Montgomery in 2004, and Heide Wilbur who went missing from Middletown Springs in 1991. Police caution that those are only two possibilities and that the victim could be another missing person, someone who was never reported missing or someone from out of state.

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http://wvtklocalnews.blogspot.com/2012/02/wvtk-local-state-news-february-24-2012.html

I do wonder about Maura Murray. It is a case that has somehow grabbed me like no other ever has. It just doesn't add up to me. At all.

Did police say when the results would be back?

Galbin said:

I do wonder about Maura Murray. It is a case that has somehow grabbed me like no other ever has. It just doesn't add up to me. At all.

Did police say when the results would be back?

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No way to know. Could be days. Could be longer, especially if it is not one of the three girls mentioned (Maura, Brianna, or Heide). Or for that matter, could be never.

CarlK90245 said:

No way to know. Could be days. Could be longer, especially if it is not one of the three girls mentioned (Maura, Brianna, or Heide). Or for that matter, could be never.

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Never!? Do they sometimes withhold the results!?

Galbin said:

Never!? Do they sometimes withhold the results!?

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I am thinking more like they might never be able to match it up to anyone.

There would be DNA for the more recent missing girls. My first thought was Maura and I still have not heard anything on it either.

There is now a NamUs UP casefile for this UID.

https://identifyus.org/en/cases/10004

They are now saying that she could have been as old as 40.

CarlK90245 said:

There is now a NamUs UP casefile for this UID.

https://identifyus.org/en/cases/10004

They are now saying that she could have been as old as 40.

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Probable year of death: 1990 to 2005
and there was Severe Periodontal Disease on tooth #14.

From NamUs (I only went about a 2 hour radius out from Danby, VT):


Missing from VT

Audrey Groat, about 1 hour 45 min away, DNA not available
https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/6966/1?current_page=circumstances

Heide Wilbur, 30 minutes away, DNA not available (mentioned above)
https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/6974/2?current_page=circumstances


Missing from NH

Tina Sinclair, about 1 1/2 hours away, DNA on file
https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/212/0/

Bethany Sinclair, about 1 1/2 hours away, DNA on file
https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/2361/1?current_page=dna


Missing from NY

Audrey Herron, about 2 hours away, DNA on file
https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/668/8/

Suzanne Lyall, 1 1/2 hours away, DNA on file
https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/2/26?current_page=circumstances

I believe I read it on the Brianna Maitland Facebook page that the Vermont and local authorities could not produce any DNA from it, so it was being sent to Texas for further evaluation which will take some time. Pray they find some answers

I wonder why they determined 1990 as the earliest estimated DOD? If the skull was found in 2012, that's 22 years - who's to say it wasn't 23 or 25? I wondered if there is something in the dentals, some material or procedure that wasn't commonly in use prior to 1990. I also wondered if it was just that there was road work or a brush fire, or some topographical reason they feel it could not have been there before then. What else could it be?

I just can't help but wonder about Paula Jean Welden....from 1946!!!

Paula was going to school in Bennington, VT. She left to hike the Long Trail on Glastenbury Mountain. She hitchhiked a ride part of the way. She was seen by another individual on the trail itself. Supposedly she asked that person how long the trail was, and he told her it went all the way to Canada. (Which makes me think she was walking North or northwest.)

Paula has a thread here on WS. Here is the link:

VT VT - Paula Jean Welden, 18, Glastenbury Mountain, 1 Dec 1946 - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community


You can see there were discussions on the possibilities that either she ran away, (which if she was seen on the trail, I'd find unlikely), met with foul play, or become lost/disoriented and succumbed to the elements (maybe slipped and fell?). She was last seen at 4 pm. It's possible she didn't realize it would get dark so soon, or that inclement weather was coming, etc. Or perhaps she made it back to a main road, and somehow was struck by a vehicle in the dark. I guess the possibilities are endless.

I just thought I'd throw it out there because if you look at where Bennington is, the Long Trail, and then Danby, it's plausible.

Interestingly, it seems there were some other interesting missing and unidentified cases back in those days. It didn't seem to me like they would all be related, or that they necessarily all involved foul play.

Paula's Charley Project page:

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/w/welden_paula.html

Paula didn't even occur to me, and yet I've been interested in her case for a long time.

Gosh, wouldn't it be amazing if the skull turned out to be that old?!?