Identified! CA - San Bernardino Co., WhtFem Skel UP2557, 25-45, at Cadiz dry lake, Nov'89 - Name Withheld

[CarlK90245]

I was shown a photo of the skull and a few bones of this UID, along with a tuft of hair that was found with the bones.

The NamUs casefile indicates gender undetermined, but based on the appearance of the skull (gracile with sharp edges of the upper borders of the orbits, vertical forehead, and lack of a brow-ridge), it appears to me to be female. Add in that the tuft of hair appears at least several inches long and wavy (or loosely curly), and all of the rule-outs on the NamUs rule-out list are female, I am going with the presumption that this is a female.

(They were unable to get a STR (i.e., nucDNA) sample from these remains. They only have mtDNA. So I am speculating that this might be the reason for not specifying a gender).

I created a facial reconstruction based on the shape of this skull, and my presumption that this is a female. As is usually the case with skeletal reconstructions, this is a representation more of her facial shape than it is of her overall "look".

NamUs UP # 2557 https://identifyus.org/en/cases/2557

Unidentified White Female

Found November 22, 1989 at Cadiz Dry Lake, San Bernardino County CA

Vital Statistics

* Age: 25-45
* Height: 64" (5 feet 4 inches)
* Weight: Undetermined
* Hair Color: Brown​

Condition of Remains

* Probable Year of Death: 1988-1989
* Est. Postmortem Interval: Years
* Comments: Not recognizable - Partial remains with soft tissues - Partial skeletal remians scattered on surface of dry desert lake.​

Circumstancess

* Comments: Partial skeletal remains were found in the desert east of Twenty-Nine Palms. Designated "Undetermined Doe #09-89." Death was estimated to have occurred between a year and two years prior to discovery. Identity may only be established by dental X-rays or DNA.​

Identifiers

* Dental: Available

Upper (R to L, 01-16) N N F F N N N N N N N N N F N N
Lower (R to L, 32-17) N F A N N N N N N N N N N A F N​

* DNA: Autopsy samples submitted for DNA 05/02/06. CA lab has been unable to obtain an STR profile. Mitochondrial was obtained.
* Fingerprints: Not Available​

 

[CarlK90245]

Looking for possibles, I came across one woman whose facial shape very closely "fits" to the dimensions of this skull.

Mary Louise McCullar http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/mccullar_mary.html

I overlaid her photo over the image of the skull, and it fits flawlessly. (BTW, her photo had no influence over my creation of the facial reconstruction).

In addition:
* Her height (5'4") matches perfectly.
* Her age (36) is right in the middle of the estimated age range (25-45)
* The timeframe (29 months from Jun'87 to Nov'89) is pretty close to the 2-year estimated PM interval.
* Cadiz Dry Lake is about 280 miles from Bakersfield CA.

I've been trying to find another photo of Mary that might show her teeth. This UID has a small gap between #8 & #9, and the #10 drifts slightly toward the #9, and #8 & #9 appear to be positioned slightly right of center. A good smiling photo of her would definitely resolve this, but I am unable to find one.

I found her listed in Ancestry. Her maiden name is Espinoza, and her mother's maiden name is Sosa. She was born in Monterey County CA. But I haven't been able to figure out where she (or her siblings) went to high school. It appears that she has at least three siblings, including an apparent set of fraternal twins (1 male 1 female). The male sibling is now deceased, but I haven't been able to find any current info on the other sisters.

 

[CarlK90245]

I was also looking at Brenda Szabo.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/s/szabo_brenda.html

She has very similarly broad cheekbones and if you look closely at the color photo, she might even have a slight gap between her 8 & 9.

But the timeframe is too long, her hair is too straight, and her temples and jawline might be just slightly too broad compared to the skull.

 

[CarlK90245]

I forgot to mention, Mary McCullar is not in NamUs. So she wouldn't be a default rule-out as far as NamUs is concerned. There's no way for me to know if she has a mtDNA profile in the CODIS system to compare to this UID.

Brenda Szabo does have a full DNA profile in NamUs, so she is probably a rule-out by default to this UID.

 

[Essbee]

I'm really just throwing this out there because it is a case I am interested in (merely because of the San Diego connection). Here is a woman who disappeared from San Diego in April 1986. She was 42 years old at the time of her disappearance. 67", 130 lbs.

http://www.nampn.org/cases/riley_carol.html

They think they know who killed her, but her body has never been found. The case summary states that she may have been dumped in a mineshaft, but I'm not sure why they think that.

 

[CarlK90245]

I'm really just throwing this out there because it is a case I am interested in (merely because of the San Diego connection). Here is a woman who disappeared from San Diego in April 1986. She was 42 years old at the time of her disappearance. 67", 130 lbs.

http://www.nampn.org/cases/riley_carol.html

They think they know who killed her, but her body has never been found. The case summary states that she may have been dumped in a mineshaft, but I'm not sure why they think that.

Just looking at the shape of her face, her jawline is much too broad and the angle of her jawline is too wide. And if that photo is contemporary to her disappearance, her hair is probably too short.

 

[starry1]

I don't know, but here's a possible perp. He killed about 1 hour away from there.

http://www.ocregister.com/news/gibbons-342835-balcom-county.html



And some general physical similarities to the woman he's convicted of murdering here:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lan...mends-death-penalty-for-1988-rape-murder.html

I'm a newbie, so please let me know if I'm not allowed to post links like that.

 

[4gwen]

excellent work CarlK. The similarities are striking indeed!

 

[CarlK90245]

Mary McCullar's page is now published. :cheer:

https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/20290/0

Hopefully they can get some identifiers uploaded so that they can compare these cases.

I have entered six MP's into NamUs, and so far this is the only one that's been published.

 

[4gwen]

Awesome Carl!!

 

[CarlK90245]

:bump: Bump for image revision

Note that this is based on a skull with a tuft of hair, so this is primarily a representation of her facial shape, and not of her overall look.

 

[rcoope23]

Mary Louise looks like a great option Carl
I am having a bit of a look, based just on the dental aspects of your reconstruction.
Debra Cresotti seems to have the same small gap in her teeth, but there would need to be more details available for me to comment on the circumstances. The time gap seems to rule this out but just focusing on dentals, it seems to match.

https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/11224/374?current_page=circumstances

 

[rainwater]

Bumping

 

[carbuff]

Exclusions as of 27 September (https://identifyus.org/en/cases/2557)

The following people have been ruled out as being this decedent:
First Name Last Name Year of Birth State LKA

Lynn Bandringa 1945 California
Lynn Connes 1955 California
REBECCA DUNN 1958 Nevada
Penelope Milbourn 1963 California
Lulaida Sejalbo 1955 California

 

[EmmaliLucia]

Is my monitor doing a weird thing or does she have greenish blueish brown hair?

If the tuft was greenish blueish then that could exclude a lot of people

 

[CarlK90245]

Here's the tuft of hair:

 

[carbuff]

Exclusions as of 27 September (https://identifyus.org/en/cases/2557)

The following people have been ruled out as being this decedent:
First Name Last Name Year of Birth State LKA

Lynn Bandringa 1945 California
Lynn Connes 1955 California
REBECCA DUNN 1958 Nevada
Penelope Milbourn 1963 California
Lulaida Sejalbo 1955 California

Denise Beaudin has been added to the ruleouts.

 

[digitective]

When I click on the NamUs link, it's telling me the page is not accessible. Does that mean she has been identified?

 

[carbuff]

The page certainly appears to be off line. @CarlK90245 , has there been any news?

 

[CarlK90245]

The page certainly appears to be off line. @CarlK90245 , has there been any news?

None that I’m aware of.