Identified! NV - Washoe Co., WhtFem 156UFNV, 25-35, Sheep's Flat Trail, Jul'82 - Mary Edith Silvani

[Migmuu]

I’m trying to find more info on James Robinson. He isn’t on any databases. He may be a John Doe somewhere and they don’t know it yet.

 

[Spindlebrook]

I find it strange that the Detroit PD had her fingerprints on file but not a mug shot. Surely there are other pictures of Mary out there, somewhere...

 

[wary]

I find it strange that the Detroit PD had her fingerprints on file but not a mug shot. Surely there are other pictures of Mary out there, somewhere...

And for all those years she wasn’t identified by her fingerprints? Records that were never computerized?

 

[Al Ka]

Details how they traced her killer James Richard Curry:

===

Last year, the Sheriff’s Office worked with Dr. Fitzpatrick, an internationally recognized forensic genealogist, in an effort to identify the suspect’s family.

The suspect’s DNA was sent to a private DNA lab and uploaded to GEDMatch. Dr. Fitzpatrick and a group of dedicated genealogists from Identifinders International performed what would amount to more than two thousand hours of research.

The Identifinders team found that the suspect was the grandson of a couple who lived in the Dallas, Texas area. The couple had three sons but only one known grandson. Additional investigation cleared that grandson of being the suspect in the Sheep’s Flat case and indicated the suspect was an illegitimate child fathered by one of the sons.

Through the tenacity of genealogist Cheryl Hester, the suspect’s mother was identified as one of two sisters who lived in the same neighborhood in Dallas, had a son out of wedlock, and raised him under a different family name.

Investigators now had a possible suspect, James Richard Curry.

Curry was born in Texas in 1946. During his time in Texas, he was arrested for robbery and sentenced to prison in Huntsville. He was released in 1977 and moved to Waukena, California where he was reported to have worked at J & M Locksmith.

In early January of 1983, just over five months after the murder of Mary Silvani, Curry was arrested and confessed to three other murders. Two of these occurred on January 2, 1983 in the San Jose area; the third occurred in early January of 1982 in Santa Clara.

Based on evidence found at the scene where the Santa Clara murder victim was located, investigators suspected Curry may have also murdered a coworker from Waukena however, that victim’s remains have not been located.

Curry attempted suicide after being taken into custody and was pronounced dead January 7, 1983.

Curry’s two children voluntary provided DNA samples to a Washoe County Sheriff’s Office detective. The Forensic Science Division determined their DNA was consistent with children of the Sheep’s Flat murder suspect and identifying the suspect as James Richard Curry.

New DNA information in 1982 cold case killing at Lake Tahoe; woman and suspect identified

Official release by Sheriff Office - DNA, genealogy, and good detective work solve 37-year-old murder investigation

 

[Steph8angels]

Mary Edith Silvani: May you have peace now. Shout out to the DNA sleuths and others who fought for answers and never gave up finding the truth. To Websluths on the Unidentified and missing keep fighting the Good fight. Your time is never a waste. Mary will get her name on her headstone and the final Respect Mary deserves.

 

[Owutatangledweb]

I’m trying to find more info on James Robinson. He isn’t on any databases. He may be a John Doe somewhere and they don’t know it yet.

Can he be the Sand Run John Doe?

 

[AliceInPain]

Beautiful press release. No "we belong to the old boy school" there. Open, honest and to the point. How incredibly awesome DDP managed to identify both Mary and her murderer.
Awful the Detroit police haven't put everything online. What's the problem? Many who would volunteer to do that stuff so hardly financial. ??

Curry attempted suicide after being taken into custody and was pronounced dead January 7, 1983.

The killer killed himself. Good for him and a lot of others. He would probably have continued murdering.

**Rest in peace Mary! I'm so happy you were named at last. Never thought you would be a Mary though, I always thought you were an E name: Eileen, Ellie, Evelyn. Edith is good too. Rest in eternal peace.**

Where is her grave? Anyone know?
.

 

[Triss]

Godspeed Mary

 

[Liv27]

Beautiful press release. No "we belong to the old boy school" there. Open, honest and to the point. How incredibly awesome DDP managed to identify both Mary and her murderer.
Awful the Detroit police haven't put everything online. What's the problem? Many who would volunteer to do that stuff so hardly financial. ??

The killer killed himself. Good for him and a lot of others. He would probably have continued murdering.

**Rest in peace Mary! I'm so happy you were named at last. Never thought you would be a Mary though, I always thought you were an E name: Eileen, Ellie, Evelyn. Edith is good too. Rest in eternal peace.**

Where is her grave? Anyone know?
.

It is at a Catholic cemetery in Reno, I believe.

 

[Mrs. Badcrumble]

Where is her grave? Anyone know?

She is currently buried at Our Lady of Sorrows on North Virginia Street in Reno, NV.

If I heard correctly during the live stream of the press conference, LE didn't know right now how or when Silvani and Curry crossed paths. I guess I am not the only one who thought Mary was killed by a SO, but who knows? LE can perhaps provide answers in time; just let them do their job.

Another thing, though: Curry confessed to three other murders, but not Mary's, right? Makes me wonder if he could be responsible for more deaths that he didn't confess to, or be linked to other Jane and John Does.

Mary Silvani's case makes me incredibly sad, but I am glad she's finally someone once again and that her story could bring answers in other cases.

 

[Liv27]

She is currently buried at Our Lady of Sorrows on North Virginia Street in Reno, NV.

If I heard correctly during the live stream of the press conference, LE didn't know right now how or when Silvani and Curry crossed paths. I guess I am not the only one who thought Mary was killed by a SO, but who knows? LE can perhaps provide answers in time; just let them do their job.

Another thing, though: Curry confessed to three other murders, but not Mary's, right? Makes me wonder if he could be responsible for more deaths that he didn't confess to, or be linked to other Jane and John Does.

Mary Silvani's case makes me incredibly sad, but I am glad she's finally someone once again and that her story could bring answers in other cases.

Yeah, I was thinking about why he didn’t confess to Mary’s murder but the three others. Any theories??

 

[wildhorses]

It is at a Catholic cemetery in Reno, I believe.

It is & I found it fitting because it was catholic & many Italians are catholic so she probably was jmo on that though

 

[wildhorses]

Yeah, I was thinking about why he didn’t confess to Mary’s murder but the three others. Any theories??

I wondered that as well & only thing I can think of is maybe he knew he was caught on the California ones so he’d confess but since they didn’t know about sheep’s flat case no need to bring it up to them.

 

[wildhorses]

I find it strange that the Detroit PD had her fingerprints on file but not a mug shot. Surely there are other pictures of Mary out there, somewhere...

Thank you. I thought same thing. If they still had her prints then they should have a mug shot. Also it’s strange that they don’t have a photo from a drivers license or state ID. I know many who don’t drive but they have ID to work, cash checks & prove identity for whatever.

 

[AliceInPain]

Maybe he didn't confess becasuse he was too close to her, boyfriend maybe.
I'm still freaking out bc of the name thing. I felt E. I was 100% sure Buckskin Girl was a Maria, (I never heard the Marcia name) and Lyle Stevik had religion in his name, but I could never work out a catholic one, and I was sure he was. He was Christian. How simple isn't that. I know these things aren't really allowed on here, just felt I have to let it out.
Again, so greatful both her and her killer was identified. Sad she wasn't allowed to live her life, sad and frustrated the *advertiser censored* decided to take his own. Hopefully he felt regret and remourn in his last momensts. Maybe that's why he did it.

 

[Liv27]

Maybe he didn't confess becasuse he was too close to her, boyfriend maybe.
I'm still freaking out bc of the name thing. I felt E. I was 100% sure Buckskin Girl was a Maria, (I never heard the Marcia name) and Lyle Stevik had religion in his name, but I could never work out a catholic one, and I was sure he was. He was Christian. How simple isn't that. I know these things aren't really allowed on here, just felt I have to let it out.
Again, so greatful both her and her killer was identified. Sad she wasn't allowed to live her life, sad and frustrated the *advertiser censored* decided to take his own. Hopefully he felt regret and remourn in his last momensts. Maybe that's why he did it.

I doubt he felt remorse, otherwise he would’ve told them about Mary. Instead, he killed himself most likely to avoid sitting in jail or the death penalty.

 

[Liv27]

I wondered that as well & only thing I can think of is maybe he knew he was caught on the California ones so he’d confess but since they didn’t know about sheep’s flat case no need to bring it up to them.

Maybe but I don’t know why he wouldn’t. If he was already caught and not getting out, why not just confess about the SF case? I’m not sure how long he was in jail before he committed suicide. Maybe he did it early on (he wasn’t even sentenced and his DNA wasn’t taken) and didn’t have time to confess about Mary.

 

[Moonwalker9]

Amazing that DDP identified another woman from a 30 + old case. They're doing a wonderful job taking forensics to a whole new level. It will be interesting to learn more about this case and that serial killer I never heard of before. Hopefully the family can finally get some closure now.

 

[Bit of hope]

A very very deep bow for all the people who dedicated time and effort for helping to find Mary, identifying her and finding her killer. Absolutely a great job!! Rest in peace Mary Edith Silvani. May the angels watch over you for eternity now.

 

[Earth]

The isotopes said that she was from the Michigan area and they turned out to be wrong.

I'm really getting annoyed at how inaccurate isotopes seem to be. I thought that they'd be a revolutionary breakthrough, but now it seems that any victim who had isotope testing could be from the planet Jupiter for all I know.