WA WA - Seattle, WhtFem 30-50, 159UFWA, alias 'Mary Anderson', copper IUD, breast surgery scars, Oct'96

[insearchoflight]

Anyone seeing any similarities in any of these ?

These two look similar in the eyebrows and lips

 

[Nate_Bro]

That is the same woman I was curious about too. Unfortunately she is supposed to be half a foot shorter, although unsure how accurate that info is. Be nice to find more pics of her though. Her name is Adelina Rotiroti, and it sounds like she took a bunch of money from her safe and took off from Italy.
The Doe Network: Case File 771DFITA

 

[insearchoflight]

Adelina was also older than this UID. If Adelina’s family gave dna then that would match up in the system. Do we know if her family submitted dna?

 

[sasha17]

Just adding the ruleouts from NamUs here:

MP20296 - Sharman Carey
MP32573 - Peggy Wilker

 

[Vern]

I haven't seen this mentioned in any news article, clipping or post about Mary, but she was also a smoker. Maybe I just totally missed that info.

From the linked photos of her post-mortem laying in the bed, one can clearly see an overturned triangle-shaped cardboard advertiser on the left side of the bedside table in the top pic, top right corner. To the right of that are her glasses, then an ashtray to the right of them with a pack of smokes directly behind the ashtray with a blue disposable lighter resting atop the smokes. The smokes seem to be Benson and Hedges Gold (which I used to smoke way back when).

Behind the smokes is the radio alarm clock. What I do NOT see is a glass that would have held the Metamucil-cyanide concoction that she drank. And, here I thought that cyanide was pretty instantaneous. Apparently not though without the glass being on either the bedside table or bed. She must have had time to drink it and then get herself into bed and set up with the Bible.

If you click on the pic once the link is opened it will magnify it.

https://www.namus.gov/api/CaseSets/NamUs/UnidentifiedPersons/Cases/12916/Images/34927/Original


Edit to add: were these prescription glasses? Did they ever attempt to trace the specific prescription and frame model back to a provider?

 

[ashleypodcasts]

I've recently started production on a podcast about this case. I'm a Seattle local and want to get "Mary" identified once and for all.

For those of you that have been working on the clues in this case for years now, what questions do you still have? What do you wish you could have investigated if you had access to the hotel, cemetery, etc? And if you feel particularly strong about a possible match for her or a possible theory, would you be willing to let me interview you?

 

[Nate_Bro]

I've recently started production on a podcast about this case. I'm a Seattle local and want to get "Mary" identified once and for all.

For those of you that have been working on the clues in this case for years now, what questions do you still have? What do you wish you could have investigated if you had access to the hotel, cemetery, etc? And if you feel particularly strong about a possible match for her or a possible theory, would you be willing to let me interview you?

Are you thinking of getting in touch with the investigators directly? Things I would ask are:
Are her possessions still around... Can we get the photos/brands/names/tags on anything like glasses/clothes/suitcase/uterine device/dentures/makeup/the iron/cyanide package etc. After all, she was carrying several bags of luggage. Is the letter still around to be analysed. Did she have any accent? Are there plans for submitting her DNA to someone like Parabon labs for phenotyping. What about ancestral DNA via Gedmatch? Are the people that met her at the hotel still alive and willing to be interviewed? I dunno why, but personally I think her journey started in the Bronx/Astoria NY area, in line with the fake info that she used.

This is a great opportunity for you... I hope you get the answers that you seek...

 

[ashleypodcasts]

Are you thinking of getting in touch with the investigators directly? Things I would ask are:
Are her possessions still around... Can we get the photos/brands/names/tags on anything like glasses/clothes/suitcase/uterine device/dentures/makeup/the iron/cyanide package etc. After all, she was carrying several bags of luggage. Is the letter still around to be analysed. Did she have any accent? Are there plans for submitting her DNA to someone like Parabon labs for phenotyping. What about ancestral DNA via Gedmatch? Are the people that met her at the hotel still alive and willing to be interviewed? I dunno why, but personally I think her journey started in the Bronx/Astoria NY area, in line with the fake info that she used.

This is a great opportunity for you... I hope you get the answers that you seek...

DNA testing is definitely my #1 goal with this. If investigators haven't tested it, I want to know why not and how we can move that forward, and if they have, what were the results? Definitely hoping they'll speak with me. I'm trying! And sadly, Jerry Webster, who was the Chief Investigator at the time, has passed away.

Thank you for the questions. I'll be sure to keep this thread updated as I go.

 

[madamx]

I came across this and it could be something it could be nothing. Apparently this woman left the ANDERSON Adult Home IN NY which she was staying at and never went back.
Her height and hair color seem to be in line. She was 44 in 1981 so would make her 59 in 1996 just a bit over the range but I never really go by that.
Her weight is off but now makes me wonder if she gained a lot of weight in that time and was not happy, hence she appeared to have had breast reduction. I just thought I would post this since I just happen to come across this tonight
Lorraine Pepe - New York Missing Person Directory

sadly there is no Photo

Bayshore New York in April 1981

Missing
Last seen alive: April 10, 1981

Circumstances: Resident/Patient at Anderson Adult Home

First Name: Lorraine
Last Name: Pepe
Details
Age When Last Known Alive: 44
Race: White
Sex: Female
Height: 68.0
Weight: 135.0
Location
City: Bayshore
State: New York
County: Suffolk
Appearance
Hair: Brown
Head Hair: Short
Eye: Brown
Clothing and Accessories
Clothing: Full Length Green Coat
Tan Slacks
Footwear: White shoes
Eyewear: Black Rim glasses

 

[carbuff]

I think Mary had had the breast surgery. Breast reduction surgery and certain other procedures leave a particular pattern of scars that's hard to miss.

 

[Warwick1991]

I think the Anderson home was a facility for adults with disabilities; i.e. lacking the ability to care for themselves due to severe mental illness or intellectual disabilities. This UID seems sharp and purposeful, with very deliberate planning and the ability to procure a deadly chemical. She doesn’t seem consistent with someone wandering away from a custodial facility. MOO

 

[madamx]

I don’t know. I had looked up Anderson home in Bayshore which later became South Shore Villa and found that apparently they only took in people that could take care of themselves and did not have severe issues.
That made me think maybe she had some mental breakdown and checked herself in at one point and was there and left?
That had that happened to a friend of mine who was an editor and by looking at her and speaking to her you would never know this happened . She is married and has a kid etc.


I was also reading on the link it has petitions from people trying to get a refund for something. (Maybe she left because she did not want to pay?)

Anywho...in these petitions the clients state the reason why they are there. One woman had high blood pressure and after effects from a colonoscopy. Another woman was hospitalized at Pilgrim State after the sudden tragic death of her husband and there are others. So it seems to me that this place was not a place for really disabled and severe cases.

Iam adding the link to the page I found that had the intake agreement for the Anderson Home. Anyway it’s prob not her but the Anderson and NY thing stuck out to me.

New York Court of Appeals. Records and Briefs.

 

[carbuff]

It does look like more of a longer term but still temporary facility than a permanent one.

 

[JovanSrna]

DNA testing is definitely my #1 goal with this. If investigators haven't tested it, I want to know why not and how we can move that forward, and if they have, what were the results? Definitely hoping they'll speak with me. I'm trying! And sadly, Jerry Webster, who was the Chief Investigator at the time, has passed away.

Thank you for the questions. I'll be sure to keep this thread updated as I go.

IMO, it would be a good idea to contact the coroner's office. NamUs has one Katherine Taylor listed as case contributor.
She's a forensic anthropologist. I imagine she'd have information about the fate or ''Mary's'' remains at the very least.
The DNA Doe Project has solved two UID cases from the state of Washington. One was the famous Lyle Stevik case (like ''Mary'' also a suicide and use of pseudonym) and the other was an older man who died of natural causes. In the case of the latter, the coroner's office approached DDP IIRC. Both cases were crowdfunded in part. DDP does the forensic genealogy part for free, the costs cover the steps required to get a working genetic sample for GEDMatch.

 

[chaz]

Sorry if it has been asked and or answered but wat was her estimated year of birth? Perhaps she found the name Mary Anderson on a tombstone on a cemetery like some people did to get themselves a new identity.

 

[sasha17]

I've recently started production on a podcast about this case. I'm a Seattle local and want to get "Mary" identified once and for all.

For those of you that have been working on the clues in this case for years now, what questions do you still have? What do you wish you could have investigated if you had access to the hotel, cemetery, etc? And if you feel particularly strong about a possible match for her or a possible theory, would you be willing to let me interview you?

I want to know if the male UID found in Seattle in 1984 was in any way related to Mary, as some suspected. There is a tentative ID in progress for him (possibly Mark Lawrence Ashland). If the male UID is confirmed to be Mark Ashland, I'd see about speaking to Mark's surviving family (@HalesNTX) to find out if they have any idea who Mary might be.

Mark Ashland's thread: WA - WA - Mark Lawrence Ashland, 27, Seattle, 4 Sept 1981

Seattle male UID thread: WA - WA - Seattle, White Male, 18-35, UP10814, 9 October 1984

 

[carbuff]

Sorry if it has been asked and or answered but wat was her estimated year of birth? Perhaps she found the name Mary Anderson on a tombstone on a cemetery like some people did to get themselves a new identity.

That's possible, but on the other hand Mary Anderson is about as vanilla a name as you can find in the US. Maybe not quite as common as Mary Smith, but if somebody's trying to come up with an alias, it's got to be one of the most obvious, without any outside stimulus.

 

[chaz]

That's possible, but on the other hand Mary Anderson is about as vanilla a name as you can find in the US. Maybe not quite as common as Mary Smith, but if somebody's trying to come up with an alias, it's got to be one of the most obvious, without any outside stimulus.

I think you're right. Stealing a dead child's identity was mostly done to obtain a SSN or passport wich this woman didn't seem to have. Would she need some ID to check in in those days?

 

[carbuff]

I think you're right. Stealing a dead child's identity was mostly done to obtain a SSN or passport wich this woman didn't seem to have. Would she need some ID to check in in those days?

Possibly. It would depend on the particular hotel. In many cases ID was more related to credit than to identity, so if she paid up front in cash, she probably didn't. I don't remember off the top of my head if they said whether she did it that way, though.

 

[Laughing]

I think you're right. Stealing a dead child's identity was mostly done to obtain a SSN or passport wich this woman didn't seem to have. Would she need some ID to check in in those days?

I think that in many locations that many years ago, a clean, neatly dressed person could say, "oh, I hope my wallet is in the car -- I just have the bank envelope from my withdrawal in my purse!" and pay cash for the room then.

IIRC, this wasn't a part of a large chain?

JMHO YMMV