GUILTY CA - Mammoth Lakes, NtvFem 413UFCA, 30-40, Shady Rest cmpgrnd, May'03 Isabel Sanchez Bernal *Arrest*

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Old Broad

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Not sure if this is the correct place for this thread, if not then administrators please move it.
The authorities have done so much to try and find out who this woman is and there has to be somebody out there who would recognise the clues they've found!

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/3901100.html

Gatliff, whose Skullpture studio is based in Norman, Okla., came up with a face that roughly resembles the drawing made of the woman who confided her fears to the Forest Service workers.

Dostie believes the dead woman is the same one who approached Forest Service workers. If so, her husband would be the prime suspect.

Now, he needs the public's help. "A 4-foot 6-inch Indian woman with a fat, pasty white guy," he said. "Someone has lived next door to this couple, and this is not the first incidence of domestic violence between them, I guarantee you. Someone's called the cops on them."

Old Broad
 
What a great story! Of course it's absolutely awful what happened to this woman, but it's awesome to see all of the technology being used and how it's developing. The determination of the police officer to find out who this poor woman was is incredible. He deserves a big pat on the back. Stories like this prove it's getting more and more difficult for victims to go nameless and for killers to get away with their crimes. I was disappointed that there was no sketch shown with the article. I think that's really key to this mystery. Her sketch should be posted here and all over southern Mexico and Central America, especially the area where the scientist found a possible gentic link.
 
dulcinea said:
What a great story! Of course it's absolutely awful what happened to this woman, but it's awesome to see all of the technology being used and how it's developing. The determination of the police officer to find out who this poor woman was is incredible. He deserves a big pat on the back. Stories like this prove it's getting more and more difficult for victims to go nameless and for killers to get away with their crimes. I was disappointed that there was no sketch shown with the article. I think that's really key to this mystery. Her sketch should be posted here and all over southern Mexico and Central America, especially the area where the scientist found a possible gentic link.
Click to expand...

I was able to find a more recent article about this and the sketch of the woman and man are also included.

I hope the officer gets his answers to this mystery and this murdered woman gets a name and justice!

Old Broad

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationw...0,1,6986275.story?coll=la-headlines-columnone
 
Check out case 413UFCA updated from the DoeNetwork...

It's totally amazing what they are able to do these days. Maybe they will apply some of these techniques to some of our "pet" cases...

"Combining exhaustive and innovative DNA testing, with the above mentioned method of identifying the source of the victim's drinking water as recorded in unique isotopic signatures found in her bones, hair and teeth, has helped investigators to narrow and to trace her life. She was probably born and raised through childhood in the American Southwest or in Northern Mexico. She subsisted on a very poor diet, including a great deal of corn, or maize, the water she drank was consistent with the isotopic signature of the water in the American Southwest or northern Mexico, or even in Los Angeles. Sometime later she moved south to southern Mexico, possibly Oaxaca, where she spent about 10 years of her life. Finally, the last two years of her life the victim traveled to California where she was killed.
A few days after the skeleton was found, a witness was located that remembered an incident that occurred in the fall of 2002, when a very short Asian looking female came into the Mammoth Lakes Visitor Center with her husband. The woman told an employee that her husband treated her badly and she was fearful of him. The witness gave the woman a Wild Iris Domestic Violence services card. The husband asked about campsite rules and stay limits. The employee described the woman’s husband as “abrasive” and “mean spirited”. The husband is described as a white male, heavyset, 5'9" tall, heavy-set, about 175 to 200 pounds, with brown hair and a bushy moustache.
mtDNA was done and it was found that she was a Zapotec Indian from Oaxaca, Mexico. It even narrowed it down to the specific village. Authorites have made 2 expeditions to that village and came up with a possible name. They are obtaining DNA from relatives to make sure.
Authorities believe they have her name, Barbara Pacheco Santiago. They are going to Oaxaca late in December 2006 to attempt to locate relatives to get DNA."

 
http://www.forensicmag.com/articles.asp?pid=150


I visit the Mammoth Lakes area often I was there when this story first broke; the skull of what was at first thought to be a child murder victim was found.
Once it was determined that this was very small adult, one of the rangers remembered a small woman asking for help for an abusive situation. She was given the name of a local domestic violence group and left. The man who was with her was mean looking white guy and the ranger thought the woman might have been asian. The couple was staying in local camping area but they may have been there for several months or more.

Her murder has not yet been located but thanks to some really amazing work on the part of this very small police department, the victim has been identified and her family back in Mexico will no longer have to wonder what happened to her.
 
Thank you so much for posting this article! What a fascinating read. I hope they are able to locate her killer.
 
Wow! pretty impressive! I wish the picture of the husband would have been included. It seems someone in Mexico would know the guy.

Hoping for a break in this case. The Detective sure does deserve it. He has gone above and beyond what most unidentified missing persons receive.

Salem
 
That case did haunt me for a while. Until they at least were able to ID her, I thought for sure that she was another poor mail order bride who died and her family would always be looking for her. It does sound (in another report) like this woman went voluntarily.
Mammoth Lakes is such a pretty place, to think that she suffered and died there when she could have had the help she needed is very sad.
 
That detective is working so hard on the case, i hope he catches him! It is good to see a small town that has a dedicated detective.

"
The tradeoff is the publicity. I believe that the couple was so unique – a slight 4-foot 6-inch Indian-Hispanic female and a pudgy 5-foot 9-inch, 175-200 pound white male – that maximum press exposure to this story and the pictures of the victim and her husband, will lead to tips from citizens that could identify this woman and help solve the case.
Press exposure is paramount. Someone recognizing this couple far outweighs the suspect knowing the cops are after him. When we get that tip, that’ll be huge."

That qoute from the article is so true! If more LE were willing to put out more details on cases, there is a better chance they'd get solved with help from the public. With the dedication of Dostie, the way he includes all of his experts as part of the team, keeping them informed, he will catch the culprit.
 
Those are excellent articles, Kat!:) They really have come along way with DNA and all the different tests they do. It's awesome, the determination that they have with this case and trying to identify the woman, if only we could have such excellent people for all remains that are found! Such a dedicated crew working to find the jane doe!
 
This story is fascinating. So many cold cases could be solved if there were enough manpower to do such a thorough forensic investigation. Hopefully a lot of if can be automated by computer.
 
Moving this to the Unidentified board, (originally started by: Old Broad) has she been identified yet? Anyone know any updates?
Ima

From Articles...
* Mexican Indian
* Age: 30 to 45 years old
* Height: From 4 feet, 6 inches to 4 feet, 9 inches
* With bad dental work
* Had given birth at least once
* She was wearing jeans, size 32A bra, fluffy red blouse, Bass size 5M shoes, Cold Air Design coat and a Kmart Jaclyn Smith watch that was still running.
Anyone with information about this woman (760) 934-2011, Ext. 0; or pdostie@mammothlakespd.org.
Article origninally posted by Kat...
Case Number 03-0929: Murder In Mammoth Lakes
http://www.forensicmag.com/articles.asp?pid=150
Pics in above article.

Imamaze
 
I live very close to Mammoth Lakes, and spend alot of time there. Yet, this is the first I've heard of this.
 
I still can't find anything about whether the tentative ID was confirmed or not.
 
Could the suspect also be from Mexico like the victim or was he classified as White not including Hispanic? From the sketch, he vaguely resembles Thomas Freedman, the journalist.
 
I spent my entire childhood living in Bishop, which is just down the hill. I have been to Mammoth so much growing up and even still today I visit to hike & ski... It's so sad to know this case still hasn't been solved. I know they have a very small PD and almost always, like In Bishop and other communities in the O.V, they have to outsource their CSI work... It's sad that it's been almost 10 yrs now and still nothing.

Everytime I go up there I think about this case....it's really sad,I have a hard time believing that this poor lady's family & child are out there wndering where she vanished to, not knowing she had been dumped in the middle of nowhere practically.... My heart breaks that they have no resolution...
I hope they can identify her soon so can start looking for her killer.... Whoever that is has had a long head start on getting away... Hopefully there will be something to update with..
 
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