FL FL - Sumter Co, 'Little Miss Panasoffkee', WhtFem 17-24, 470UFFL, Feb'71

[Richard]

For years, all case summaries have stated that no clothing was recovered from the scene. Now, the Doenetwork is saying this:

Clothing: Flowered printed shawl with a fringed border; plain cotton blouse; green flowered pants; bra and nylon underwear. Large, clear stone ring on right finger, yellow metal watch on left wrist.

LINK:

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/470uffl.html

 

[KateB]

http://doenetwork.org/cases/470uffl.html

Ms. Baird:
GA GA - Gloria Jean Baird, 23, 1969 - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community
63-65" 106 lbs.
LKA 12/31/1969 23 yrs old
1 child
Father is dentist.
Lt brown/brown hair
Blue eyes
Scar on right side under chin
Lake Panasoffkee Jane Doe is alluded to in post #20 in Ms. Baird's thread but I don't see where any comparisons were ever discussed once the data on her was available.

https://identifyus.org/en/cases/full_report/6040
Many more sketches at link. I picked the one that favors Ms.Baird most to me.
Lake Panasoffkee Jane Doe
61" 100 lbs.
Date found 2/19/1971 18-23 yrs. old
appears to have given birth
Extensive dental work.
Dark brown/black hair
Eyes unknown
may be mixed race.

Seems this one should have already been ruled out, but I can find no evidence of that so what am I missing besides the hair color difference & 2 inches on height? Thanks.

 

[CarlK90245]

There's a new facial reconstruction of Miss Panasoffkee in NamUs, and some photos of her clothing.

https://identifyus.org/en/cases/6040

 

[KateB]

Her nose is unique in the new reconstruction. If she was a recent Greek immigrant, as her dentals indicate, she may have been attending the annual Epiphany in Tarpon Springs, a Greek community about 75 miles from where she was found. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/legacies/FL/200002868.html
pg=4798%2C4355706
Many people travel distances for this event. I wonder if she went there with her child to receive blessings.

There is an archived article with the schedule of events for the Jan 6, 1971 Epiphany. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=WDtSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=rnUDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4798%2C4355706

 

[Redwood146]

I think you should at least submit it. They look so similar even their mouths seem to be similar. Long shot maybe but I think it needs to be submitted.

 

[Ambercat]

Her nose is unique in the new reconstruction. If she was a recent Greek immigrant, as her dentals indicate, she may have been attending the annual Epiphany in Tarpon Springs, a Greek community about 75 miles from where she was found. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/legacies/FL/200002868.html
pg=4798%2C4355706
Many people travel distances for this event. I wonder if she went there with her child to receive blessings.

There is an archived article with the schedule of events for the Jan 6, 1971 Epiphany. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=WDtSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=rnUDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4798%2C4355706

I wonder if she could be a tourist who was robbed and murdered (I know that Florida had a problem with this happening to international tourists a while back, but I really don't know if they had this problem in the 1970s)? How far is Lake Panasoffkee from the tourist places that people visit?

Another possibility could be some kind of domestic dispute and with her significant other telling people that she left him and returned to Greece when in actuality he murdered her, but I have no idea how to pursue this if he never reported her missing.

 

[annemc2]

That's very interesting about the clothing and the dentals.

Was wondering about the watch - thought maybe if Zales/Baylor was still a small Texas-based outfit in the 1960s we could narrow down where the watch came from but it looks like no such luck:

By the mid-1960s, Zale operated the nation's--and the world's--largest retail jewelry chain. Its 403 stores produced $81 million in 1963, with a net income of nearly $5 million. Diamonds continued to represent the largest share of Zale's sales, about $27 million. Operating manufacturing plants in New York, Tel Aviv, and Puerto Rico, the company also operated a wholesale division, selling to other jewelry retailers. Zale also made and sold watches under its own Baylor's label, buying mechanisms from Switzerland.

http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/zale-corporation-history/

 

[bflocket]

Could she have been a Greek exchange student? If she had good dental work and health care (the surgery, etc) her family could have afforded to get her in that type of program. Or perhaps college classes somewhere.
If she indeed had a child, I don't see why there isn't someone looking for HER (not just her identity). If it were a hubby traveling with her that killed her, they'd be tourists and others might not notice she's missing. If she were on vacation and the serial killer got her, wouldn't her travel group notice?

 

[Soulmagent]

Did they still have homes for unwed mother in the early 70's ?

 

[SoBeCzar]

http://doenetwork.org/cases/2809dfok.html


Leah Gail Johnson
Missing since November 20, 1970 from Sayre, Beckham County, Oklahoma
Classification: Missing

Vital Statistics

Date Of Birth: August 15, 1952
Age at Time of Disappearance: 18 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'2; 142 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: Native female. Dark brown hair; brown eyes.
Clothing: Purple bell bottoms; brown shirt; brown leather coat.
Circumstances of Disappearance
Leah, Jimmy Williams and Thomas Rios were last seen in Sayre, Oklahoma on the night of November 20, 1970.

Leah, Thomas and Jimmy never came home that night. Jimmy's car has never been located.


She went missing with two males. Wonder if it is possible she was pregnant and had a baby. The weight is high but not if she was pregnant. She is native with dark hair and eyes.

 

[SoBeCzar]

Here is Leah Johnson and Little Miss Panasoffkee side by side.

 

[German Girl 1966]

interesting article from today:

http://www.tampabay.com/news/public...er-that-may-be-tied-to-tarpon-springs/1238126

 

[KateB]

interesting article from today:

http://www.tampabay.com/news/public...er-that-may-be-tied-to-tarpon-springs/1238126

Thanks for posting that. Offtopic, but some of you may be interested to know Erin Kimmerle is also guiding the cemetery project at the Dozier School for boys. She's doing some amazing work.
http://www.tampabay.com/features/humaninterest/article1230895.ece

Times did a special investigation section on the school. http://www.tampabay.com/specials/2009/reports/dozier/

 

[annemc2]

That was a great article, German Girl 1966 - thanks for posting. And yea to KateB who made the Epiphany connection, just like local investigators!!

 

[KateB]

She is front page with additional 2 composite pages on the Tarpon Springs PD site: http://www.tspd.us/index.html

I found this interesting. The American Community School in Athens:
http://www.acsgreece.com/name.html

And they have this up to help feed CarlK's addiction to yearbook photos: http://mitch_kief.tripod.com/evzone71/evzone_1971.pdf

Of course, she was found early in 1971, and was probably pregnant shortly before that so don't expect her to be in this book but still interesting to see the fashion & few ponchos in the pics.

 

[EveDallas]

Wasn't there something wrong with one or both of her ankles too ?

 

[CarlK90245]

Wasn't there something wrong with one or both of her ankles too ?

Yes she did. From the DoeNetwork page:

Orthopedic surgery had been performed on her right ankle due to instability in the ankle. The procedure, known as a "Watson-Jones" technique, involved drilling two small holes in the ankle bone and winding a tendon through them.

 

[Sleuthster]

Did they still have homes for unwed mother in the early 70's ?

Yes and they still do in Florida. Alpha house has one in St Petersburg and one in Tampa that have been there for many decades. I was thinking this too, seeing that they said she'd been preg before.

Edit-there is a male adoptee born March 69 and and adopted March 70 searching for his birthmother. He was born in Tarpon Springs. Handled through Catholic Charities. Alpha house's adoptions are mostly handled through Catholic Charities.

BTW, I grew up in the greek community of TS. My stepfather, an attorney, was greek and I still have many many friends in the community. Many of them hold duel citizenship with Greece and come back and forth with quite a few having been here for many generations. Some originally came from Greece and went to Chicago or Atlanta or NYC before coming here.

 

[Sleuthster]

Doing research, up until 2010 Lavrion Greece was used by the Greek govt as a "camp" for refugees. In the 60's-80's for political refugees from Eastern Bloc countries and the Middle East. Later it was used to house Kurds. This could indicate that the doe is not necessarily of greek decent. Also, I googled Lavrion and tarpon and found someone who is from Lavrion and owns a childrens clothing charity right down the road from my house. He came here in 74 and states he is an only child in the St Pete times article.

I dont think this is a big community, pop is only about 10,000 currently and alot where refugees up until the camps closed in 2010.

 

[annoulzz]

She could have came from a village that is outside of Lavrio, like Agios Konstantinos or Finikodasos. A lot of Greeks usually say they are from the bigger city, when in fact they're from small villages, and if she spent enough time in Lavrio, it would make sense that her dental records show that. Also the closest islands to Lavrio are Makronisos and Kythnos.

"Agios Konstantinos is famous for its mining areas as well as its neighboring Laurium, the mining town and is part of the mining district of Laurium. Mineral rocks founded around this area includes azurite, chalcoalumite, calcite, austinite, adamite and more.

Agios Konstantinos has a school, a lyceum, banks, churches, a post office and a few squares (plateies), its nearest gymnasia or high school is in Lavrio."

This is the map where Lavrio is in Athens.

My parents are from two villages outside of Sparta, but I just say Sparta. I don't always say, yeah i'm from Krokees and Vordonia. I know most of the Greeks who are from Tarpon Springs, are from the islands of Rhodes and Kalymnos... maybe she was visiting family or friends during that time she was there.. she could have been from NYC or Chicago which are other huge Greek populated areas before coming to Florida.