PA PA - Downingtown, Wht/HispFem 18-40, 147UFPA, dismembered, in suitcase, Jul'95

Rle7

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Unidentified White / Hispanic Female
  • Located on July 11, 1995 in East Caln Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania.
  • Cause of death was homicidal violence.
  • Estimated date of death is 3 - 7 days prior to discovery.

Vital Statistics

  • Estimated age: 17-25 years old
  • Approximate Height and Weight: 4'11" - 5'3"; 120-140 lbs.
  • Distinguishing Characteristics: Brown hair; brown eyes. Light complexion. She had pierced ears. No scars or tattoos.
  • Dentals: Dental imprints available.
  • Clothing: She was found with a light-blue denim shirt with a collar, long sleeves, copper-colored buttons, and light-colored bands across the chest and back, and a denim skirt. Some clothing, bed sheets and a quilt were found in the suitcase.

Case History
On July 11, 1995 the victim's nude torso was found in a maroon suitcase covered with a green trash bag along the Brandywine Creek, on Valley Creek Road, South of Boot Road in Downingtown, PA. Near Downingtown and West Chester Pennsylvania.
The victim's legs had been removed from her pelvis. The torso was wrapped in a sheet and then packaged in a plastic quilt bag. The bag was then wrapped in a quilt and placed in a suitcase, which in turn was bound with wire, taped, and placed in the garbage bag.
The large suitcase is maroon leather grain vinyl with three buckles and a zipper. It has small wheels at the bottom.
The bedcover is this quilted material with a white background and a modern, green, black and light blue design. The suitcase and quilt she was found within were sold at Kmart stores.

The woman's fingerprints did not match with any records. On January 29, 1996, partially skeleton legs were found wrapped in trash bags in the Cores Creek State Park in Middletown Township, Bucks County, PA near Bensalem, Pennsylvania. Also at the site was a bag containing various items of ladies' formal, ladies' casual and girls' casual clothing.
Due to decomposition, medical examiners were unable to positively match the legs and torso with DNA evidence. However, when doctors placed the right femur head into the acetabulum of the torso, the leg fit perfectly into the hip.
Investigators are fairly certain she was killed elsewhere and her remains dumped where they were found. The victim had had a small bruise on her eye and two small bruises on her back, indicating a possible fight but not a serious struggle. Yet, there was no evidence of strangulation or rape. She had a blood-alcohol level that indicated minimal alcoholic intake, roughly one or two drinks. There was no evidence of drugs in her system.
Police presume she did not come from the Philadelphia area. She is possibly not from United States.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Pennsylvania State Police
Patrick Quigley
610-268-2022
Fax: 610-268-3845
E-Mail
NCMEC #: NCMU400036
NCIC Number:
U-853071055
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case. Source Information:
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
Pennsylvania State Police
The Philadelphia Inquirer

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/147ufpa.html

http://www.psp.state.pa.us/psp/cwp/view.asp?a=3&Q=38314
 
The victim's legs had been removed from her pelvis. The torso was wrapped in a sheet and then packaged in a plastic quilt bag. The bag was then wrapped in a quilt and placed in a suitcase, which in turn was bound with wire, taped, and placed in the garbage bag.


Investigators are fairly certain she was killed elsewhere and her remains dumped where they were found.


Gee. You think?
 
Oh god, how am I only hearing this now? I'm from Upper Darby, PA, these areas are nearby. I regularly look at cold cases from this part of PA and have NEVER heard of this. This makes me wonder how much else is not entered into relevant databases.

I totally was just by there for Thanksgiving(the Boot Road location). Gives me the damn creeps. If I'm thinking of the right place these area is super dark and isolated at night.
 
Just a thought...but the outfit that was found with her is almost the "uniform" of some conservative Christian groups known as "Holiness" sects. That would be her around-the-house casual clothing, if indeed she were a member of such a group. Probably irrelevant but it might provide a starting point.
 
Hmmmm.....

So they must have a skull also, and not just a torso...because they talk about a bruise on the eye and they have a reconstruction....

I found what might be a good possible match. The height is way off, but if those legs don't belong to this body, maybe that's possible it was underestimated on the UID side.

Holly Ann Painter of Canada disappeared at almost exactly the right time to be this UID...DOD is 3-7 days before July 11, 1995. Holly disappeared June 26, 1995.

The case is not in Namus....grrr....but being from Canada, I doubt she would have showed up as a rule out there anyways.

UID was 17-25. Holly was 18.

UID was White or Hispanic with brown hair/brown eyes.
Holly has no race or ethnicity listed, but she is listed as being olive skinned.
The UID page says the victim may not have come from the US. What made them think so? Holly, obviously is not from the U.S.

The man Holly was last seen with admitted using her bank card in Cheektowaga, NY, probably needed American money after he crossed the border. If he harmed Holly, he seems to have freaked and ran after. But with or without Holly?

Possible scenarios: 1) He isn't involved at all.
2) He willingly or by force took a live Holly with him to NY, and possibly beyond, and something happened to Holly at a later point.
3) Holly is deceased and in Canada and he fled alone.
4) He transported a deceased Holly across the border. On one hand, he lessens the chances she will be identified. On the other hand, a risky move crossing the border with a body! Although this was all pre 9/11 and we used to go to Canada all the time and almost never got stopped.

What is interesting about possibility 4 is that if someone were so inclined, the least risky way to transport a body across the border would theoretically be in a suitcase....just another sightseer with some luggage.

Of course the negative to that scenario is why go almost all the way to Philly? Did he know someone there?

Also the UID file says pierced ears, but Holly's page says triple pierced. You'd think that would be noted, but who knows.

Given the things that don't quite fit, I almost didn't bring this up for discussion, but what made me put this out there is the way Holly's features line up with the computer recon. Here are pics of each. Drag one over the other and tell me what y'all think....

HAPainter1.jpg

147UFPA1.jpg
 
I did just shoot an e-mail over to the PA State Police contacts to see if they could have a look at this. I'll let y'all know what I hear back.
 
So here's the update:

I got an auto-reply e-mail from the detective in charge of this case stating that he was out of the office on medical leave for six weeks. So I thought I'd try on the MP side and I called up Toronto PD Homicide. I talked to the detective and when I mentioned some of the details of the case, he said he had just happened to be reading Holly's file the other day. So he was able to recall the case pretty well. I followed up with him in an e-mail after our conversation with the details of the UID and the pics of the UID and Holly.

I called him today to follow up. He said he had tried to call me the other day too, just to give me an update. After reviewing both cases, he thought it was worth further inquiry, and so they are looking into this potential match. They either got or are getting DNA for Holly and will have it compared to the Downington Jane Doe. I have no idea what the turnaround will be on that, but I would think it may take a while based on other cases I've seen here. So, now we wait.
 
Received an e-mail from the PA State Police today. The detective who previously worked on her case for years e-mailed me. He said that he remembers Holly Painter's name coming up at some point in the investigation. He thinks Holly was ruled out on dentals, but said it probably wouldn't hurt to check DNA to be 100% positive.

So my guess is this isn't Holly despite the similarities. Holly had just had her braces off the day before she went missing - my guess is her dental records were pretty current. But it would be good to know 100% I guess.
 
Have we ever talked about what is up with Bensalem, PA?

What are believed to be this UID's legs were found just outside Bensalem in 1996.

Additionally, consider the following:

PA PA - Bensalem - WhtFem Skeletal 461UFPA, 17-23, 6 Mos. Jan'88 (estimated DOD 1-5 years prior) http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51057&highlight=bensalem

PA - Bensalem - WhtFem 306UFPA, 35-45, KPMG Peat Marwick TShirt, Sep'95 (but estimated DOD 2-3 years prior) http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=100724&highlight=bensalem

PA PA - Bensalem - WhtFem 815UFPA, 40-53, Headless-In Poquessing Creek, Aug'95
(estimated DOD 4 weeks) http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=81006&highlight=bensalem

4 Unidentified females in a ten year span, all in Bensalem.

Weirdly, also, at least 3 and it looks like probably all four of the Bensalem girls had additional clothing disposed with them - more than just the clothes they would have been wearing when they died. That's pretty unusual. It almost makes me wonder if the women thought they were going on a short trip with someone who then killed them. Or if they were living in hotels or something. IDK. Is it crazy to think these cases are connected?
 
@Irish Eyes

The possible connection to the fourth woman you listed (815UFPA) is freaky. There are quite a few similarities to 147UFPA.
  1. Both were Caucasian females.
  2. Both were found dismembered (although the younger woman's dismemberment was more ''complete'').
  3. Both were disposed with their clothing.
  4. Both were killed within a few weeks of each other.
  5. Both were found in the same town. Bensalem isn't big; it only has 58,000 people and they don't have a serious issue with violent crime. This isn't a border town where murders and dismemberments are (sadly) common.

I wonder if these two women's DNA have been checked against one another to see if they are related. If they are related, then - judging by their estimated ages - they would most likely be mother-daughter or aunt-niece.

Even if they aren't related, I find it hard to dismiss the idea that they didn't fall victim to the same killer(s).
 

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