AR - Goldie Thornsberry, 65, Fayetteville, Jan 1996

Nine-Year Anniversary Update Northwest Arkansas Times 01/15/05
http://nwanews.com/story.php?paper=nwat&Se...s&storyid=24415
"Rita [her daughter] said her mom was out of town for the holidays visiting family,"Franklin said. "Subsequently, more suspicious transactions came into the bank and we decided to investigate further. We also learned that Rita had moved out of the apartment."
Also missing from the apartment, Franklin said, was a freezer. "We don't know if that is connected to this case or not,"he said.

. . . Investigators discovered that Thornsberry had several forgeries on her account, leading to Rita and Raymond Douglas. They were subsequently arrested and pleaded guilty to the forgeries. "Throughout this investigation, Rita or Raymond Douglas made no attempt to cooperate with investigators, police, or anyone concerned with Ms. Thornsberry's whereabouts,"Franklin said. "Since they were the last ones living with her, it seems they should be able to provide vital information. To this day they are considered persons of interest in this investigation."

She was identified as a Jane Doe found 7-20-2000 in Little Rock, AR. Her daughter and ex-son-in-law have been arrested for her murder.

Rest in Peace, Goldie. You deserved better from your own family.

http://www.kfsm.com/news/northwestarkansas/kfsm-news-nwa-thornsberry-cold-case,0,376454.story

Here are the DoeNet pages posted here so that they remain after DoeNet closes the case files.

It's interesting to note how accurate (or inaccurate) the information was on the Unidentified remains, and what key info was left unmentioned in the Missing Person page. Her age was out of range, her height was close (off by an inch), her estimated year of death was off by four years, and there was no mention of the bone grafts or healed fractures in Golda's Missing Person profile, it only said that she was suffering from deteriorating disks. Keep that in mind when trying to match up MP and UID cases.

The Doe Network:
Case File 1708DFAR



Goldie Thornsberry
Missing since January 15, 1996 from Fayetteville, Washington County, Arkansas
Classification: Endangered Missing

Vital Statistics

* Date Of Birth: May 2, 1930
* Age at Time of Disappearance: 65 years old
* Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'7"; 195 lbs.
* Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Grey hair; blue eyes. She wears glasses.
* Marks, Scars: Two surgical scars on back of neck, hysterectomy scar from hip bone to hip bone, scar on foot (possibly right), pierced ears.
* Medical Information: She is diabetic and needs medication. She suffers from a deteriorating disk disease.

Circumstances of Disappearance
Thornsberry was last seen at approximately 24:00 at the Ralsh Medical Clinic in the vicinity of the 700 block of West North in Fayetteville, AR.
The official investigation into Thornsberry’s disappearance began March 8, 1996, when unusual transactions appeared on her bank account. One of Thornsberry’s daughters, with husband, were living with Thornsberry at the time of her disappearance. When asked by police about her mother's whereabouts she said her mom was out of town for the holidays visiting family.
Also missing from the apartment was a freezer. Police doesn’t know if that is connected to the case or not.
In September 1996, investigators discovered that Thornsberry had several forgeries on her account, leading to the daughter and son-in-law. They were subsequently arrested and pleaded guilty to the forgeries. Throughout the investigation, they made no attempt to cooperate with investigators and are still considered persons of interest in the investigation.
There have been no sightings of her since her disappearance. Foul play is suspected.

_______________________________________



The Doe Network:
Hot Case 1548



Unidentified White Female -- (IDENTIFIED AS GOLDIE THORNBERRY)

* The victim was discovered on July 20, 2000 in Little Rock, Pulaski County, Arkansas
* Probable Year of Death: 1999
* State of Remains: Partial Skeleton

Vital Statistics

* Estimated age: 45-60 years old
* Approximate Height and Weight: 5'6".
* Distinguishing Characteristics: Bilateral bone graft taken from the anterior iliac crest of both inominates-this is a surgical removal of bone from the hip. The graft site of the right inominate appears to have been infected and may have been active at the time of death. Anterior surgical fusion of vertebral bodies of C4-C7. Healed fracture of left 1st rib. Healed fracture of the nose.
* Clothing: White bra, size 40C; multicolored shirt; a red sock; a white boot; possible underwear waistband.
* Fingerprints: Could not be obtained.
* Dentals: This victim was presented Edentulous (without teeth).
* DNA: Samples submitted - tests not complete.

Case History
The victim was found by some civil contractors in a 5 foot well in the 13900 Block of Cantrell Road, in Little Rock, Arkansas on July 20, 2000.

The skull was found in a plastic bag fastened with a strap and the other remains were found by excavating the well.

**Warning: graphic details in the next sentence.**

It's odd that the UID profile didn't mention that her hands and one leg had been cut off in an apparent attempt to conceal her identity, and that she was found edentulous because her teeth had been pulled out for the same reason.

I suspect her murderers initially concealed her body in the still-missing freezer before taking her remains with them when they moved to Little Rock and dumping them in the well there. Horrible story all around.

Reconstruction of the UID didn't resemble Goldie Thornsberry much, IMHO, though they didn't have any dentition to work with. Images: http://www.todaysthv.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=105421

Thanks, tatertot for leading me to the reconstruction. They should have known that the teeth were removed after death (unhealed sockets), but there was no mention of that either. Obviously, they must have thought that the tooth loss was antemortem because they depicted her without teeth. But aside from the teeth issue, it's not a bad resemblance.

Here is the side-by-side for comparison.

You're welcome! Article interviewing a former friend of Thornsberry who helped solve this after seeing the Jane Doe story on the news. He said her family moved away just days after he last saw Thornsberry:

http://www.todaysthv.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=107114&catid=2

Trial is set for Feb 7, 2011.

Attorney Ronald Davis Jr. contends a statement given to police was taken in violation of Raymond Douglas' Miranda rights. Davis also seeks to suppress any evidence that prosecutors hasn't provided to the defense. Washington County Prosecuting Attorney John Threet says he has an open file policy.

Click to expand...

http://www.katv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13890335

http://www.4029tv.com/r/28742518/detail.html

Suspected Ark. Killer's Statements Won't Be Tossed


POSTED: 2:05 pm CDT August 2, 2011

Article too short to snip. Says statements were about Douglas' stating he had cashed Goldie's checks around the time she disappeared.

The new trial is going on now. I'd post some news, but people were talking in here during the report, and I couldn't hear. :maddening:
Will post when the news station puts it up on line.

NOT GUILTY!!! :banghead::banghead::banghead:

This is bogus!!!!!!

Prosecutors said time worked against them.