MI MI - Blendon Twp, 'Jenny Doe', BlkFem 16-40, UP17581, in field, multiple scars & extra tooth, Oct'67

Namus UP 17581


Unidentified Body/Remains (Black Female)
Found October 20, 1967 in Ottawa County, MI
Body Condition: Recognizable face
Probable year of death: 1967 to 1967
Estimated postmortem interval: 30 days

Vital Statistics
Estimated age: 16-22 (Late Teen/Young Adult)
Approximate Height: 68 estimate
Approximate Weight: 100 estimate
Hair Color: Black; short cut afro style
Eye Color: Brown
Scars and marks: pubic hair present; The victim had numerous healed scars:
1. right side of the face at the jaw line: hyper-pigmented scar
2. right side of the neck: 3 scars (all about 2 cm long)
3. left chest, below the clavicle: long 10cm scar extending toward the arm
Other scars affect the upper right chest, the mid-sternal area (mid-chest), lower right chest, at the right hip, right outer thigh, left thigh; A fully grown extra tooth was observed behind the upper right incisor; At the time of death the victim was determined to be sterile, had gonorrhea in the past, and had never given birth. Lesions on the liver indicate she suffered from hepatitis.

There are multiple scars. In the right mandibular area is a hyper-pigmented scar 2 cm. in length. On the right side of the neck there are 3 scars 1.5 cm., 2 cm. and 2.5 cm. in length. In the left sub-clavicular area extending to the left arm there is a horizontal 10 cm. scar. Over the mid-sternal area there is a 5 cm. scar. Over the right chest there is a 4 cm. scar. On the lower right chest there is a 3 x 1.5 cm. scar. At the right hip there is a 2 x 2 cm. scar. On the right lateral thigh there is a scar 10.5 x 2 cm. scar. These scars also have depigmented areas. There is a healing ulceration of the right index finger.

Clothing & Accessories
Clothing: Yellow/gold ankle-length denim pants. Pink Bermuda shorts. Men's light blue socks with dark blue and red diamond patterns on the side
Jewerly: nothing
Footwear: None recovered but her shoe size is estimated to be
Accessories: nothing

Identifiers
Fingerprints: Fingerprint information available elsewhere
Dentals: Dental information / charting is not available
DNA: is not available

Case History: The body was found in Blendon Township in a field near 48th Avenue and Fillmore St. by Hunters. The victim was wearing yellow/gold slacks, pink Bermuda shorts and mens light blue socks with dark blue and red diamond patterns on the side. The victim had an extra tooth behind the right upper incisor. A white Rambler car was seen in the woods on a trail near the body dump site 3 days prior to the body being found. This was on 10/17/1967 between 9:00 pm and 9:30 pm. It is unknown if the car was involved.

It looks like she's being exhumed for DNA. Body of Michigan 'Jane Doe' Strangled and Beaten in 1967 to be Exhumed in Bid for Answers in Cold Case

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Case Numbers
NCMEC Number--
ME/C Case Number67-10200001/67-9403
Demographics
SexFemale
Race / EthnicityBlack / African American
Possible First Name--
Possible Middle Name--
Possible Last Name--
Nickname/Alias--
Estimated Age GroupAdult
Estimated Age Range (Years)20-40
Estimated Year of Death1967
Estimated PMI30 Days
Height5' 8"(68 inches) , Measured
Weight100 lbs, Estimated
Circumstances
TypeUnidentified Deceased
Date Body FoundOctober 20, 1967
NamUs Case CreatedMarch 14, 2018
ME/C QA Reviewed--
Location Found Map
LocationHudsonville, Michigan 49426
CountyOttawa County
GPS Coordinates (Not Mapped)--
Found On Tribal Land--
Circumstances of RecoveryThe body was found in Blendon Township in a field near 48th Avenue and Fillmore St. by Hunters. The victim was wearing yellow/gold slacks, pink Bermuda shorts and mens light blue socks with dark blue and red diamond patterns on the side. The victim had an extra tooth behind the right upper incisor. A white Rambler car was seen in the woods on a trail near the body dump site 3 days prior to the body being found. This was on 10/17/1967 between 9:00 pm and 9:30 pm. It is unknown if the car was involved.
Details of Recovery


Inventory of RemainsAll parts recovered
Condition of RemainsRecognizable face
Physical Description
Hair ColorBlack
Head Hair Descriptionshort cut afro style
Body Hair Descriptionpubic hair present
Facial Hair Descriptionnone
Left Eye ColorBrown
Right Eye ColorBrown
Eye Description--
Distinctive Physical Features
Item
Description
Scar/mark
The victim had numerous healed scars: 1. right side of the face at the jaw line: hyper-pigmented scar 2. right side of the neck: 3 scars (all about 2 cm long) 3. left chest, below the clavicle: long 10cm scar extending toward the arm Other scars affect the upper right chest, the mid-sternal area (mid-chest), lower right chest, at the right hip, right outer thigh, left thigh

Other distinctive physical characteristic
A fully grown extra tooth was observed behind the upper right incisor.


Clothing and Accessories
Item
Description
Clothing
Yellow/gold ankle-length denim pants. Pink Bermuda shorts. Men's light blue socks with dark blue and red diamond patterns on the side.
On the Body

Footwear
None recovered but her shoe size is estimated to be
On the Body

This poor woman clearly had a pretty hard life. And very few AA women in the MP databases means DNA/genealogy may be the only chance to ID her.

Jan. 16, 2021
Investigators still trying to solve 1967 cold case mystery
''BLENDON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Investigators hope a social media site and sophisticated testing can help them get closer to identifying the remains of a woman found in western Michigan in 1967.

A judge last summer allowed the Ottawa County sheriff's office to exhume remains that were buried at a cemetery in Blendon Township. The woman's body, likely 16 to 22 years old, was discovered by hunters more than 50 years ago.

A second autopsy revealed a broken jaw, likely suffered at the time of death, WOOD-TV reported.

The embalming process used in the 1960s has made extracting DNA difficult, Capt. Mark Bennett said.

The sheriff’s department has reached out to private companies to try to overcome the problem.

“We’re in the process of looking at that endeavor to see, A, what would be the cost of it? Two, what would be the percentage, or possible rate of success, in making that identification?” Bennett said.

He said investigators also are building a social media site to gather tips from the public. Anyone with information can call (616) 738-4022.

"If we could at least give a family some closure as to what happened to their loved one, that’s always a plus for us,” Bennett said.''

What an angering case, because it sounds like she was so abused and lost her life from it and never had justice.
I hope there is a way she can get her name back.

Jan 16 2021 rbbm.
CRIME HUNTER: Cold case notebooks closer to closure | Toronto Sun
''WHO KILLED JENNY DOE – 1967

They are the luckless, the loveless, the unidentified. Detectives with the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Department (outside Grand Rapids, Mich.) called her Jenny and she has been on their minds a very long time.

According to cops, she was only 16 to 22 years old and weighed less than 100 pounds when she was battered and strangled to do death 53 years ago. Her defiled body was found by a father and son out pheasant hunting on Oct. 20, 1967.

In those days, there were no databases, no DNA, no computers, and predictably, the investigators got nowhere. In 2020, her body was exhumed and now detectives are hoping modern tools can identify her — and her killer. It was learned she had suffered a broken jaw, something that was missed initially and something that occurred around the time of death.

“I’m not necessarily sure at this point that’s a game-changer. But it certainly is good additional information,” said Capt. Mark Bennett. “There’s no healing to the injury. So that’s important to know … Maybe tell us more about what led up to her death.”

For Jenny Doe, she’ll be reburied in a lonely unmarked grave. Waiting.

If you have any information on the case or Jenny’s true identity, please call the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office at 616.738.4022 or Silent Observer at 877-88-SILENT or 877-887-4536.''

I wonder if her gonorrhea was acquired (sexual abuse?) or congenital? Also that her second tooth was never surgically removed plus the scars allover her right side plus the untreated hepatitis are signs of severe neglect or extreme poverty.
Poor woman, poor, poor woman. I hope you get your name back and justice will prevail.

Wondering if "Jenny Doe'' might have been caught up in the riot? speculation.
Detroit riot/rebellion still felt in city 50 years later | Windsor Star
''The violence that changed the Motor City began 50 years ago Sunday, around 3:45 a.m. on July 23, 1967, after Detroit police raided a blind pig frequented by African-Americans in the United Community League for Civic Action, above the Economy Printing Company. Cops arrested everyone present.

An angry crowd fed up with police brutality soon formed and when the cops left, looting began. Fires started soon afterward.

The unrest lasted five days and when the smoke cleared, 43 people were dead (10 white, 33 black), 1,189 injured, more than 7,200 arrested, and 2,000-plus buildings destroyed — marking the deadliest civil disturbance of the 1960s. Damage ran between $40 million and $45 million, or up to $350 million in today’s dollars. Among the dead were one Detroit police officer, two Detroit firefighters and one Michigan Army National Guardsman.''

Why would anybody dump her in the fields if she was a victim of the riots? Her family would have taken care of her body. Also, all her physical evidence points to longterm abuse and probable poverty. And people in riots rarely die from strangulation...

5'8 and less than 100lbs is pretty underweight, too. Poor girl had such a hard life. Even if she has no family left wondering where she is, we can at least hope to give her the dignity of having her name back. My heart aches for her. I hope they did manage to extract enough DNA to use forensic genealogy. I've heard Othram are particularly good at getting usable material from older does.

@othram sounds like LE wants to pursue genetic genealogy but is having difficulty due to the embalming process that was used on their Doe. Perhaps you could help?

taramarie said:

@othram sounds like LE wants to pursue genetic genealogy but is having difficulty due to the embalming process that was used on their Doe. Perhaps you could help?

Click to expand...

Formaldehyde, used in embalming, wreaks havoc upon DNA. Depending on type of process, sometimes you can recover usable DNA. If LE wants to explore the option, I would pass our info along. Either our website or they can email connect@othram.com.

It is a DDP case now with a status "at lab for extraction". The DDP has a lot of cases from Michigan.

Why is so much information disappearing from NamUs recently? Like her health issues and images of the clothing are gone. Noticed that with many other cases, too.

Susikatze said:

Why is so much information disappearing from NamUs recently? Like her health issues and images of the clothing are gone. Noticed that with many other cases, too.

Click to expand...

I noticed that they tend to have far less information on cases than other sites like charley project, doe network and unidentified wiki. I always have to crosscheck with one of those pages for more info.

Maybe they think it skews people's search results or something

They used to have so much more. It has been slowly taken off. Maybe if you are a member, you can access more? But I think such a members only policy really harms the progress of some cases as most people browsing NamUS would not become a member...

Susikatze said:

They used to have so much more. It has been slowly taken off. Maybe if you are a member, you can access more? But I think such a members only policy really harms the progress of some cases as most people browsing NamUS would not become a member...

Click to expand...

Not to mention the family and friends just looking for their loved ones.
I think many cases, they just aren't being filled in at all and the fields are just left empty.

I will list some possibles here regardless in no particular order:

Lillian Culbert Williams

Height: unknown
Age: 41-43
Last seen 1967 or 1968
From: Grambling Louisiana
She weighed between: 90-200 lbs
Sources will list 1967 as the missing year, but there was an eyewitness report claiming they saw her in 1968 (though those are not always reliable)

Back in the 60’s, my grandmother Ms. Lillian Culbert, disappeared. She left behind two boys whom the youngest is my father. My grandmother went back to college and was living on campus at the time. She was supposed to come home that weekend but never did.
-Angie Cullbert, granddaughter-

Can not find any mentions of scars.Or extra teeth.

Cellastine Wade

Height:5' 3" - 5' 5" (aproximation)
Age: 18
Last seen: 1967 or 1968
Weight: 95-110 lbs
Missing from: Jersey City, New Jersey
Not certain why this missing year is such an approximation as well, but she went missing after work. So she went to work and never came home. Not even certain if she made it to her workplace.

Can not find any mentions of scars of an extra tooth. No items or description of personal affects or things she might have had with her either.
Her profile was not uploaded until Feb 2021.

Juliette Delania (Hill) Walker

Went missing in 1963
Height: 5'5''-5'7'' (aproximation)
From: Pontiac-Michigan
Weight: 140-160 lbs
Was going to leave for a couple of days but never came back. (that's it, that's all it says)
She had pierced ears, and it makes no mention of scars. But she appears to have some marks on her cheek and some moles. On the second photo it looks like someone cut out her ears? Not certain why?

I will admit that after reading up on the background for Jenny Doe, I worry she is not reported missing, and it was her family or someone close to her who did this to her. Just, overall really sad and tragic.

The unidentified homicide victim Jane Hudsonville Doe

The case involving this Jane Doe, dubbed "Jenny" by detectives, has been lingering since October 1967. According to the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office, hunters discovered the nude body of the unidentified black woman near 52nd Avenue and Fillmore Street in Blendon Township.

Reports say "Jenny" was likely in the area for 3 - 7 days after she was killed and her official cause of death is listed as a homicide. Detectives believe she was strangled and suffered blunt force trauma to her head.

On October 20, 1967 the body of an partially dressed African American girl in a wooded area near an intersection of 52nd and Fillmore of Blendon Township, west of Hudsonville, Michigan.

She was a African American female estimated to be between 14 and 22 years old. She was estimated to be around 5'6 and 100 lbs. She had short (1- 2 inches) black hair and brown eyes. The right side of the face at the jawline had a hyper-pigmented scar, right side of neck had 3 scars about 2 cm each, on the left chest below the clavicle a 10 cm long scar extended towards the arm, and the rest of the scars upper right chest, the mid chest, the lower chest, right hip, right outer thigh and left thigh. Her liver indicated that she suffered from hepatitis. Her reproductive organs had evidence of gonorrhea. There was no indication that she gave birth.

She was wearing two layers of pants. The outer pants were gold colored ankle length jeans that zipped up at the front and snapped at waist. The bottom layer was pink cotton pants zipped up all the way on the left side and were too big for the girl. She was wearing men's grey socks that were not pulled all the way up. She wasn't wearing underwear and was using a makeshift sanitary napkin made out of newspaper.

From the clothing she was wearing and the makeshift sanitary napkin it is possible that the Jane doe was a transient and or homeless.

LINKS:

https://www.investigationdiscovery....ctives-opportunity-to-work-cold-cases--apply-

Body Of 1967 Michigan Homicide Victim Exhumed