An amateur and a lead
The lead that ultimately led to the identification of both Simmons and Walden came to Barter through email from an amateur sleuth, Barter explained.
The unidentified sleuth, Barter explained in February, is part of a group of amateur sleuths who pore over websites filled with missing persons and cold cases, such as The Doe Network and NamUs (National Unidentified and Missing Persons System).
Ive spent literally hours and hours and hours in those databases, Barter said after Simmons was identified in February, adding he believed the tip from the sleuth because other investigative work led him to believe the victim was in the Navy in California.
Simmons was identified through dental records on file with the Navy.
A second identification
Simmons, who went AWOL (absent without leave) from the Navy, had mentioned to his parents that he had met a woman, a waitress known as Margo, shortly before leaving California.
The amateur sleuth also pointed Barter to Walden as a possible identification for the female victim and Barter was able to make contact with the missing womans family and retrieve DNA samples from a missing persons file on her.
It was also revealed that Simmons and Walden, who often went by the name Margo, had gone missing from the same town in 1982 and, working with Waldens family, Barter was able to learn that Walden had left town with a younger sailor.
Waldens sister recalled that Walden was dating a younger sailor and the pair had gone on a camping trip together. Shortly before his disappearance, Simmons had rented camping equipment at the local Navy base.
Those stories also aligned with an old witness statement, Barter said.
Further adding to the idea that Walden was in fact Barters Jane Doe, Barter showed items found on the body to Waldens sister who identified both a coat she had seen Walden wear and jewelry the sister had given to Walden in 1973.
While Walden, who had been reported missing after she left California, was once married to a sailor, Barter said no dental records were found for her, either with the Navy or elsewhere, ruling out an identification via dental records.
What did exist, however, were DNA samples from Waldens mom and sister
