VA VA - Virginia Beach, @ Chesapeake Bay Bridge, WhtFem 30-50, 903UFVA, scars, suntan lines, May'76

Jane Doe




On May 29, 1976 at approximately 7:10 am the body of a white female was discovered floating in the Chesapeake Bay near the First Island of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. The Coast Guard responded, found, recovered, and transported the body to the Coast Guard Station. A news release on the morning of this discovery described the victim as decapitated white female. The Medical Examiner describes Jane Doe as being between 30 and 50 years old weighing approximately 135 pounds. She was about 5’ 5’’ tall with a vaccination scar on her upper left arm and a five and a half inch scar on the backside of the right thigh between the back of the knee and the buttocks. A raised red mole was on the neck about an inch below the Adam’s apple. Two more brown skin moles were about an inch below the Adam’s apple on the opposite side of the red mole. At this time the Identity is still unknown. The Medical Examiner’s Office performed an autopsy and ruled this case a homicide.





Contact Information:
Cold Case Homicide Unit
2509 Princess Anne Rd.
Municipal Center, Bldg 11
Virginia Beach, VA 23456
Direct: (757) 385-4241

http://www.vbgov.com/vgn.aspx?vgnex...010VgnVCM100000870b640aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default

I was looking around at possible matches for a different case when I came accross this case report on the Doe Network. The dates for this case on Namus and the DoeNetwork are 5/30/1976, but both are for this UID.

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/903ufva.html

https://identifyus.org/cases/5556

The info given at the top was placed on the Virginia Beach Virginia Cold Cases by Virginia Beach. So I can not say about what is on Doe or NamUs. I assume I would go by what NamUs has since the ME placed her in the system. I remember this when it happened.

Seifsister said:

The info given at the top was placed on the Virginia Beach Virginia Cold Cases by Virginia Beach. So I can not say about what is on Doe or NamUs. I assume I would go by what NamUs has since the ME placed her in the system. I remember this when it happened.

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IMO considering this case is 34yrs old...a one day discrepancy isn't a big deal in the grand scheme of things. She still needs a name; I'm going to do some digging tomorrow as it's almost 1am here and I have to be to work in 6 hours.

Do you know of any additional articles and/or photos regarding this case? My quick search didn't yield anything...but again..it wasn't very intensive.

Bump

Still an open case with an impressive 209 exclusions: https://identifyus.org/cases/5556

Gardener1850 said:

Bump

Still an open case with an impressive 209 exclusions: Unidentified Person Case

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241!

Cold Case: Police hope new DNA test will reveal identity of headless woman

It was early on a Sunday morning, May 30, 1976. A couple out fishing on the Chesapeake Bay noticed two green garbage bags floating in the water. Suspicious, they called police, who pulled out the bags and found a woman’s naked body inside.

As gruesome as this is, Virginia Beach detective Kevin Fanelli said, it gets worse, “Her head and her fingers at the middle knuckles were severed and missing.”

It seemed in the days before DNA testing someone wanted to make sure this victim wouldn’t be identified.

Now, 43 years later, Fanelli told 10 On Your Side they still know very little about her. “Where she came from, where she was going, where she was supposed to be.”
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They were able to determine she was 35-45 years old, about 5’5 and 140 pounds. She had a couple red and brown moles on her neck and a faint 5 1/2 inch scar running up the back of her right thigh. Detectives put that information out on radio and television. They generated a lot of leads on missing persons.
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Investigators also learned a cruise ship came through the area around 2 a.m. the morning the victim was found. Detectives went to the ship and got a list of more than 900 people on board. Again, they turned up nothing.

There’s renewed hope because of DNA testing. Fanelli told WAVY.com, “We are very hopeful with this new DNA testing that we will have some great luck.”
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An autopsy showed the victim had given birth at least once. “Somewhere out there, probably my age or a little older, may be a son or a daughter who never knew their mother, never knew why she didn’t come back home or what happened to her.”
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Also, if you have any information that might help detectives, you can call Detective Fanelli directly at (757) 385-4467 or leave an anonymous tip on the Crime Line: 1-888-LOCK-U-UP. You can also text a tip through the P3 tips mobile app or leave it on the Crimesolvers website.

(video in the link)
Cold Case: Police hope new DNA test will reveal identity of headless woman

Unidentified Person / NamUs #UP5556
ME/C Case Number T1976-21068

Female, White / Caucasian

Date Body Found - May 30, 1976
Location Found - Virginia Beach, Virginia
Estimated Age Range - 30-49 Years

Demographics

Sex - Female
Race / Ethnicity - White / Caucasian

Estimated Age Group - Adult - Pre 50
Estimated Age Range (Years) - 30-49
Estimated Year of Death - 1976
Estimated PMI - Days

Height - 5' 5"(65 inches) , Estimated
Weight - 135 lbs, Estimated

Street Address - First Island Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel Virginia Beach, Virginia

Circumstances of Recovery
The body of a headless, fingerless white female washed up on the First Island of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. Interval between death & discovery is between 24-48 hours & the body was in the water 6 plus hours.

Details of Recovery
Head not recovered
One or both hands not recovered

Condition of Remains - Not recognizable - Partial remains with soft tissues

Physical Description
Body Hair Description Per VBPD: Some graying noted pubic region. Legs and underarms may have been recently shaven as very little hair or growth is noted.

Distinctive Physical Features
Finger and toe nails
Per VBPD: Neatly trimmed and polished toe nails, reddish orange polish.

Scar/mark
An old 5 1/2" scar was located on the upper back of right leg. The body has several moles on back/neck/abdominal areas. Per VBPD: Raised red mole one inch below Adams Apple on neck; two brown skin moles 1 to 1 1/2 inch to the left of Adams Apple; raised red mole on posterior right shoulder blade level with arm pit and 3 inches from center of back; Raised red mole right side pelvic bone area. Vaccination upper left arm

Other distinctive physical characteristic
Per VBPD: Suntan lines indicating that decedent wore only a one piece bathing suits. Muscular legs, loose skin upper arms (fleshy) and abdomen. Stretch marks on both breasts.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Chesapeake Bay Jane Doe May 1976

On May 30, 1976 at approximately 7:10 am the body of a white female was discovered floating in the Chesapeake Bay near the First Island of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. The Coast Guard responded, found, recovered, and transported the body to the Coast Guard Station.

A news release on the morning of this discovery described the victim as a decapitated white female. The Medical Examiner describes Jane Doe as being between 30 and 50 years old weighing approximately 135 pounds. She was about 5’ 5’’ tall with a vaccination scar on her upper left arm and a five and a half inch scar on the backside of the right thigh between the back of the knee and the buttocks. A raised red mole was on the neck about an inch below the Adam’s apple. Two more brown skin moles were about an inch below the Adam’s apple on the opposite side of the red mole.

At this time the identity of Jane Doe is still unknown. The Medical Examiner’s Office performed an autopsy and ruled this case a homicide.

LINK:

Jane Doe :: VBgov.com - City of Virginia Beach

I was contacted about a DNA kit I manage on gedmatch that matches this unidentified person. Hoping I can help them solve the mystery.

I found this one on newspapers.com but there was a second body with the head and fingers cut off found after this one. Image is below in the form of a PDF. From The Danville Register (Danville, Virginia) · 23 Jun 1976, Wed · Page 3.

paris_paris said:

I was contacted about a DNA kit I manage on gedmatch that matches this unidentified person. Hoping I can help them solve the mystery.

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I was also matched in the same way.

I did 23andMe and Ancestry because I was adopted at birth and wanted to learn more about my story. Wife uploaded the raw DNA to other sites and we were contacted about this cold case. I asked around amongst the family members I've made contact with, wondering if there were any family members who went missing or not heard from around that time. It didn't ring a bell with anyone.

I am somewhat new to all this stuff (DNA as well as true-crime/cold-cases.) Is there anything I could be looking at or doing, or someone I could collaborate with? According to some of the case notes, Jane Doe had given birth at least once so there may be someone out there looking for answers.

SCaJ said:

I found this one on newspapers.com but there was a second body with the head and fingers cut off found after this one. Image is below in the form of a PDF. From The Danville Register (Danville, Virginia) · 23 Jun 1976, Wed · Page 3.

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Also saw this article about another body disposed of in a very similar manner. Anyone know if there was ever any resolution to this second case?

Somewhere there is an article that said the 2 cases were not related. I find that surprising. You will see a message from me to collaborate and help with your DNA results if you want.

paris_paris said:

I was contacted about a DNA kit I manage on gedmatch that matches this unidentified person. Hoping I can help them solve the mystery.

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what was the relation that matched? this is what my husband possible matches to Jane Doe is
According to the DNA Painter Tool there is a:

1. 39.98% you are a Half 2C, 2C1R, Half 1C2R, or 1C3R
2. 30.07% you are a 3C, Half 2C1R, 2C2R, or Half 1C3R
3. 17.86% you are a Half 3C, 3C1R, Half 2C2R, or 2C3R
4. 7.37% you are a Half GG Aunt/Uncle, 2C, Half 1C1R, 1C2R, or a Half-GG Niece/Nephew
5. 4.72% you are a 4C, Half 3C1R, or 3C2R
6. <0% you are a 5C or 4C1R
7. <0% you are a 1C1R

@porkchopexpress and @pittiegurl
and @paris_paris
Do you three have family trees done or have a family member that has done one?
That would be very helpful for the investigators in narrowing down the identity of this UID.

My grandson’s match was just over 100cM. I was able to give the detective a family name in common with some of the shared matches, but the name would be about 4 generations back. He still has access to an extensive family tree I had built. The DNA was processed again with more accuracy, and I think at that point my grandson was no longer showing as a match.

Tabirey said:

@porkchopexpress and @pittiegurl
and @paris_paris
Do you three have family trees done or have a family member that has done one?
That would be very helpful for the investigators in narrowing down the identity of this UID.

Click to expand...

I gave the investigators the access to my husband's tree

pittiegurl said:

I gave the investigators the access to my husband's tree

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How wonderful!

SCaJ said:

I found this one on newspapers.com but there was a second body with the head and fingers cut off found after this one. Image is below in the form of a PDF. From The Danville Register (Danville, Virginia) · 23 Jun 1976, Wed · Page 3.

Click to expand...

That is very intriguing finding. For past 2-3 days I am going through all the old newspapers and sites to try to find out more details on the man's case from March 1976, plus to see more on connection to this Jane Doe but strangely can't find any mention of his case anywhere and it is also not appearing as unsolved under North Carolina unsolved unidentified or unsolved murders. He might have been identified by now and murder solved but I can't believe there was no further mention of his brutal murder locally or anywhere else in news over the years.

Copy pasting article here, so people don't have to open pdf



Mostly what is popping up in searches is fugitive William Bradford Bishop Jr. case as annihilation of his whole family happened in the same month - March, and he burried them all in NC. He was last seen in Jacksonville, NC interestingly not too far from where that unknown man body was found 3 weeks later.

Link - Bradford Bishop - Wikipedia

Just to add, it is great to hear that investigators of her case are working very hard for many years and now even using genetic genealogy to find her identity.

Hopefully, her identity will be found in near future.