Identified! NC - Orange Co, WhtFem 15-25, 558UFNC, pink sweatshirt w/bunnies, Sep'90 - Lisa Coburn Kesler

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burnette_mary.jpgburnette_mary3.jpgburnette_mary2.jpgI think that Mary Jo Burnette may be a match: http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/b/burnette_mary.html

Her hair is listed as brown, but in her pictures it looks chestnut/reddish, which would lift to strawberry blonde if highlighted.
She's even more petite than the UID, but the UID was found a few years after Mary Jo ran away from home, so maybe she grew a little/put on a little weight.
 
http://www.morganton.com/gallery/no..._fbc25a89-9899-5f97-9444-556d5b9be839.html#21

58516364e0bd8.image.jpg
 
Snufamonbobball said:
I own several semis and every driver I know always has the passengers take off their shoes. Some are more adamant about if they come off right away or if it's only when they go to the sleeper, I can't speak for someone who murders people, but the (hopefully) non psychopathic ones I know, usually have them take shoes off.

All someone has to do then is throw the shoes in a ditch down the road. We've all seen a lone shoe on the side of the road and think "how'd that get there"

I've actually asked my drivers about people they've met on the road and the scariest things they've run across. Some of it is pretty extreme- those guys live in their trucks. They're often more at home in the truck than when they're AT home.
Click to expand...

On 3 separate family trips my brother threw one of my shoes the window because my foot was to close. I bet you saw one of my shoes.
 
Can we talk about the difference in hair on these reconstructions? They described her hair on NamUs and I didn't think of either of the hairstyles I've seen so far...
 
[h=1]Investigators still working 27-year-old Orange County cold case[/h]
A three-person inmate work crew picking up garbage found the body of a woman who had been strangled and dumped just feet from the eastbound I-40 guardrail near New Hope Church Road 27 years ago.

Investigators believe she was there four to six days before that discovery on Sept. 19, 1990.

“I catch myself wondering how many people, how many people have driven by since then?” said Troy Williams, an Orange County Sheriff’s Office investigator, who said he was among those drivers. He spent the better part of his 14 years with the agency on patrol and unaware of the gruesome discovery years earlier.

“I never had a clue this happened in our county,” he said.
That was until the box of evidence landed on his desk. It was filled with more questions than answers, including the most basic of all: who was the woman?

Tune in to CBS North Carolina at 11 p.m. on Friday to watch Justin Quesinberry’s full report.
Click to expand...
http://wncn.com/2018/01/31/investigators-still-working-27-year-old-orange-county-cold-case/
 
I’m so glad her case is getting more attention. Hopefully someone recognizes her...
 
I got ahold of the PM photo and the skull photo. I can't post either online, but here is my version of what she might have looked like.

258ab6b9-5e6f-4f09-96ff-9eb93ecf3fbb.jpg


Though she is very badly decomposed in the PM photo, I was able to see her hair and a single eyebrow, so I think I have her eybrows pretty close, and her hair color about right.
 
Information sought on remains of boy, girl found in Orange County in 1990s

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has released new facial reconstructions for the remains of a boy found in 1998 and a girl found in 1990.

[...]

The girl, whose age was estimated to be 14-22, was found on Sept. 19, 1990, along the eastbound lanes of Interstate 40 in Hillsborough. She had been deceased for four to six days.

[...]
 
Jane's remains were found over a guardrail, east of the New Hope Church exit. She was found wearing an oversized pink sweatshirt with three cartoon bunnies on the front, a bra and ankle socks. She was also found wearing a thin yellow metal ring on her left ring finger that appeared to be homemade and a thin twisted metal bracelet on her left wrist.

Jane was identified as a Caucasian between 14 and 22 years old at the time of her death. She stood 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighed approximately 108 pounds. She had brown or blonde hair that was possibly color treated and cut just above her shoulders.

She also had a three-inch surgical scar on her lower right abdomen that was consistent with an appendix scar. In addition, she had been treated by a dentist in life as she had fillings in three of her teeth.

Do you know them? Sheriff seeks help identifying remains found in the '90s
 
Not sure if it will help any, but me and another random-internet-person seem to have tracked down the artist behind the shirt and quite possibly where the shirt came from. I already sent the info on to the relevant people in case it helps.

The artist’s name is Jim Benton – he’s quite successful now, but in the early-mid 80’s, when he was drawing these particular bunnies in various designs, he was working at a screen print tee-shirt shop (just out of college) in Michigan. These bunnies were roughly circa 1983, and a print from a design he did in 1983 was produced for a regional Iowa clothing chain in 1985, but it doesn’t look like his earlier work (ie, these particular bunnies) was mass-produced beyond that, which may be helpful?

Also, the casefile lists the brand as “sportswear”, but he had a copyright on his work at the time that was actually “sportsweat” – which again, may or may not be useful.

It looks like early on he didn't sign his work at all, then he began signing it "J Benton", and now he signs with his full name... which kinda lends credence to the theory that this is a really early design and possibly dates back to when he worked at the tee-shirt shop? His email is easily found on his website and he's also active on Reddit - I suppose someone could ask him if he remembers it, but frankly I always feel super-awkward reaching out to strangers and even reaching out to the contact listed on her profile took just about all the courage I had, haha :)

Here's a link to a similar shirt where you can make out his signature: Bunny Sweatshirt Rabbit Sweater CROPPED Sweatshirt Animal
 
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Oh! My sister-in-law used to have a Jim Benton bunnies sleep shirt! I thought they looked familiar, like something I'd seen in stores, but I never connected them before. S-i-L went to Michigan for college in the 70's then stayed there after graduation, and I'm pretty sure she had her shirt shortly after Mr. Carbuff and I got married. I'd guess maybe 1982?

ETA: I'd say there's a high likelihood that she or someone she knew either worked in the Ann Arbor area, or had a connection to UM.
 

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