Identified! NV - Washoe Co., WhtFem 156UFNV, 25-35, Sheep's Flat Trail, Jul'82 - Mary Edith Silvani

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Charlie99909 said:
This is my first post here and after reading on this board for a month I decided that I wanted to join and try doing what you all do. I had previously attempted a match on a different case which in the beginning looked very good but dental ultimatly ruled it out. After that I was hooked.

This is a case that hits very close to home for me as I live in Reno and this occured only about 45 minutes away from my house. It is a case I feel had some good info in it but maybe police only searched the wrong side of the mountain for clues.

Case File 156UFNV



Unidentified White Female

Located on July 17, 1982 at Mount Rose Highway above Lake Tahoe, Washoe County, Nevada.
Cause of death was homicide. The victim had been shot.
Estimated date of death: Less than 24 hours prior.
Vital Statistics

Estimated age: Late 20's to early 30's
Approximate Height and Weight: 5'5½"; 112 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: Hazel eyes; brown shoulder-length hair that was tied up on her head in a bun. She had a 4 - 5" surgical scar on the abdomen and a vaccination scar on the upper left arm. The big toenail on the left foot was black from extensive bruise. She may have given birth to at least one child.
Dentals: Her dental work indicated that she may have lived in Europe.
Clothing: She wore a white lace bathing suit, size medium, underneath Lee Rider blue jeans and a powder-blue, size medium, sleeveless T-shirt. She also wore pale yellow tennis shoes, size 6.
Case History
Hikers found this victim slumped forward over a log as if she had been tying her shoe when her attacker shot her from behind.
The detective in charge of the case surmises that she knew her attacker.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Washoe County Sheriff's office
Detective Rick Garretson
775-328-3337

Agency Case Number:
0620-82

Source Information: Secret Witness

On both side of Mt. Rose we have many cities. Reno to the east with Carson City to the southeast. Lake tahoe and stateline to the west with Sacramento about 100 miles to the west.

Now judging from the way she was dressed this was for a day outing. She is very possibly a local who went to the mountain. She was located in sheep flats which is small meadow just past the summit of mount rose. A smaller lake is near there about another mile down the road.
If anyone here watches bonaza you know this meadow, they shot a lot of incidental scenes of just the meadow there.
I think it is very possible she came from the west side of the mountain more so the east where Reno is only because that is a small city where literally you will come accross the same people every week, trust me I know. Someone would recognize her her within a month.
I imagine this wasn't circulated in the Sacramento area either. Where I'm focusing on in in the immediate western side of the mountain.
Anyone working any cases in the northern California area that might have seen a similar missing person?
Click to expand...


She reminds me just a bit of Lynette Joy Dawson, an Aussie missing person.
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/43dfnsw.html
very much a long shot because of the distance.
 
Scholtz is on my list of potential rule outs. Won't know for sure till she is confirmed out by the police.

Dawson didn't strike me as a possibility. Anythings possible now, I'll add her to the list just to cover my bases.
 
Rindicella said:
Another thing bugging me:

"yellow tennis shoes".

I've always noticed that Americans use the words "sneaker" and "tennis shoe" interchangably to mean any kind of athletic shoe.

But in 1982 a YELLOW shoe would be unusual. Reeboks were the number selling athletic shoe that year, but mainly the white low top with the Union Jack on the side. They came out in 82 andwere the number one athletic shoe in the world. Black and white hi-tops didn't follow until about maybe 84???

a YELLOW athletic shoe of any kind, stands out to me.
Most popular brands in the early 80's were:
Reebok (#1)
Adidas
Nike

I looked and could not find a "yellow" shoe in any of these lines for that time frame.

I do remember seeing brightly colored Puma sneakers in the early 80's and have sent the company an e-mail --- if they say "yes", and this girl was wearing Yellow Puma's, then we know our girl came through western Europe anyway.
Puma was/is the number one athletic shoe in Europe. Now owned by a Swiss company but at the time, it was a German manufacturer.
Click to expand...

"Tennis shoe" and "sneaker" are also usually interchangeable with "running shoe" and there were several models of running shoe that were predominantly yellow. My spouse had a pair -- Asics Tigers, I think. Or maybe Mizuno. There were literally dozens of small companies making running and other athletic shoes at the time.
 
David van Norman told me never go by the clothes. They can always be changed.
 
Well I have a descision. Mr mills lane is in the phone book. Do I call him and introduce myself? He was chief investigator on this case. Maybe he can help.
 
reasypeasy said:
She reminds me just a bit of Lynette Joy Dawson, an Aussie missing person.
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/43dfnsw.html
very much a long shot because of the distance.
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting this --- I agree this distance is huge, bt the girl in Tahoe had eastern european dental work. Also, the face may seem similar but as artist I have to say this is a different woman. The planes of her nose, leading into the eye socket is all wrong.

Poor Lynette! Thank you for posting her information. I hope her killer is found, tried and convicted. RIP Lynette!
 
justice57 said:
I have been trying to compare the picture of Amber Elizabeth Scholz with this victim. Amber disappeared from Wyoming in November 1981. There are some similarities. She was 5'4" and 115 lbs. She has a scar from a c-section. She was wearing white tennis shoes. She was born in Fort Benning, GA. which may indicate her family was in the military (I am thinking about the dental work). I haven't been able to find out any information on her family. That is quite a while from November until July. Just throwing out a thought.
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting about Amber....God bless her ---

I looked up her info on :
http://www.doenetwork.org/

Case File 24DFWY

In looking at her photo, I can see an irregularity with her nose. The photos are grainy and not very good but I have to ask: does anyone know if her nose was broken in the past. It could just be shadows but in the b/w photo the angle of the bridge seems wider than in the other photo. Also, her forehead comes quite a bit forward, at the brow, leading to a more prominent eye-brow line, and deeper set eyes. Her head shape is completely different, shorter, and more rounded than Jane.
Sadly, I don't think Amber is our Jane Doe.

Be at peace, Amber, wherever you are!
 
Rindicella said:
Thanks for posting about Amber....God bless her ---
I looked up her info on :
http://www.doenetwork.org/

Case File 24DFWY

...
Click to expand...

:eek:fftopic: FYI, when posting a DoeNet link, you can get the full URL by right-clicking the link provided in the DoeNetwork site, and then from the right-click menu, choosing "Open Link in New Window"

The link will open with the full URL shown on the address line (which you can then copy and paste into your post).
 
Thanks Carl --- that site is a bit confusing --- that helps!!!!

:)

Charlie - yes I knew he'd been sick and had a stroke --- I was hoping maybe his wife could help you talk to him. I know in my heart that if Mills is unable to talk to you about this, it is not because he is unwilling....Mills was a deeply compassionate man and would help if he could. You know, Dick Gammick might have been around back then....maybe he would talk to you???
 
I'm looking up people quoted in the story. Right now they are my go to guys.
 
Those are swimming days.

Maybe she went up with a boyfriend or something and got into a fight and walked away or made him stop the car. She walked while they argued and she stopped to tie her shoe. She then maybe said something to the effect of "up yours" (keepng it G here) and in a fit of anger he shot her.

They need to review a lot of these cold cases and broadcast them to the public. A lot of my coworkers who lived here since the 70s remember these cases. It might jog a memory.
 
Charlie99909 said:
Those are swimming days.

Maybe she went up with a boyfriend or something and got into a fight and walked away or made him stop the car. She walked while they argued and she stopped to tie her shoe. She then maybe said something to the effect of "up yours" (keepng it G here) and in a fit of anger he shot her.

They need to review a lot of these cold cases and broadcast them to the public. A lot of my coworkers who lived here since the 70s remember these cases. It might jog a memory.
Click to expand...

Makes perfect sense.
 
My only question on that scenario is:
If she was shot with a shotgun or a rifle , he actually hunted her down after she got out of the car.

If it was a handgun, he could have concealed that. The articles do not seem precise about what kind of gun was used.
 
Her right eye is blurred in the post mortem. Maybe an exit wound? A shotgun at close range would have taken her head off. I'm thinking a hand gun.
 
Charlie99909 said:
Her right eye is blurred in the post mortem. Maybe an exit wound? A shotgun at close range would have taken her head off. I'm thinking a hand gun.
Click to expand...

I agree that a handgun would seem to make more sense when you put it like that.
One of the sources said "shotgun" so it kinda throws you off....so much "vague" information and as you put it "inconsistency".

I have some exp. with handguns but not shotguns/rifles...would a rifle of a lower caliber also destroy more than the eyesocket?
 
Rindicella said:
I agree that a handgun would seem to make more sense when you put it like that.
One of the sources said "shotgun" so it kinda throws you off....so much "vague" information and as you put it "inconsistency".

I have some exp. with handguns but not shotguns/rifles...would a rifle of a lower caliber also destroy more than the eyesocket?
Click to expand...

A handgun would tend to create a larger exit wound than a rifle (generally speaking). But a low-caliber handgun (say, a .22 caliber handgun, or even a .38) would probably not. I tend to doubt that it was a rifle or shotgun, because it would be difficult to tote around inconspicuously.

Secondly, if it was a shotgun, it would either blow half her head off (if from close range), or there would have been wounds spread over her upper body if from longer range, The indication that she was shot in the back of the head would seem to be inconsistent with either scenario.
 
Maybe a .22 though I'll admit that I dont know much about guns other than what I said above.
 
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