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LionRun

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This is a draft written up by the Texas Department of Public Safety, which contains some of the updated information resulting from the recent, thorough forensic examination on Princess Blue completed in March of 2007.

http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/director_staff/public_information/pr060707.pdf


Draft June 7, 2007 Draft
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DPS hopes new clues give face a name​
[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]
Houston high school class ring provides intriguing clue​
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The Brazoria County Sheriff’s Office, the Manvel Police Department and the Texas Department of Public Safety hope new developments will help identify skeletal remains found in northern Brazoria County in 1990.
Two new forensic drawings of the victim’s possible appearance with either short or long hair were developed from the victim’s skull by the Texas Ranger forensic artist. The facial reproductions, pictured above, can also be found at

[FONT=Arial,Arial]http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/director_staff/public_information/pr060707photos.htm[/FONT]. [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]For a recorded sound bite on this topic, call 512-424-2606 [/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Read about DPS online at www.txdps.state.tx.us

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In addition, after the Sheriff’s Office reopened the case, the University of North Texas System Center for Human Identification in Denton recently performed an extensive forensic analysis that has provided new clues to the young woman’s identity.

Originally thought to be Hispanic in 1990, new forensic analysis indicates the young woman was Caucasian, with the probability of some African-American traits. According to the forensic analysis, it is likely one parent [FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]or [/FONT]one grandparent was African-American.

Her age at the time of her death was determined to be between 17 to 21 years old. Her height was between 4 feet 11 inches and 5 feet 3 inches, with a slight to medium build.​
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For a recorded sound bite on this topic, call 512-424-2606​
[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Read about DPS online at www.txdps.state.tx.us

[/FONT]

The victim was also wearing six rings, including a silver-colored 1975 Robert E. Lee High School (Houston) class ring—a clue investigators think may help identify the woman. One online forum has nicknamed the young woman "Princess Blue" because of the color of the stone in the class ring. (Pictures of some of the rings can be found at
[FONT=Arial,Arial]
[/FONT].)

"The ring is an important clue," said Manvel Police Detective Sgt. Jay Coffman. "It could have belonged to a friend, a young mother, a relative or the woman herself. Anyone who was a student at Houston’s Robert E. Lee High School in the seventies who lost, sold or let someone else borrow a similar ring should contact authorities."

The skeletal remains were discovered in a trash-dumping area at the end of County Road 101, just east of Highway 288 on Sept. 10, 1990 inside the Manvel city limits. Investigators have not determined a cause of death or when she died, but her death is considered suspicious. No clothes were found with the remains.​
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A person with a missing family member matching all or part of this description and timeline should also contact authorities. A DNA test from a living relative could be used to identify the woman.​
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In addition to the high school ring, other jewelry found includes:

One silver-colored ring with a turquoise horse or unicorn
One silver-colored band with a scroll design
Two silver-colored bands
One pearl-type beaded bracelet
One gold-colored band ring with six clear stones

Anyone with information regarding this investigation can contact the Manvel Police Department at the 281-489-1212 or e-mail Sgt. Coffman at jcoffman@manvelpd.org.

They can also contact Brazoria County Sheriff’s Investigator Richard Rosser at 281-756-2218 or e-mail him at richardr@brazoria-county.com .

This (DPS case # U03-10-014) and other unidentified cases are profiled online at the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Missing Persons Clearing House at www.txdps.state.tx.us/mpch/.
[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]
Media note​
: Sgt. Coffman (281-489-1212) and Investigator Rosser (281-756-2218) are the primary media contacts in this case.​
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### (PIO 2007-0023)​
 
Please post here any news/media links that would include information on Princess Blue.
 
HOUSTON CHRONICLE ARCHIVES

Paper: HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Date: WED 09/12/1990
Section: C
Page: 11
Edition: 2 STAR
Human remains found

Staff

MANVEL - Brazoria County authorities Tuesday were trying to identify human skeletal remains that were found near County Road 101 here.

The remains were found Monday by a person looking for bottles and cans along the road, about a mile east of Texas 288, authorities said. The remains were taken to the Harris County medical examiner's office for examination.

Officials said they had not determined the sex, age or cause of death.
 
HOUSTON CHRONICLE ARCHIVES

Paper: HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Date: FRI 09/14/1990
Section: C
Page: 15
Edition: 2 STAR
Remains those of woman

Staff

MANVEL - Human skeletal remains found near here are those of a young white or Hispanic woman between the ages of 16-22, police Chief Tommie Tolson said Thursday.

The skeleton was found Monday by someone looking for bottles and cans near a private trash dump on County Road 101, about a quarter-mile east of Texas 288.

The dead woman had a silver ring with a turquoise unicorn on her right hand and a pearlescent bead-type bracelet on her right arm, authorities said.

A Harris County medical examiner's report also concluded that she had knee problems, Tolson said. Tolson asked that anyone with information about the woman's identity call Manvel police at 489-1212 or the medical examiner's office.
 
Manvel, Texas
Manvel Police Department
POC: Jay Coffman - 281-489-1212
Saturday, September 2, 2006

Ring is top clue in cold case

Teens Remains were found along Brazoria County road in 1990
By: Richard Stewart (richard.stewart@chron.com), Houston Chronicle

ANGLETON, TEXAS - A well-worn ring from the 1975 class of Houston's Robert E. Lee High School is the main evidence police have to try to unravel a 16-year-old mystery. It was found on the finger of a skeleton at the end of a Brazoria County road in 1990.

"It's not much to go on," said Manvel police Detective Jay Coffman, "but it's about all we've got."

In the nine years since the remains were found, investigators have not been able to tell what happened to the female victim, how she got to be on a pile of debris or, more importantly, who she was.

"Somebody's missing this girl," Coffman said, holding the ring. Somebody is missing the ring, too, he said, because he doubts it originally belonged to the victim.

A medical examiner's report estimated that the skeleton found on September 10, 1990, was that of a girl about 17 years old, plus or minus two years, Coffman said. She would have been far too young for the 1975 class ring to be hers.

 
Drawings Released Of Skeletal Remains Victim

HOUSTON -- Law enforcement officials hope two new forensic drawings will help solve a mystery from 17 years ago, KPRC Local 2 reported Friday.

Skeletal remains were found in a trash dump at the end of County Road 101 near Highway 288 in Manvel on Sept. 10, 1990. Investigators have not determined a cause of death or when she died, but the death is considered suspicious.

No clothes were found with the remains.


A Texas Ranger forensic artist developed two new drawings from the victim's skull that show the victim with either short or long hair.

New evidence in the case indicated that the woman, originally thought to be Hispanic, was Caucasian with the probability of some African-American traits, officials said.

More at link: http://www.click2houston.com/news/13462498/detail.html
 
https://abc13.com/





UNSOLVED CRIME
UNSOLVED: 'Princess Blue' found dead on Manvel gravel road nearly 30 years ago
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Manvel Police Department has sent back the still-unidentified remains of "Princess Blue," which was found in 1990.



By Courtney Fischer
Thursday, November 21, 2019
MANVEL, Texas (KTRK) -- There are stories behind the jewelry we wear: a special gift; a family heirloom; a promise for a future life together.

Inside a yellow evidence envelope at the Manvel Police Department, one woman's jewelry tells a story detectives don't yet understand: a delicate pearl bracelet; a diamond band; a silver ring with a unicorn made from turquoise stones.
 
SEE VIDEO AT THE FOLLOWING LINK
UNSOLVED: 'Princess Blue' found dead on Manvel gravel road nearly 30 years ago

UNSOLVED CRIME

UNSOLVED: 'Princess Blue' found dead on Manvel gravel road nearly 30 years ago

Manvel Police Department has sent back the still-unidentified remains of "Princess Blue," which was found in 1990.

By Courtney Fischer
Thursday, November 21, 2019
MANVEL, Texas (KTRK) --

There are stories behind the jewelry we wear: a special gift; a family heirloom; a promise for a future life together.

Inside a yellow evidence envelope at the Manvel Police Department, one woman's jewelry tells a story detectives don't yet understand: a delicate pearl bracelet; a diamond band; a silver ring with a unicorn made from turquoise stones.

A woman treasured these pieces until she was found dead at the end of a gravel road on Sept. 10, 1990.

Her bones were discovered on County Road 101, east of what's now Highway 288 in Manvel. CR 101 is now a four-lane highway surrounded by new homes and a Walgreens. Back then, it was a two-lane, dead end road.

In 1990, about 3,000 people lived in Manvel. Today, more than 10,000 people live there.

"It would have been a perfect spot (to dump a body) because there was nothing out here," said Keith Traylor, chief of Manvel police.

On that day, a man on his way home from work happened to park on the side of the road to relieve himself. He got out of his car and stumbled into a pile of bones. The man called his wife and they called police.

Matt Wingo was one of the first to show up. Wingo, now retired, was a deputy with the Brazoria County Sheriff's Office.

"I remember the tires. I remember her skull being under a tire. I remember her being disarticulated and everywhere, which is what it's going to be when you're out in the country," Wingo said.

Twenty years later, he can still picture the scene in his mind.

"You've seen so many things that - you don't have the same emotion. Yeah, it bothers you. But, it's not something you take home and have to live with," Wingo said. "I had a woman ask me once which case has caused me the greatest PTSD. I said, 'I don't have PTSD. None of them bother me. That's what I'm supposed to do, that's my job.'"

Wingo and the detectives collected the bones and the jewelry found nearby. There was no purse, no ID, no clothing, no hair found around the skeleton.

Days later, the autopsy didn't reveal much. The medical examiner couldn't say for sure how the woman died. There were no drugs in the woman's system. She had a couple of fractured ribs. At the time, it was believed she was likely between 15 and 19 years old.

Who was she?

Investigators put the word out, asking for help identifying the woman with the turquoise unicorn ring and pearl bracelet. The case got little attention from the media. It went cold.

Sixteen years later, a curious detective literally reopened the evidence envelope and made a startling discovery. Something previous detectives looked over. Among the rings collected was a class ring from Robert E. Lee High School in Houston with the year "1975" carved on the side. There was a big blue sapphire in the middle.

"The stone that's inside of it, that blue stone, is the reason they named her 'Princess Blue,'" said Det. Anthony Meshell, with Manvel police.

In 2006, she got her name. A year later, she got a face.

A sketch artist studied Princess Blue's bones and drew a couple of forensic sketches: one woman with short hair and one woman with long hair.

Investigators were making progress. They honed in on the ring searching for any connection to Lee High School. Records of who bought a class ring in 1975 were long gone. That didn't stop detectives from tracking down more than half of the 650 students who graduated from Lee that year.

"Lee in the 70s was a pretty stereotypical high school," said Alex Johnson, who graduated in 1974. "I wouldn't say I knew everybody. But, I did know a lot of people."

Johnson, active in the alumni group, remembers detectives contacting many of his classmates a decade ago. He doesn't recognize Princess Blue. Neither do his peers we spoke with.

Could she be somebody's niece? A cousin? An ex-girlfriend? Hundreds of alumni were interviewed.

"You hear about it all the time: class rings turning up and being returned to their owner, right? Well, here we have a class ring that's turned up. If we could return it to its owner, we could solve the mystery of this girl," Johnson said. "A lot of focus was put on the ring and maybe some focus could have been put on other areas."

Det. Anthony Meshell and the other investigators agree. More than a decade after Princess Blue attracted attention from all over the country because of that class ring, Meshell is tackling the case from a different perspective. He's focused on DNA.

"We're going to look at the facts. The class ring was found near the body but we can't prove this class ring really had anything to do with this person," Meshell said.

Blue's bones are going back to a lab in Austin. Meshell is hoping there's enough of it found for phenotyping. It's a process that could tell police Princess Blue's eye, hair and skin color, whether or not she had freckles, plus her genetic ancestry.

"We're all excited. Everyone from the forensics office is excited. The lady that drew these pictures, she was really excited," Meshell said. "One of my hopes is that when we do this phenotyping and we get another sketch of this person, that someone may recognize her. That would be the ultimate, the best case scenario."

Matt Wingo waits for that day too. He chased countless leads, interviewed suspects and never figured out who this girl was. If detectives can determine that, they can focus on finding the killer.

"Who did it is most important. Because he's going to do it again unless you catch him," Wingo said.

Princess Blue was somebody's daughter, maybe somebody's sister or girlfriend. Somebody missed her. That's what keeps Meshell and his team pushing forward.

If you have any information about the Princess Blue cold case, submit a tip to Brazoria County Crime Stoppers here or call Manvel police at 281-489-1212.

Watch Courtney Fischer's "ABC13 Unsolved" series on our ABC 13 YouTube channel here.

Follow Courtney Fischer on Twitter and Facebook.
 
Sorry for the incomplete post. Something is wrong with the way Websleuth's is handling my posts using my cellphone.

UNSOLVED CRIME
UNSOLVED: 'Princess Blue' found dead on Manvel gravel road nearly 30 years ago
  • SHARE:
5710454_112019-ktrk-unsolved-princess-blue-img.jpg

EMBED <>MORE VIDEOS

Manvel Police Department has sent back the still-unidentified remains of "Princess Blue," which was found in 1990.



By Courtney Fischer
Thursday, November 21, 2019
MANVEL, Texas (KTRK) -- There are stories behind the jewelry we wear: a special gift; a family heirloom; a promise for a future life together.

Inside a yellow evidence envelope at the Manvel Police Department, one woman's jewelry tells a story detectives don't yet understand: a delicate pearl bracelet; a diamond band; a silver ring with a unicorn made from turquoise stones.
 

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