TN TN - Oak Ridge, WhtFem 272UFTN, 20s, Found in Melton Lake, Mar'00

SWright363 · #1 12-07-2005, 03:23 PM

Hi to all
This town is near me and this has bothered me every since I first read the story. And to the best of my knowledge I don't think there was ever any info about her tracked down. Hope some of you can offer some other suggestions or insight. What I HAVE read about her has been at www.oakridger.com

SWright363

Story last updated at 12:32 p.m. on Tuesday, March 7, 2000

Woman's body found in lake

by Beverly Majors
Oak Ridger staff

Oak Ridge police today are investigating a possible murder after two fishermen found the body of a woman floating on Melton Hill Lake.

Oak Ridge Police Capt. Bill Moehl said this morning that police recovered the body of a woman about two miles downstream from Clark Center Park.

"The body was floating but was underneath the bank near the shoreline," he said. "It was partially decomposed but pretty much intact."

Moehl said that after the fishermen saw the body at about 2:30 p.m. Monday, they went to Clark Center Park and called police. They stayed at the dock until Officers Ron Andrus and Rich Parker arrived and then took the officers to the site.

Moehl said the body is that of a woman possibly under the age of 30.

"We are guessing she was fairly young but it's really hard to tell. She had no clothing, no jewelry, no tattoos, basically no identification," he said. "There was no obvious cause of death. We are checking with missing persons nationwide to get a match."

He said police began checking missing persons reports locally Monday night and "got some preliminary hits."

Cleland Blake, forensic pathologist, will perform an autopsy today to give police more information, Moehl said.

"It appears to be a white female but we aren't ready to say that positively," he said.

He said the body had been in the water for at least several weeks.

Police today were to extend their search for clues and check campsites and other public areas farther upstream toward the park, he said.

"We may be able to narrow the search and criteria down more," he said.

He said police will treat the case as a homicide until proven otherwise.

Moehl said several officers were involved in body recovery efforts. ORPD has a large boat that can carry equipment and about 10 officers.

"But, actually, we took the body off from land," he said.

Police were able to drive to the scene by going onto Department of Energy property and accessing a road near the swimming area of the park. The area where the body was found is called Bull Bluff and is between the park and the Graphite Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

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Story last updated at 12:35 p.m. on Wednesday, March 8, 2000

Autopsy shows woman drowned

by Beverly Majors
Oak Ridger staff

Oak Ridge Police Lt. Mike Uher said this morning that an autopsy on a body of a woman found Monday in Melton Hill Lake showed that the woman drowned.

Cleland Blake, a forensic pathologist in Morristown, performed the autopsy Tuesday afternoon.

Oak Ridge Police Capt. Bill Moehl said Tuesday that police would treat the case as a homicide until proven otherwise.

Uher said the body was taken to the University of Tennessee's Body Farm for storage. The Body Farm is a forensic science death study facility.

Fishermen found the body at about 2:30 Monday afternoon approximately two miles downstream from Clark Center Park.

Moehl said the body was found underneath a bank near the shoreline and was partially decomposed.

"The body probably would not have been found had they not been fishing near the shoreline," Uher said.

Uher said police are continuing their search for clues to the woman's identity and death.

The body was found nude with no jewelry, no tattoos, no identification and no obvious cause of death, Moehl said Tuesday. Police are searching national registries of missing persons.

A press release said the woman, believed to have been in her 20s, was 5 feet, 9 1/2 inches tall, weighed approximately 160 pounds and had long medium dark brown hair.

The body had been in the water for about two to three weeks, the release said.

The Oak Ridge Police Department is asking anyone with knowledge of a missing person fitting the description to call the ORPD at (865) 425-4399, or Officers Ron Andrus at 425-3517 or Steve Speelman at 425-3509.

All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger

SWright363 · #2 12-07-2005, 03:48 PM

Here is the link in the Doe Network for this victim.

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/272uftn.html

shadowangel · #3 12-07-2005, 05:37 PM

Looking at what's known, this seems more like a suicide than a murder...As the area is known as Bull Bluff this sounds like a probable location to jump.

docwho3 · #4 12-07-2005, 07:32 PM

I found a little info about it but you may have to do a free registration to read one of the articles. I also found there seem to be other people turning up dead there. And there is at least one anti nuke person posting rants in the papers letter to the editor section.

Oak Ridge, Cocke County seek help identifying bodies
Story last updated at 11:25 a.m. on January 12, 2005
(requires free registration to view article)
http://oakridger.com/stories/011205/...50112007.shtml
Murder charges for family in Oak Ridge starvation case
http://www.wate.com/Global/story.asp?s=2667317
Human skeleton found by hiker on Oak Ridge trail
January 15, 2005
http://www.wate.com/Global/story.asp?S=2818374
Pastoral putrefaction down on the Body Farm
http://archives.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/10/31/body.farm/

reportertype · #5 12-07-2005, 07:47 PM

The fact that she was nude makes me lean more toward murder than suicide. I've never heard of someone taking off all their clothes before jumping. (Although it's certainly possible.)

shadowangel · #6 12-07-2005, 07:52 PM

I have. Helped recover a couple from a lake in TX. Some suicides want to be totally anonymous, probably the way they felt in life which led them to such a drastic measure.

PonderingThings · #7 03-08-2006, 05:33 PM

New reconstructions - see Doe Network link or:
http://www.longpauses.com/hughes/anderson.htm

Also case discussion/possible matches at "UsedToBeDoe" forum:
http://s10.invisionfree.com/usedtobe...wtopic=221&hl=

bluestarzz · #8 10-01-2008, 07:07 PM

Does anyone know if the Porchlight people called in on Terra Lynn Smith?
The news station in Knoxville TN had 272UFTN featured today on it's web
site.
Bluestarzz

bluestarzz · #9 10-03-2008, 09:55 PM

here is one i would like to see solved.
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/272uftn.html
bluestarzz

Marie · #10 10-03-2008, 10:53 PM

At 5'9.5" she's a tall young lady. That should help id her if she's been reported as missing.

SheWhoMustNotBeNamed · #11 10-04-2008, 03:16 PM

What about Kristen Modafferi? Admittedly, the timeline is off. But the Doe's page suggests she may have been the victim of kidnapping, which may explain time and location differences. Kristen is 5'8"...pretty close to 5'9.5". No mention of scars or tattoos either.

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1864dfca.html

Donjeta · #12 02-18-2011, 04:38 PM

Functional Doe link:
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/272uftn.html
Namus:
https://identifyus.org/cases/2895

JillyNJ · #13 08-29-2012, 06:22 PM

How about April Susanne Wiss? I know it says she had 3 black dots tattooed on her right hand and Jane Doe had none, but they could have been overlooked or scraped off. She was about to testify on a statutory rape trial before she disappeared. The reconstruction looks similar to her.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/w/wiss_april.html