Identified! AZ - Tempe, 'Little Jane Doe', Mar'79 - Surette Clark

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mysteriew

mysteriew

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A little girl's body was found in a shallow grave March 24, 1979. Two rock hunters found her in the then-dry Salt River bottom near a bridge support of what is now known as the Mill Avenue Bridge.

There was no identification on or near the body, and no missing-persons reports fit. The body was given to a forensic anthropologist at the University of Arizona.

The forensic examination suggested that the victim was most likely a Caucasian female. The anthropologist estimated she had been dead for one to 13 years. It couldn't be longer than that because her grave was lined with pages of The Arizona Republic, dated June and October of 1966.

The anthropologist determined the girl was 3 to 5 years old, and from 3 feet 1 inch to 3 feet 5 inches tall. Her hair was brown, cut just about her shoulders, judging from hair found on the skull.

There were no signs of trauma, although investigators believe her neck may have been broken after she died.

In 1997, former Tempe police Detective Allen Reed solicited a Phoenix police detective to do a facial reconstruction using the girl's skull. He hoped someone might recognize her and be able to tell police who she was.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0701coldcase01.html
 
I think they're going to have problems finding this child. It's been 26 years since her body was found and as much as 13 years more that she's been dead. And there could be endless theories about how she died or why she was buried in the desert.
 
http://www.doenetwork.us/cases/14ufaz.html



Unidentified White Female
Little Jane Doe
  • Body located on March 24, 1979 in Tempe, Maricopa County, Arizona.
  • Cause of death is unknown due to skeletal remains. The child's neck was possibly broken as a post-mortem injury.



Vital Statistics

  • Estimated age: 3 - 5 years old.
  • Approximate Height and Weight: 3'3"
  • Distinguishing Characteristics: Long brown hair, 16 inches in length.
  • Clothing: Her remains were strewn with pieces of decaying fabric. One item appeared to have been an off-white coarse-weaved cotton garment; another piece could have possibly been a dark blue or dark gray loose-weaved blanket.

Case History
Two rock hunters discovered the skeletal remains of this young girl in Tempe, AZ in 1979. She was found partially buried in a shallow grave in the riverbed under the Tempe Bridge.
Her shallow grave was lined with fragments of old newspapers. It was later revealed that the remenants were from The Arizona Republic, dated "June 6, 1966" and "October 2, 1966."
The coroner judged that she had been deceased anywhere from 1-13 years. (It has been judged that the child probably died in 1966, but that is not certain).
This case has been intermittently in the public spotlight for 20 years. The press dubbed the young child Little Jane Doe, a nickname which continues to hold presently.
 
have you checked the doenetwork or the charley project for any missing girls during 1966 in Arizona? it would be interesting to have a look if you can find a match. :innocent:
 
I was searching the doenetwork and found these, but I see you already have them here. I was leaning more towards the first two for resemblance, but the third one went missing while on a camping trip. There was material found with the body that could be a blanket. Maybe used at the campsite.
http://www.doenetwork.us/cases/134dfny.html

http://www.doenetwork.us/cases/326dfvt.html

http://www.doenetwork.us/cases/1208dfut.html
anthrobones said:
I checked Doe Network. No luck. Pages of girls around the Doe's age with dark hair missing from 1971-1978 (even though the remains were probably placed there in 1966)...

http://www.doenetwork.us/cases/1902dftx.html (actually 1 yr. old but just posted in case)

http://www.doenetwork.us/cases/134dfny.html

http://www.doenetwork.us/cases/1208dfut.html

http://www.doenetwork.us/cases/1024dfmo.html (3 inches taller than doe)

http://www.doenetwork.us/cases/326dfvt.html
Click to expand...
 
I just don't think anyone would recognize her from those sketches or from the clay model. She doesn't look like a small child in them and they are so "cartoonish" for lack of a better word.
 
I thik the sketches are a detriment. The original clay head does not look like a child. We are talking about a child age 3-5 when she died and the clay head looks like an adult!!!
The new sketches are of no help in my opinion. We know this child died as a young chlild so no one would have seen her as an adult. Hoping that someone might recognize her by what she might have looked like hod she grown up is really really a long shot. I would rather see a new sketch of her or clay head at age 3-5.

mjak
 
Probably stating the obvious, and y'all probably already knew this, but The Arizona Republic Newspaper is a Phoenix Arizona newspaper.
 
And, more about the newspaper, the fact that there was a range of dates from June to October, shows to me that possibly they were kept by someone in the Phoenix area, like you would save newspapers to use for various things around the house.
 
I also think these girls might be considered as matches:

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/72dfpa.html - Kathy Shea, 6, missing from Tyrone, PA in 1965. Her height is off, but she resembles little Jane, and look at her clothing description compared to what little Jane was found with.

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2144dfmo.html - Elizabeth Gill, 2, missing from MO in 1965. It is highly possible she was kept alive for awhile if it is her. She also resembles little Jane quite a bit.

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1971dfnv.html - Nikole Betterson, though biracial i think could still be a good match.

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/706dfor.html - Christie Farni, a little older then they estimate for Jane, but the resemble is striking and the height is only an inch off. Worth checking into, IMO.

I also think all the girls anthrobones suggested might also be good matches. Does anyone know who, if anyone, little jane has been tested against?
 
teonspaleprincess said:
I just don't think anyone would recognize her from those sketches or from the clay model. She doesn't look like a small child in them and they are so "cartoonish" for lack of a better word.
Click to expand...
I thought the same exact thing when I saw them.

I'd love to see more life-like drawings.
 
Why don't they do another reconstruction? Anyone know who did the first one?
 
It says that DNA is NOT available for the Jane Doe. That explains why no one has been tested.
 
phylliyum said:
I also think these girls might be considered as matches:

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/72dfpa.html - Kathy Shea, 6, missing from Tyrone, PA in 1965. Her height is off, but she resembles little Jane, and look at her clothing description compared to what little Jane was found with.

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2144dfmo.html - Elizabeth Gill, 2, missing from MO in 1965. It is highly possible she was kept alive for awhile if it is her. She also resembles little Jane quite a bit.

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1971dfnv.html - Nikole Betterson, though biracial i think could still be a good match.

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/706dfor.html - Christie Farni, a little older then they estimate for Jane, but the resemble is striking and the height is only an inch off. Worth checking into, IMO.

I also think all the girls anthrobones suggested might also be good matches. Does anyone know who, if anyone, little jane has been tested against?
Click to expand...

I remember news reports about Kathy Shea when she went missing. She was the very first missing child that I had ever heard about ( or at least remember) and always wondered what had happened to her. I am from PA so maybe thats why I even heard her name at the time it happened. I was close to her in age and it really frightened me that she was gone. It was only a few months ago that I found out that she was from PA and had never been located.

I really think that the little girl found in AZ could be Kathy even if the height is not the same. Kathy went missing in '65 so maybe whoever took her kept her alive until '66 and she had grown alittle taller?
 
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