Identified! PA - White Haven, 'Beth Doe' & Unborn Baby 169UFPA, 16-22, Dec'76 - #2 - Evelyn Colon

[Gourami Watcher]

Tried doing a rough recon based on the partial postmortem photo. I definitely feel that the other versions by other people are probably more accurate, yet I did want to portray her a little different, although she ended up looking quite a bit younger than I expected.

 

[Tulessa]

Tried doing a rough recon based on the partial postmortem photo. I definitely feel that the other versions by other people are probably more accurate, yet I did want to portray her a little different, although she ended up looking quite a bit younger than I expected.

View attachment 100744

That's a good job. We need more peeps doing this.

 

[carbuff]

That's good. She was young.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Springrain]

IIRC, didn't Beth Doe spend most of her time in the US in Tennessee? Wonder why she was dumped (and likely killed) in Pennsylvania.

 

[dotr]

If Beth was not murdered until December, and presumably put into a suitcase at that time, why would the newspaper pieces be from September?
Who keeps newspapers for that long? Who keeps dry packing foam and straw handy? What about the fine serrated tool that the perp seemed to use with expertise?
Could the perp work/operate at some kind of gift manufacturing company that delivers orders by mail. Delicate things like art, ceramics, glass, that has to be wrapped in straw, newspaper and packing material?
Since the ink on Beth's hand must have been put there not too long before her death, could the numbers signify the possible date the baby was due to be born, perhaps the 4th, 5th, or 7th of January, and the letters, the initials for a soon to be, but sadly not to be, born baby?
imo, speculation.

http://pennsylvaniamissing.com/bethdoe.html

The dismemberment was not haphazard and was performed with a fine, serrated tool. While it was not a surgeon's type cut, an investigator was quoted as saying of the killer "he knew what he was doing".

The newspaper was determined to be six sections of the New York Sunday News, dated September 26, 1976.
​

Also found in the suitcases were straw and dry packing foam.
​

There were letters and numbers written in ink (color of ink unknown) on the palm of the left hand of the victim. While there have been different interpretations of what was actually written on the hand, almost definitely was WSR. Next to that was either a 4 or a 5. Below and to the right was either a 4 or 7.

The ink would have probably lasted 8-12 hours on living flesh.

 

[dotr]

WSR, a few suggestions, not sure if previously posted or not.

https://casetext.com/case/lewis-v-philip-morris-inc-2
The Company's manufacturing operations in Richmond are departmentalized as follows: (1) Warehouse, Shipping and Receiving (hereinafter "WSR")


http://www.evaluategroup.com/Universal/View.aspx?type=Story&id=54181
Wall Street Reporter Magazine (WSR)

 

[Springrain]

If Beth was not murdered until December, and presumably put into a suitcase at that time, why would the newspaper pieces be from September?
Who keeps newspapers for that long?

Hoarders keep newspapers for longer than that. As for the rest of your questions, I don't know.

 

[Alleykins]

Wonder if the suitcases were pulled from an attic or basement and had other items originally packed away in them. If they were fragile, that might explain the packing materials.

 

[alliemay]

I always thought that maybe if the killer was a farm hand he would have quick access to hay. My mother kept old newspapers because we had a coal stove in our house in the kitchen to cook on as well as one for heating in the living room. As far as the packing foam I have no idea unless the killer had recently ordered a gun that was shipped to them. I always pictured the killer as a hunter who was experienced in cutting dear.

 

[Alleykins]

I always thought that maybe if the killer was a farm hand he would have quick access to hay. My mother kept old newspapers because we had a coal stove in our house in the kitchen to cook on as well as one for heating in the living room. As far as the packing foam I have no idea unless the killer had recently ordered a gun that was shipped to them. I always pictured the killer as a hunter who was experienced in cutting dear.

Or a butcher or meat cutter. This murder happened in my state:
http://www.fact.on.ca/newpaper/ba991119.htm

Mitchell said Gene Gogan’s head and torso were found first, and eventually 15 of the 17 body parts were found. His thighs were never located. Vella Gogan formerly worked as a butcher’s assistant. Mitchell also testified that although nearly a dozen firearms were taken from the Gogan home, the murder weapon and the butchering utensils have not been found.

http://archive.bangordailynews.com/...rtland-woman-facing-six-year-prison-sentence/

 

[Roselvr]

If Beth was not murdered until December, and presumably put into a suitcase at that time, why would the newspaper pieces be from September?
Who keeps newspapers for that long? Who keeps dry packing foam and straw handy? What about the fine serrated tool that the perp seemed to use with expertise?
Could the perp work/operate at some kind of gift manufacturing company that delivers orders by mail. Delicate things like art, ceramics, glass, that has to be wrapped in straw, newspaper and packing material?
Since the ink on Beth's hand must have been put there not too long before her death, could the numbers signify the possible date the baby was due to be born, perhaps the 4th, 5th, or 7th of January, and the letters, the initials for a soon to be, but sadly not to be, born baby?
imo, speculation.

http://pennsylvaniamissing.com/bethdoe.html

As was said, someone that does packing for a living may have material like that, or even a butcher. A lot of people used to save news papers and magazines.

 

[Alleykins]

We used to keep old newspapers for the fireplace at our camp.

 

[cvaldez1975]

I think the murder happened somewhere like a hunting cabin that had a stove and they kept newspaper for that. also since it was a hunting cabin, the presence of blood may not have been cause for alarm for anyone else around at the time.

 

[dotr]

All along had pictured a middle/upper middle class sort of older man committing this dreadful crime, perhaps because of the New York Times and the suitcases.
Now i see what many of you have helped paint a picture of - a murder in a rustic cottage, wood-burning stove, hunting ect.even the blanket, which is somewhat similar to ones i recall found in small town country inns/hotels, adds up.
So maybe this occurred in a country type setting by somebody who lived there year round, or, went there to hunt/fish, or a city-slicker's country, get-away vacation, perhaps joining family for Xmas?
imo, speculation.

 

[Alleykins]

Just curious if there were any published postmortem photos since NamUs lists a recognizable face.

 

[CountEveryMoment]

There is a partial postmortem picture, but I believe that the eyes and nose have been blurred out due to decomp and if I'm remembering right the tip of her nose and ears were chopped off. So the partial just shows the mole placements on her face.

 

[Alleykins]

Several years ago, I was involved in a project that entailed liquidating old stock (household goods, apparel) for a particular retailer. For items deemed unsellable (imperfections, recalls, etc.) we were instructed to put them into the dumpster and spray paint them for no other reason than to prevent dumpster divers from salvaging the stuff and trying to "return" them to the retailer for cash.

I suspect the same is true for the suitcases. Maybe it was the manufacturer that used this method to discard unsellable items, maybe the retailer. Maybe they were taken from a dumpster or from their eventual destination, a landfill aka, as we used to call it back in the day, the local dump. Dumps were a treasure trove for scavengers back then. I can still remember trips to the dump on a Saturday where there would be a line of cars going in to dispose of any manner of unwanted, but not necessarily unusable, household goods and an equal amount of folks picking through the stuff to find usable items to take home. One man's junk is another man's treasure. True today, true back then.

LOL when I was reading through your post, I had wicked deja vu. I was like, someone else used to do this, too. . .anyway, I went back to look for information about DNA on the baby when I came across the post this reminded me of, and it turned out it was yours from 2011! LOL - I knew I had read this somewhere before. Thanks for bringing it forward.

 

[Springrain]

Just curious if there were any published postmortem photos since NamUs lists a recognizable face.

Yeah, there is. It's half of her face, though. There's the censored version on the Unidentified Wiki which just shows where her facial moles are, and there's an uncensored version findable (is that a word? probably not, but you get the point) on Google. It's bloody. I think after 4 decades, if a family member saw it, they probably wouldn't recognize it, but if they saw it like a week after she died, they probably would.

 

[Alleykins]

Thanks, Rose and Springrain. I'd seen the censored photo before but hadn't realized it what JD it was.
I'd never seen the uncensored version. I wonder if there was some sort of mark or deformity on her nose that would have helped identify her and that was why it was targeted.

 

[Roselvr]

Thanks, Rose and Springrain. I'd seen the censored photo before but hadn't realized it what JD it was.
I'd never seen the uncensored version. I wonder if there was some sort of mark or deformity on her nose that would have helped identify her and that was why it was targeted.

I think her nose was probably very ethnic looking, or as you say, something that would have helped ID her quicker