Identified! KY - Harlan Co., WhtFem UP5880, 16-22, off Little Shepherd Trail, Jun'69 - Sonja Adams

[nerosleuth]

I'm glad that she has finally been identified. RIP Sonja.

 

[Tony1902]

Am I correct in assuming that lovely Sonja was never reported missing?

 

[carbuff]

Am I correct in assuming that lovely Sonja was never reported missing?

I can't find any indication that she was.

Reading between the lines, it sounds as though her daughter was looking for her after the husband/father didn't, so one might make some guesses...

 

[Roselvr]

Saw this article in my newsfeed today. After the failed attempt of exhuming her body in 2014 (where they failed to locate her because of a misplaced grave marker), they tried again last November and are pretty confident they have her.

Snipped


https://www.revealnews.org/article/...es-close-in-on-identity-of-mountain-jane-doe/

Was just coming to post this one lol Was googling another Jane Doe when this came up. Thankful she has her name back so her family can start to grieve. What a week it's been!

 

[fred&edna]

I can't find any indication that she was.

Reading between the lines, it sounds as though her daughter was looking for her after the husband/father didn't, so one might make some guesses...

There's a little more info within the link below (interview with Sonja's daughter, Karen Stipes - who was adopted by her paternal grandmother).

http://www.wbir.com/news/crime/daughter-discovers-mothers-identity-after-47-years/342308010


*Sonja married in 1966 but I don't know if she and her husband were living together at the time of her disappearance. 'Seems her husband remarried about a month after Sonja's body was discovered.

 

[ctaylor]

An update on Sonja...

http://www.middlesborodailynews.com/news/19500/mountain-jane-doe-to-be-given-final-tribute

‘Mountain Jane Doe’ to be given final tribute
News, Top Stories

Funeral, memorial concert planned for Sonja Kay Blair-Adams

By Jennifer McDaniels - For the Daily News

For almost half of a century, the body of an unidentified young woman found stabbed to death near Little Shepherd Trail on Pine Mountain in 1969 remained buried and unidentified on a forlorn hill on the outskirts of Harlan. Through the years, she affectionately became known by locals — and eventually the entire nation — as “Mountain Jane Doe.”

While police were unable to determine who she was and the murder became a cold case, locals tended to her grave, remembered her in story and never gave up hope that one day they may come to find out who she was.

That finally happened 47 years later when advances in DNA testing made it possible to positively identify ‘Mountain Jane Doe” last summer.

No longer “Mountain Jane Doe,” Sonja Kay Blair-Adams will be finally laid to rest and memorialized in a public funeral that will take place July 29, at Mount Pleasant Funeral Home in Harlan.

...

 

[JerseyGirl]

Police didn't know who Sonja Kaye Blair-Adams was when a man picking flowers on a trail found her body stabbed multiple times in 1969. It remained a mystery to the locals until advances in forensic science prompted renewed efforts to identify the body and resume the hunt for her killer. While police have yet to solve the killing, her daughter said the restoration of her mother's identity has provided at least some closure.

http://time.com/4907817/missing-unidentified-persons-dna-funding/

 

[Gardener1850]

I recently heard part of a podcast on this case on the radio. Although her identity is solved, who murdered Sonja is still a mystery. Not sure if this the same one I heard, but I found this well made documentary series of videos on the case made by Reveal.

The Dead Unknown Part 4 She Always Had a Name

 

[fred&edna]

I recently heard part of a podcast on this case on the radio. Although her identity is solved, who murdered Sonja is still a mystery. Not sure if this the same one I heard, but I found this well made documentary series of videos on the case made by Reveal.

Thanks for posting!

I think all can be found here (more episodes and podcast):

See our documentary series ‘The Dead Unknown’

 

[Gardener1850]

Thanks for posting!

I think all can be found here (more episodes and podcast):

See our documentary series ‘The Dead Unknown’

This is the one I heard. I wasn't sure at first because I missed the first part. I checked part 4 to see if it sounded familiar and now I'm sure this was what I heard on the radio. And I just found this link that says they did a re-broadcast on Jan 26th: The Mystery of Mountain Jane Doe

 

[Richard]

Article on this case:

http://www.doenetwork.org/closed/articles/928ufky_article.pdf

 

[Richard]

Sonja has been identified, but her murder remains unsolved.



Sonja Kaye “Mountain Jane Doe” Blair Adams
BIRTH 24 Apr 1948
Letcher County, Kentucky, USA
DEATH Jun 1969 (aged 21)
Harlan County, Kentucky, USA
BURIAL Harlan Gas Cemetery
Harlan, Harlan County, Kentucky, USA

LINKS:

Sonja Kaye “Mountain Jane Doe” Blair Adams...

“Mountain Jane Doe” buried nearly 50 years after murder

Funeral set for Harlan woman murdered 48 years ago

Sonja Kay Blair-Adams - View Obituary & Service Information

 

[Richard]

Sonja is of the same age and general description of the Michigan "Coed" murder victims. Details of her murder are very similar to details of other murders which occurred in the June/July 1969 time frame and earlier.

Here are a few possibly related cases:

Sheila Jean Collins, 18, Ames, IA - 26 January 1968
Alice Kalom, 21, Ypsilanti, MI - June 1969
Roxie Ann Phillips, 17, Salinas, CA - 30 June 1969
Stephanie Marie Casberg, 17, Racine, WI - 7 July 1969: WI - WI - Stephanie Casberg, 17, Racine County, 6 July 1969
Karen Sue Beineman, 18, Ypsilanti, MI - 23 July 1969

 

[Oakie]

Harlan in 1969 was a world away from Michigan.

 

[Richard]

Sonja Kaye Blair Adams, age 21
Her murder in June 1969 remains unsolved.

LINK:

Sonja Kaye “Mountain Jane Doe” Blair Adams ...

Grave of the unidentified girl that has been a big mystery in Harlan County after her decaying remains were found on Little Shepherd Trail. Info by Hollace Wilson.∼For 47 years she was known only as Mountain Jane Doe a young murdered women who's body was found in June of 1969. She was found 50...

www.findagrave.com

 

[9glenn9]

I wasn't able to find out any information regarding these questions:

- Was Sonja ever reported missing?
- Who was Sonja's partner at the time of her disappearance?

RIP Sonja Kaye Blair-Adams

 

[Richard]

Sonja Kaye “Mountain Jane Doe” Blair Adams​

BIRTH 24 Apr 1948 Letcher County, Kentucky, USA
DEATH Jun 1969 (aged 21) Harlan County, Kentucky, USA
BURIAL Harlan Gas Cemetery Harlan, Harlan County, Kentucky, USA

For 47 years she was known only as Mountain Jane Doe a young murdered women who's body was found in June of 1969. She was found 50 feet off of Little Shepherd Trail on Pine Mountain by a Man who was picking wild flowers for his wife. Jane Doe had been dead for 2 or 3 weeks when she was discovered. She was nude and had died from multiple stab wounds to the chest.

She was around 5"3" and 115 pounds with below shoulder length reddish blonde hair. The coroner at the time Dr. Philip Begley was unable to identify her. The town of Harlam took pity on the young women and gave her a beautiful funeral complete with Casket. 47 years later with the help of Mortuary owner and author Darla Jackson a resident of Harlan, Kentucky.

Mountain Jane doe after 47 years was identified as 21 year old Sonja Blair-Adams a young women from Letcher County on the other side of Pine Mountain where she was found. She had divorced her husband the year before and had a daughter Karen who was 1 year old at the time.

LINK:

Sonja Kaye “Mountain Jane Doe” Blair Adams ...

Grave of the unidentified girl that has been a big mystery in Harlan County after her decaying remains were found on Little Shepherd Trail. Info by Hollace Wilson.∼For 47 years she was known only as Mountain Jane Doe a young murdered women who's body was found in June of 1969. She was found 50...

www.findagrave.com