OK OK - Big Cedar, BlkFem25-35, 394UFOK, htchkr from Cleveland, OH, 'Beth or Baby', scars, ring, Jan'90

I did a search for this UID and did not find a thread for her case, so I am starting one. I think she is identifiable - she was estimated to have been killed the day before her death, so her remains were mummified and not yet skeletal, and according to the NAMUS file there are dentals and fingerprints available for ID matches (they are unsure if DNA was taken).

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/394ufok.html



Unidentified Black Female

The victim was discovered on January 18, 1990 in Big Cedar, LeFlore County, Oklahoma
The medical examiner ruled her manner of death an accident and cause of death massive head and chest injuries.

Vital Statistics

Estimated age: 25-35 years old
Approximate Height and Weight: 5'2"; 87 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: Short black hair; brown eyes.
Marks, Scars: Scars on her forehead and left upper arm. She also had a c-section scar.
Clothing: She was wearing a blue and grey striped long sleeve shirt, beige-colored long sleeve sweater, blue corduroy pants with a woven tan-colored fabric belt, and pantyhose.
Jewelry: A yellow-colored ring with a pink stone.
Dentals: Available
Fingerprints: Available.

Case History
The victim was a passenger in a tractor trailer rig that crashed near Big Cedar, in LeFlore County, four miles south of Highway 259 and Highway 63 on January 18, 1990.

The truck’s driver only knew the woman as Beth from Cleveland, Ohio, whom he had picked up several days before the traffic accident near 55th and Euclid Street.

Investigators
If you have any information about this case please contact:
Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation
1-800-522-8017
You may remain anonymous when submitting information.

Agency Case Number:
9008160

She is also listed on NAMUS here:

https://identifyus.org/cases/7857

And please note that there have been 2 rule-outs: Nancy Cobbs and Tasha Wright are NOT matches.

Since she was found in a trucker cab, I think it is a possibility she was a prostitute at truckstops and perhaps not from Oklahoma. They believe she may have been picked up in Ohio. Here are some possible matches:

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2865dfoh.html



Mary Cox
Missing since March 1989 from East Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/w/white_marie.html



Marie Antoinette White
Missing since November 1, 1988 from Oakland, California

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/p/patterson_kassaundra.html

Kassaundra Patterson
Missing since May 5, 1988 from Haskell, Oklahoma

future criminologist said:

I think she is identifiable - she was estimated to have been killed the day before her death, so her remains were mummified and not yet skeletal

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Could you clarify what you mean by that? Are you saying she was already dead in the car when it crashed? Or am I completely misunderstanding :waitasec:

Han-Tastic said:

Could you clarify what you mean by that? Are you saying she was already dead in the car when it crashed? Or am I completely misunderstanding :waitasec:

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I don't know if she was already dead - the description said she was mummified, so not skeletal. That's all I know.

Where are you getting the mummified and the killed the day before death (assuming you mean the day she was discovered) part? DN says she was discovered Jan 18, the day of the accident, and Namus says the estimated time of death was one hour previously, so she'd have been recently deceased when examined.

The COD appears to be consistent with a traffic accident.

They say she had massive head injuries so I wonder how difficult it was doing the facial reconstruction.

future criminologist said:

...
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/394ufok.html
https://identifyus.org/cases/7857

...

Mary Cox http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2865dfoh.html
Missing since March 1989 from East Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio

Marie Antoinette White http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/w/white_marie.html
Missing since November 1, 1988 from Oakland, California

Kassaundra Patterson http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/p/patterson_kassaundra.html
Missing since May 5, 1988 from Haskell, Oklahoma

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It looks like a distinctive feature of this UID is her very prominent widow's peak hairline. None of these three have that feature.

Donjeta said:

Where are you getting the mummified and the killed the day before death (assuming you mean the day she was discovered) part? DN says she was discovered Jan 18, the day of the accident, and Namus says the estimated time of death was one hour previously, so she'd have been recently deceased when examined.

The COD appears to be consistent with a traffic accident.

They say she had massive head injuries so I wonder how difficult it was doing the facial reconstruction.

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Yeah, that's what confused me.

5' 2" & 87 lbs.

can that be right? that weight makes me think anorexia or drugs ...

here is an interesting potential match, Benita Spears from Gary Indiana. She is stated to be between 5'0" and 5'2" and 95-100 lbs. she was 22 years old when she was last seen on October 24, 1989. her face pic has a widow's peak and she had an abdominal scar.

from what is said at Namus, Benita disappeared the day her ex-boyfriend was released from prison so she might have run for dear life to get away from him.

also for what it is worth, "Beth" is not far removed from "Benita".

as for the scar, granted the scar is stated to be from a hernia when she was born. however, I'm not sure what was herniated on a newborn so it might not be in the same location as a hernia operation on an adult.

https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/3841/7/

webrocket said:

here is an interesting potential match, Benita Spears from Gary Indiana. She is stated to be between 5'0" and 5'2" and 95-100 lbs. she was 22 years old when she was last seen on October 24, 1989. her face pic has a widow's peak and she had an abdominal scar.

from what is said at Namus, Benita disappeared the day her ex-boyfriend was released from prison so she might have run for dear life to get away from him.

also for what it is worth, "Beth" is not far removed from "Benita".

as for the scar, granted the scar is stated to be from a hernia when she was born. however, I'm not sure what was herniated on a newborn so it might not be in the same location as a hernia operation on an adult.

https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/3841/7/

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her middle name was elizabeth, beth is short for elizabeth.

She was wearing pantyhose. Not a lot of truck stop prostitutes do that, for obvious reasons. Which isn't to say she wasn't trading sex for transport or food or something, just that if she was it would have been highly situational and maybe something she was doing because of immediate circumstances (missed a bus? dumped by a date?) not so much habitual.

this picture of Benita on the left does not have the widow's peak, although Doe Network said she had two small children. (no reference to c-section) also says she had a chipped front tooth, which is not mentioned with the UID:

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2200dfin.html

I too think Benita is a good possible match. If she had fled to stay safe from her husband it is possible he wasn't involved. Also FWIW, I had an umbilical cord hernia when I was born. It didn't need surgery and I don't have any noticable change in appearance as a result of it. (healed on it's own). From what I understand if an infant is born with a hernia it is usually an umbilical cord hernia. Even with surgery so many decades later the scar may not be noticable.

My recommendation is to submit Benita. A lot matches up. IN and OH are fairly close too -especially that she was in a truck accident.

on the plus side we have Benita's height and weight being in the ballpark (the UID was under 100 lbs), Benita's age is just below the estimated range, there was only a 4 month gap between her disappearing and the UID's death in the car accident. Benita's middle name was Elizabeth and the UID supposedly told the truck driver her name was Beth and even if the UID was picked up in OH, Benita could have easily gotten there from ID.

the biggest downsides are the widow's peak, (not apparent in one of Benita's DN photos) the scar is questionable (Namus describes it this way "Transverse lower abdominal surgical scar (believed to be due to Caesarean Section))" but Benita's is just described as an abdominal scar from hernia surgery at birth, and the DN image for the UID seems to have touches of gray present althought that is not mentioned in the narrative of either DN or Namus.

we got Cubby's opinion (thanks!), anyone else have thoughts on Benita?

If nothing else the ME can easily rule out based on scars.

hth

FWIW, I had a hernia as an infant and it was corrected through a "bikini cut". Meaning a cut that goes from one side to the other and is hidden in the hairline. The scar is nearly invisible and is about 5 inches long. HTH (Sure never thought I would put that online!, LOL!)

Also, FWIW, all of the c-section scars I have seen from back then are right down the middle, top to bottom. Not saying it could not be done a different way, just that I have never seen it done any other way.

ETA: Now that I have viewed the pics, Benita looks like a pretty good match!

I looked at the dental information for the UID vs. Benita's beaming smile in her Namus pic. according to Namus, the UID was missing tooth #7 in life and that tooth #6 had drifted to touch tooth #8 (which was knocked out by the accident).

I'm not an expert on the dental chart but I'm pretty sure that 8 & 9 are the two front teeth so 7 & 10 would be the next ones over with the canines being 6 & 11. it looks to me like Benita had all of these teeth when that picture was taken a year or two before she disappeared.

if that is the case, I don't see how it could be Benita based upon the dental information as the UID was missing #7.

webrocket, I think you're right about the teeth. Also based on the doenet link with both photo's of Benita upon closer look it appears as if what we thought could be a widows peak is actually bangs curled under. (IIRC curled under bangs were in style in the later part of the 80's.)

I think he definitely picked her up in Cleveland.

It mentions 55th and Euclid in the first post. That's a busy intersection east of downtown Cleveland. Both 55th and Euclid connect to major highways and it would make sense for a truck to travel either road.

For reference, I'm 4'11" and until I had my daughter in 2010 I was about 110-115 lbs and I wore a size 2. So to be three inches taller than me and weigh 87 lbs, even a size 2 would probably swim on you. Anorexia or drugs or another health problem are good bets, IMHO.

So, I pulled up the Google map because I'm not as familiar with the East Side, and there is a methodone clinic a few feet from that corner, FWIW ((

Across from the methodone clinic is a bus stop, a gas station, and a Mr. Hero. Not sure if the truck would fit in the Mr. Hero drive-thru, and if you're not from this area, you may not go to Mr. Hero anyway (it's pretty bad for you, but soooo good). So my guess is he met her at the gas station.

I know there's HIPPA and stuff, but could the police ask the meth clinic for a list of females who visited their clinic on that day that fit that description? Do you have to give your name or show ID at a meth clinic? From those names, could they pull DL photos and booking photos, etc. and try to make a match that way?

Finally, I think you all pretty much ruled her out, but I do believe the police suspect Mary Cox to be a victim of E. Cleveland serial killer Anthony Sowell.

it is doubtful that medical records exist 21 years after the fact.

You're so right....I guess 1990 just doesn't seem like it could really be 21 years ago! So I guess that's out....