PA PA - Downingtown, Wht/HispFem 18-40, 147UFPA, dismembered, in suitcase, Jul'95

[RedWolf29]

Interesting thought.... There is a summer camp for underprivileged children about a mile south on valley creek road that has been there since 1875. During the summer they employ lots of college students as staff. There was never much in the way of "cults" in the area and most of the very active motorcycle groups from the mid 60's through the early 80's had subsided or gone underground by the 90's. Another thought is that the only other activities nearby are the quarry and macadam plant. Both have had workers rotate in and out over the years. Possible that one of them brought her from home and dumped her on the way to or from work. The quarry has been there at least since the late 50's/early 60's and the Macadam plant since at least the early 70's. Nothing up boot road of note, nothing up Quarry to Rt 30 and nothing other than the camp on Valley Creek. West on Boot (from that era) you have Pepperage Farms frozen foods and some warehouses, then the papers mill at Boot and 322. Someone from the papers mill would have had much better places to dump a body, like the creek at the Trestle Bridge on 322 or the old paper mill dump on Skelp Level and at Sugars Bridge Rd and 322 that is now a landscaping company lot.

There is a residential/school for children who have Autism, Intellectual Developmental Disabilities, and/or Behavioral Issues. Kids come from around the country and a lot of foreign employees. The school/residential center has been there since 1912 and is under 04 miles away via Boot Road from where the suitcase was found.

 

[elmomom]

The intersection of Quarry, Valley Creek and Boot road is so remote and out of the general traffic flow that the chances a killer from out of state would stumble across it seems unlikely, unless they lived in the area at one time. The spot is also not the ideal dumping ground as there is not enough water flow in the creek to wash the body away, so the killer would have to assume that the suitcase would be discovered at some point. Forensics examination of the remains for any residual DNA might be worth a shot if the County can be persuaded to go to the effort. With Oxford so close, there is a chance she might be an undocumented alien working in mushrooms or agriculture.

I live about 15 miles south of the area, smack in the middle of the “Mushroom Capital of the World”, lol. I think there is a very good chance that she may be an undocumented or migrant Mexican mushroom farm worker.

 

[RedWolf29]

I live about 15 miles south of the area, smack in the middle of the “Mushroom Capital of the World”, lol. I think there is a very good chance that she may be an undocumented or migrant Mexican mushroom farm worker.

I can see that as a possibility. My family is in the Mushroom business, they are located in Kennett Square. I'll ask them about this.

 

[Trackergd]

Take a look at Forensics Files S7:E28 "Scouts Honor". Occurred here in PA. Connection? Let me know what you all think.

 

[Trackergd]

I know there used to be a large immigrant encampment near Coatsville nicknamed "Hati". Another possibility.

 

[carbuff]

Nicole Russo – The Charley Project
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

exclusions:

MP29602 Sarah Estes 01/01/1987 Clark KY
MP9768 Tina Finley 03/07/1988 Benewah ID
MP402 Jodi Huisentruit 06/26/1995 Cerro Gordo IA
MP7595 Jane Kelsey 08/22/1994 Onondaga NY
MP14803 Nicole Russo 03/12/1995 Ocean NJ

 

[MadMcGoo]

Someone upthread mentioned a killer from the area that I’d never heard of. I googled his name.

Man Who Killed Parents in '72 Is Questioned in Dismemberments (Published 2004)
On Nov. 7, 1983, Ms. Koenen, a 42-year-old divorced mother of three, left her home in West Conshohoken to buy a greeting card and never came back. Her body, without its head and arms, was found in the woods of Chester County six weeks later.

On Jan. 3, 1984, Ms. Matthews, 24, left her Plymouth Meeting home for classes at the Gordon Phillips Beauty School in Norristown and was never seen again. And on Jan. 25, 1984, Ms. Gehris, 18, disappeared from her home in Whitpain Township. Her headless, limbless torso washed up on shore in Elkton, Md., three months later, though it took 10 years to identify her remains.

 

[Mrs. Badcrumble]

Dowingtown Jane Doe's NamUs page was recently updated, but I can't see what was changed. No new exclusions, though.

 

[snowgoose]

Dowingtown Jane Doe's NamUs page was recently updated, but I can't see what was changed. No new exclusions, though.

I don't know if this is the latest update, but NamUs now has a description of her clothing and other items she was found with. It's a little different/more detailed than the descriptions that appeared earlier in this thread.

Accessories
A white headband/hairband, blood-stained bed sheets (fitted and regular), bed quilt. The body was in a zippered garment bag.
Near the Body

Clothing
Blood-stained bra.
On the Body

Clothing
Light blue long sleeve denim blouse w/ collar w/ white 3" band across chest & back. The band had vertical blue stripes within. Buttons were copper color and they were buttoned up.
Near the Body

Eyewear
N/A
On the Body

Footwear
N/A
On the Body

Jewelry
N/A
On the Body

 

[CCJD]

Dowingtown Jane Doe's NamUs page was recently updated, but I can't see what was changed. No new exclusions, though.

I don't know how I didn't notice this a long time ago but the spelling is incorrect in the thread title. It's Downingtown - not Dowingtown. Reporting my post to correct.

 

[Mrs. Badcrumble]

I don't know how I didn't notice this a long time ago but the spelling is incorrect in the thread title. It's Downingtown - not Dowingtown. Reporting my post to correct.

Funny thing is that I actually wrote Downingtown first, but saw the thread title and thought I had written it wrong!

 

[madamx]

Someone upthread mentioned a killer from the area that I’d never heard of. I googled his name.

Man Who Killed Parents in '72 Is Questioned in Dismemberments (Published 2004)
On Nov. 7, 1983, Ms. Koenen, a 42-year-old divorced mother of three, left her home in West Conshohoken to buy a greeting card and never came back. Her body, without its head and arms, was found in the woods of Chester County six weeks later.

On Jan. 3, 1984, Ms. Matthews, 24, left her Plymouth Meeting home for classes at the Gordon Phillips Beauty School in Norristown and was never seen again. And on Jan. 25, 1984, Ms. Gehris, 18, disappeared from her home in Whitpain Township. Her headless, limbless torso washed up on shore in Elkton, Md., three months later, though it took 10 years to identify her remains.

Oh This is interesting.. I never heard of this before!

 

[citizen_sleuth]

Clea Benson, "Woman's body, cut in pieces, is found in suitcase," Philadelphia Inquirer, 13 July 1995, W1.


Clea Benson, "Police try to identify corpse," Philadelphia Inquirer, 14 July 1995, W1.


Rachel E. Stassen-Berger, "Still no ID on body found in suitcase," Philadelphia Inquirer, 21 July 1995, W8.


Clea Benson, "Computer gives a face to victim," Philadelphia Inquirer, 4 August 1995, W1, W4.
[part 1] [part 2]


"Woman's identity still unknown," Sentinel [Carlisle, PA], 16 August 1995, A2.


Lola Smallwood, "Seeking the key to Jane Doe's identity," Philadelphia Inquirer, 26 February 1996, B1, B7.
[part 1] [part 2]



Barbara Boyer, "Police get tips in quest to identify 'Jane Doe,'" Philadelphia Inquirer, 20 November 1997, B1, B8.
[part 1] [part 2]

<modsnip - images of articles snipped for copyright - use links only>

 

[citizen_sleuth]

Richard V. Sabatini and Karl Stark, "Police probe body parts in grisly finds," Philadelphia Inquirer, 1 February 1996, B1.


Richard V. Sabatini and Karl Stark, "2 sets of body parts match, experts say," Philadelphia Inquirer, 6 February 1996, B3.


Richard V. Sabatini, "DNA tests to check remains' match," Philadelphia Inquirer, 7 February 1996, B2.

<modsnip - images of articles snipped for copyright - use links only>

 

[HmmMysterious]

Nicole Russo – The Charley Project
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

exclusions:

MP29602 Sarah Estes 01/01/1987 Clark KY
MP9768 Tina Finley 03/07/1988 Benewah ID
MP402 Jodi Huisentruit 06/26/1995 Cerro Gordo IA
MP7595 Jane Kelsey 08/22/1994 Onondaga NY
MP14803 Nicole Russo 03/12/1995 Ocean NJ

Bumping. Same 5 exclusions

 

[summergirl1]

This case is mentioned somewhat briefly in connection with a ghost story ( not the one mentioned earlier in this thread about the woman who supposedly hanged herself in the tunnel) in the 2004 book "Ghosts Among Us" by Leslie Rule, Ann Rule's daughter, although the book is mainly about ghost stories and the vast majority of it isn't true crime. The mention of this Jane Doe in the book is interesting to read, I first read it in 2005 and the story of this Jane Doe definitely stayed with me.

At the time I wasn't all that knowledgeable or interested in true crime and actually barely knew who Ann Rule was. So reading about this Doe in that book begun to get me interested in true crime more, and definitely in Doe cases. That was the first time I had ever heard of the Doe Network as it's briefly mentioned in that book. And still today, this Jane Doe is unidentified. It would really be great to look into genetic genealogy to solve this.

 

[summergirl1]

This is the book this Doe is mentioned in, although it's not part of the preview. Ghosts Among Us

 

[summergirl1]

With Suguarloaf Jane Doe being identified recently, maybe this Jane Doe will be sometime soon, too?

 

[beavt]

I do not see that Angela Lynn Williams has been ruled out. Date missing July 10, 1995 (a bit murky on date IMO). Age missing 21, height and weight 5’4” and 110 respectively. Brown hair and eyes, pierced ears, olive complected. Pictures do show similarities:

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

 

[latviesi]

I feel like, visually, Laura Louise Williams shares a lot of similarities with Downingtown Doe. Williams (22) went missing in Town of Esopus, NY in late July 1994. She was last seen getting into a car with 2 men. Height 5’2” - 5’4”, weight 130 - 150lbs.

Doe’s estimations are height 5’4” and weight 125lbs. Both women have pierced ears.

That being said, she isn’t hispanic and there is no indication she is from anywhere but the US. Williams had two scars on her stomach and two tattoos; I guess the absence of these could be explained away by decomposition but Williams also had multiple sclerosis which makes me think these two are almost certainly not a match.