Identified! PA - Homestead, Female 143UFPA, 20-40, Oct'00 - Amanda Myers

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http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/143ufpa.html

I couldn't find anything else in local news. Has anyone heard of this case before?



The Doe Network:
Case File 143UFPA

143UFPA.jpg
143UFPA1.jpg

Reconstructions of Victim
Unidentified White Female
  • Discovered on October 3, 2000 in Homestead, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.
  • No definitive cause of death has been established.
  • Estimated date of death: February 2000
  • Mummified & Skeletal Remains

Vital Statistics
  • Estimated age: 20 - 40 years old
  • Approximate Height and Weight: 5'4"
  • Distinguishing Characteristics: Strands of fine, medium brown hair were located. Average build. Her toe nails were painted with silver polish.
  • Dentals: Available. A metal crown made of a material used only by eastern European dentists was found on the first molar on the left side. They indicate that the woman may have recently immigrated from Europe or traveled there, possibly as an exchange student. She has all 32 adult teeth, indicating that she was probably older than the late teens. Three fillings are in the teeth, but a couple of cavities in the upper molars showed that a dentist hadn't cared for her recently.
  • Clothing: She wore a pair of socks.
  • Other: Police think she may have been Eastern European or Russian.

Case History
The victim was found just behind the Giant Eagle on East Waterfront Drive, in a former railroad tunnel near the Homestead Waterfront.
Near a substantial congregation of Russian immigrants in that area of Homestead.
Unable to determine if there were drugs or alcohol in the remains due to the level of decomposition. No marks or scars suggesting violence could be seen.
Investigators
If you have any information about this case please contact:
Allegheny County Police
412-473-3000
Homestead Police
412-461-7736
Or
Medical Examiner's Office
412-350-4800

 
She's been in the news several times since she was found. Many of the articles are now only available through newslibrary.com (for a fee) and the triblive archives, links only take you to the interconnect page (not to the articles themselves), but these links you should be able to access with no problem:

http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/97809/detail.html

http://www.post-gazette.com/regionstate/20001124bodyreg3.asp

http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/541848/detail.html

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07276/822388-52.stm
(this one also mentions 3 other Jane Does in the Pittsburgh area)

http://pennsylvaniamissing.com/143ufpahomestead.html
 
If the woman was an illegal immigrant, or living with or among recent immigrants or illegals, they might not have reported to the police that she was missing. So it may be that she is not in the system, so to speak.

Procopia looks like a physical match, but she was left/dumped in an urban area where it would be more likely that suspicious behavior will attract attention. Usually women found like that around here have turned out to be local, in one sense or another. I think it more likely that she was an immigrant (there are a number or Russians, Serbs, Croatians, etc. in this area) or a student who came to the U.S. and whose family might not be aware that she is missing.
 
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09158/975661-455.stm

Sunday, June 07, 2009

...The badly decomposed body of the first, a slight woman identified only as 03-5925, was pulled from the Allegheny River near the Fox Chapel Yacht Club on Oct. 24, 2003. Her remains were wrapped in a blue blanket bound with duct tape. A plastic bag covered her head.

The mummified remains of another, 00-4395, were discovered Oct. 3, 2000, in an abandoned railroad tunnel in Homestead. A stainless steel crown affixed to one of her teeth resembled those made in Eastern Europe.


The third, 99-2629, was a homicide victim found June 28, 1999, in the storm cellar of an empty house in Wilkinsburg. She had been strangled...

...who they were remains a mystery, even as the county prepares to finally lay them to rest.
Click to expand...

Victim number one:
www.doenetwork.org/cases/202ufpa.html


Victim number two:
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/143ufpa.html

Victim number three:
www.doenetwork.org/cases/397ufpa.html
 
What a shame that they haven't been identified.


Victim number one:
www.doenetwork.org/cases/202ufpa.html

It says her age range is 20-45 but the reconstruction looks to me like she's the older end of the age range rather than 20. I wonder how accurate that is.

Victim number two:
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/143ufpa.html

If she was a recent immigrant it may be there were not many people to miss her, or they may have thought she returned to her native country.

Victim number three:
www.doenetwork.org/cases/397ufpa.html[/QUOTE]

It says the local fingerprint records were checked but no results. Does it mean no national databases were consulted?
 
I agree Donjeta, it's a shame. I know that many members here donate their time and energy to matching IUD's to Missing Persons that have been reported.

That's not my forte, although I am interested. I wanted to bring these ladies here in case someone wishes to later work on their identifications.
 
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/143ufpa.html
http://www.nampn.org/cases/ciesek_magdalena.html

This is a very long shot but I thought I'd post it anyway. The age (19 vs. 20-40) and the height (5'5" vs. 5'4") could be a match, and the missing person immigrated from Poland in 1995 so it matches the not-quite-recent Eastern European dentistry. The resemblance is not striking but the shape of the face looks different to me in the two different reconstructions. The short haired one looks more like Magdalena. Medium brown hair was located near the UID; in one of Magdalena's photos she has brown hair and in the other dyed blonde with darker roots. She had mentioned moving to USA, possibly Florida so that could explain her being found in PA. There's a discussion about her. http://www.crimeandjustice.us/forums/index.php?showtopic=10&pid=16&mode=threaded&show=&st=&#entry16
If the information is correct, her family had difficulty making a missing person's report and the investigation started only 2003. She had not contacted her child. She had told her sister that together with her Russian friend she was going to the USA to work as a waitress, so that might explain how she ended up where there are many Russian immigrants.

The buts: the missing person went missing two months after the estimated time of death and if it really was her alive and well picking up the driving licence in 2002 then she's obviously ruled out. Could it have been someone who stole her identity? How strict identity checks do they have in Toronto when you pick up a driver's licence? She had talked about moving so it could be that she just voluntarily broke contact with her family. Magdalena has tattoos; no mention of them on the UID but the state of the remains might have rendered them unrecognizable. No mention on doenetwork if the UID had given birth.

Any thoughts?
 
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/143ufpa.html

I live very near to where this Jane Doe was located, and this case has interested me for quite a while. Just a little background: the shopping plaza she was located near is quite busy, and borders the crime-ridden, run-down steel town of Homestead. There have been a few body finds, murders and other various crimes over the years in the Waterfront shopping plaza the Giant Eagle is located in, most near the plaza's border to the Monongahela River, or in the various restaurants. Because of crime concerns, a tracking system has been put into the entrances to the Waterfront, taking note of all license plates entering the plaza.

The Pittsburgh area in general has a high concentration of Russian immigrants. I've shown this Jane Doe to Russian co-workers, with no positive responses, but it was mentioned to me that the composite ought to be put up in area Russian specialty markets, which there are more than a few. I'm going to make some print-outs of her doe page, blow up the picture, and hit a few markets this weekend. Hopefully this helps reach the immigrant community.
 
That reconstruction reminds me a lot of Michaela Godau
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/572dfsau.html

In 1982 Michaela was a fifteen year old who did not want to return with her family to Germany from Australia. She disappeared along with cash, her passport and some of her personal effects.
 
https://identifyus.org/es/cases/2642
Amanda Meyers.

Amanda Myers http://pennsylvaniamissing.com/myersamandasue.html

Amanda Sue Myers
Missing December 30, 1999 from Pittsburgh, Allegheny County

Vital Statistics
Date of Birth: August 24, 1977
Hair Color: her natural color is light brown, but she was known to dye it black or blonde
Eye Color: Hazel
Height: 5'7"
Weight: around 120 lbs at time of disappearance
Race: white with a fair complexion
Distinguishing Characteristics: several tattoos including a Harley-Davidson tattoo on her back, a spider on earlobe (not known which one), a snake or tribal tattoo around wrist (unknown which one), dream catcher on upper arm (unknown which one).
Cutting scars from wrist to elbows on both arms.
Other: last name is sometimes spelled "Meyers"

Case Details
In January 1999, Amanda gave birth to twins - two babies that she would soon give up for adoption. Amanda led a transient lifestyle and would travel about both in and outside of Pennsylvania. She was last seen in the Pittsburgh area at the end of 1999 but was known to have been in Florida in April of 2000. She also stayed in Tennessee at some point, but it is unknown exactly when she was last seen there. She has not been seen nor heard from since 2000. Her grandmother reported her missing in 2007.
Click to expand...

There is nothing explicitly mentioned here about an Eastern European background.
 
Donjeta said:
https://identifyus.org/es/cases/2642
Amanda Meyers.

Amanda Myers http://pennsylvaniamissing.com/myersamandasue.html



There is nothing explicitly mentioned here about an Eastern European background.
Click to expand...

Thanks for letting me know. Was she IDed by DNA? She really does look like the reconstruction with the long hair. Meyers is usually a German last name.

I wonder if the part about the dental work was an error? There is another UID from Washoe County, NV who supposedly has Eastern European dentistry, too; maybe this is sort of a heads up to look at the more local missing people and not be quite so distracted by things like that because it doesn't seem to be that reliable. Recently, there was also the young woman from Jamaica who was murdered by her dad and step-mom (Melanie, sorry I don't remember her last name), who before she was IDed was thought to be a recent immigrant from Northeast Africa.
 
I was just shopping last week at the Waterfront where the girl's body was found. I think I gave up looking on this case because I couldn't find anyone that matched up with Eastern European dentistry.

Glad she was finally identified, her family will at least have some closure. RIP Amanda.

Amanda's last name is the same as my grandma's maiden name. It is a common last name here in Western PA.

Here is Amanda's pic compared to the reconstruction.

150_Myers,_Amanda_Sue.jpg143UFPA.jpg
 
Amanda's listed height (5'7") was off by three inches from the 5'4" listed height of the Jane Doe. And there were no listed tattoos on the supposedly "mummified" remains. Amanda had several tattoos.

Also, there was no mention that the Jane Doe had given birth. Amanda had given birth to twins, which she gave up for adoption.

She may have gotten the European dental work from an immigrant dentist working locally. She was living a transient lifestyle, so perhaps she found a low-budget dentist in the local immigrant community.
 
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