Identified! CA - North of Jenner, WhtFem 40-46, UP102119, white blouse, February 3, 1967 - Lillian Marie Cardenas

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NAMUS:
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Sex - Female
Race / Ethnicity - White / Caucasian
Adult - Pre 50
Estimated Age Range (Years) - 40-46
Estimated Year of Death - 1966
Height - 5' 2"-5' 4"
Hair Color - Brown
Date Body Found - February 3, 1967
Location - Jenner, California
Circumstances of Recovery - Jane Doe found over a cliff off Highway 1, approximately 7 miles north of Jenner, CA in 1967
Clothing - long-sleeved white blouse that buttoned down the back (Jo Mathews, Size 12), black Maiden-Form bra (Size 34 C), light-colored pants with purple or lavender lining, no underwear, and no mention of shoes or socks being found.
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Sonoma County authorities today continued to hunt for clues in the mysterious death of a woman whose body was found on the Sonoma County coast north of Jenner Friday. Sheriff John Ellis said his officers planned to go into conference with the coroner and the pathologist to review all the facts in the case. , The woman's identity and her cause of death remained unknown today. The pathologist told officers the extent of bone fractures on the woman's face may have been sufficient to cause death, but a final determination on the cause will not be made until after microscopic and pathological tests are conducted. Officers gave no indication whether the autopsy disclosed how the facial bone fractures occurred. The woman also had several broken ribs. Coroner Andrew Johansen said a dental chart will be made and released to state police agencies, along with descriptions of the woman and her clothing. The woman had extensive dental work, some of it in gold, which may later be the only source to identify her. The partially decomposed and mummified body was found by a coast hiker near the bottom of a 500-foot bluff on Highway One, six miles north of Jenner. Her body, which apparently had been there for several months, was partially covered with shale, indicating run-off water either deposited there or the body was covered with shale in the first place and the run-off washed it off. A shingle hatchet found 15 feet from the body, is still puzzling authorities, but they are reluctant at this point to attach significance to it. Crime Lab Sheriff Ellis said the woman's clothing may be sent to the state crime lab in search of further clues. She wore light-colored lined capri pants and a size 12 long-sleeved blouse buttoned on the back. It bore a label reading, Jo Matthews, apparently the manufacturer, and not the woman's name. The body was shoeless and the woman's purse was not found. Investigating officers were inclined to disagree with the pathologist's preliminary observation that the body had been in the water for as long as six months. Officers said from their experience in recovering drowning victims from the ocean, the bodies have much more deteriorated than this woman's body. Officers also find it hard to believe that waves could have deposited the body at the height that it was found. , Find Shack Sheriff's Lt. Robert Hayes said the hatchet may have come from a make-shift shack found at China Beach, about a half mile south of where the body was found. - Officers found a can of nails there, some of which were used to construct the shack, but no hammer. Inside the shack were some jeans nailed to the walls, some tennis shoes, and a copy of The Press Democrat dated last July. There was nothing obvious to indicate a woman had been there, however. Sheriff Ellis said a check of missing persons in the file at the sheriff's office has uncovered no persons fitting the description of the woman thus far. The sheriff's office has gotten several calls from out-of-county individuals and police agencies, offering names, but none of the descriptions have matched. The woman was estimated to be between 35 and 45 years, 5 feet 4 inches tall, 130 pounds, and had brown hair.
 
Sonoma County officials are hopeful that teeth and a dental chart will lead to the identification of a woman, whose body was found near a cliff north of Jen-ner. County Coroner Andrew Johan-sen said an all-points-bulletin was issued state-wide Tuesday in an attempt to unravel the mystery of the woman's identity. Her partly decomposed body was discovered beneath a cliff six miles north of Jenner, off Highway 1, by a hiker Friday and recovered by Sheriff's Department deputies Saturday. The decomposition of the body, which indicated death may have been months ago, prevented the taking of fingerprints, Johansen said, but he was hopeful that the dental chart would lead to identity.

The Press Democrat learned today. Although the description of the missing woman fits closely to that of the unidentified dead woman, the sheriff's office holds little hope they are one and the same because of the length of time the woman has been missing. The Santa Rosa woman, Mrs. Genevieve Domingo, 42, was reported missing last week by relatives who said they last tried to locate her in December when her mother died. Mrs. Domin go was last heard of in July of 1964, The sheriff's office, meanwhile, has reported no significant developments in the case of the mystery body, found at the bottom of a 500-foot bluff north of Jenner, except it is continuing to investigate missing persons whose names are being furnished by individuals and other police agencies. Mrs. Domingo's name is on that list. Sheriff John A. Ellis said an interview with a 19 -year -old Wheatland youth produced nothing to indicate he knew or had anything to do with the woman's death. The youth was questioned Friday at his home by Lt. Robert Hayes and Inspector Garland (Jack) Dalton on the basis of statements he made at a drinking party in Guerneville three months ago. The sheriff also said a roofer's shingle hatchet, which was found near the woman's body and had caused authorities some concern, has been eliminated as a possible death weapon. It was traced to a Rohnert Park man who said he hurled it over the cliff last July. The sheriff's office is conducting an investigation on the assumption the woman met with foul play. Circumstances of the death and its cause have not been determined, but all elements of a homicide are present
 
Found this potential match. DLC seems a bit too distant but I see a resemblance.
#MP30754
Maria Theresa Ruthling, Female, White / Caucasian
Date of Last Contact September 23, 1965
Missing FromScottsdale, Arizona
 
Maybe Carol Francis Norton? She disappeared about 75 miles south of Jenner. She was likely a victim of foul play from her husband. She's younger then the estimated age and the date of her disappearance is slightly outside the estimated PMI though.

Carol Frances Norton - MP34768
June 2, 1965 - El Cerrito, California

Hard to tell because more recent photos of her are unavailable
1681449233817.png1681449247853.png
 
Found this potential match. DLC seems a bit too distant but I see a resemblance.
#MP30754
Maria Theresa Ruthling, Female, White / Caucasian
Date of Last Contact September 23, 1965
Missing FromScottsdale, Arizona
The missing woman had a widow's peak. The reconstruction doesn't. But that could be because that part of the face had decomposed. I wonder though about the pock marked skin of the reconstruction. Was her face mummified?
 
I checked the weather per month in Jenner as it's nowadays. Going by her clothing I'd say she died from June to October 1966.

Anyways, my problem with these old cases is that the science wasn't as advanced as it's today. But the info from the autopsy etc. we get was established back then.
 
Identified as Lillian Marie Cardenas from San Francisco.

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May 8, 2024

A DNA analysis in early 2023 identified her as Cardenas, the department announced Wednesday. She was born in 1928 and her last known residence was in San Francisco.

“Her surviving family had been estranged from her prior to her death,” the Sheriff’s Office reported.

 
Screen Shot 2023-04-13 at 8.39.05 PM.png1715213798520.jpegScreen Shot 2023-04-13 at 8.38.50 PM.png
She looks so Hollywood in that photo.

The clay reconstruction isn't too far off, but makes it seem like she was much older than she was when killed. She would've turned 39 in 1967. I do know the real photo of her was likely taken when she was much younger.
 

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