Identified! CO - Boulder Co., WhtFem 'Boulder Jane Doe, 17-20, Mar'54 - Dorothy Howard

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Silvia, How do you know this really is Katherine Ferrand Dyer and not a hoax? How was this woman's identity confirmed?
 
Thanks for your questions. There will be a lot more of this story to come, as we're still in the process of trying to figure out why Katharine used several alias, etc. I don't know. As to proof that this was not a hoax, the Australian caretaker emailed me divorce papers that postdated the April 1954 finding of Boulder Jane Doe. Then, information in Katharine's address book led me to her surviving sister who was able to document some of her post-1954 addresses and activities. The Australians, the sister, and I exchanged photographs of Katharine and her husband (now deceased), which then were checked out by the Sheriff's Office. Still, who would think to look for Katharine in Australia!
 
This makes two missing women who have been found thanks to the search for Boulder Jane Doe so it's not all lost. I can't wait to hear more of Katharine's story because it must have been quite an adventure! And now we can get back to the search and see what else can be found. Thanks Sylvia for all you do and I'm looking forward to the book!

Anna from Denver
 
AMF said:
This makes two missing women who have been found thanks to the search for Boulder Jane Doe so it's not all lost. I can't wait to hear more of Katharine's story because it must have been quite an adventure! And now we can get back to the search and see what else can be found. Thanks Sylvia for all you do and I'm looking forward to the book!

Anna from Denver
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Thanks for the kind words. Yes, the search for Jane Doe found two women – Twylia May Embrey of Nebraska and now Katharine Farrand Dyer. Both changed their names and started new lives far from home. Now I'm wondering how many other young women of the 1950s did the same thing?
 
anthrobones said:
So what does Katharine look like today?
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I'm hoping the family and friends will agree to the release of Katharine's photos throughout the years. She was pretty, and she took the name "Katharine" (not her birth name) because friends compared her looks to that of actress Katharine Hepburn. In some photos, she seemed to be wearing a lot of makeup. In the latest (probably about age 80), there still is resemblance in her facial features. It would be interesting to see photos of Katharine Hepburn as an older woman and see how they compare.
 
anthrobones said:
What about this one: The Doe Network: Case File 758DFON
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This is Marion Joan McDowell, the young woman abducted near Toronto in December 1953. She was the first woman we looked at as a possible Boulder Jane Doe. She has been ruled out by DNA. (DNA from Jane Doe's remains was compared to DNA from Marion's brother.) Marion's disappearance is a huge unsolved mystery.
 
Silvia said:
During the past few years, Katharine Farrand Dyer has been thought to have been Boulder Jane Doe. Now, she has turned up alive, at age 84, in Australia! See Boulder Co. Sheriff's Office Press Release and also my press release on the bottom of my Jane Doe Archives 2 page: http://www.silviapettem.com/JANE%20DOE%20archives2.html

After getting over the shock, we are refocused on missing girls pre-April 1954. Any comments are welcome. Thanks! Silvia

(p.s. Thanks for the previous comments to me. Sorry I didn't answer them directly.)
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Wow....this is unbelievable! I also was positive Katharine was BJD. I bet you WERE totally shocked by this discovery. I'm happy KFD has been found alive, and one mystery is cleared up; however, this means back to the drawing board for you, Silvia, and your team of investigators. Thanks again for the update.
 
Silvia said:
I'm hoping the family and friends will agree to the release of Katharine's photos throughout the years. She was pretty, and she took the name "Katharine" (not her birth name) because friends compared her looks to that of actress Katharine Hepburn. In some photos, she seemed to be wearing a lot of makeup. In the latest (probably about age 80), there still is resemblance in her facial features. It would be interesting to see photos of Katharine Hepburn as an older woman and see how they compare.
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Katharine: http://www.thehindu.com/2003/07/01/images/2003070105330101.jpg
 
BOULDER, Colo. (Aug. 21) - Investigators say a woman they believed might have been killed in 1954 and found along a Boulder creek actually has been living in Australia for the last 46 years.

The Boulder County sheriff's office announced Thursday the woman they thought was the most likely candidate for Boulder's infamous "Jane Doe" murder case was located last week.

They found her after "a bit of dumb luck" through an Internet contact in Queensland, Australia.

Investigators thought Katharine Ferrand Dyer, now 84, might have been the victim in the unsolved homicide.

The author of a book about the case, scheduled to be released in September, contacted Dyer's siblings in the U.S., the News of Australia reported. The relatives said Dyer left Colorado for "personal reasons."
She moved to California and Hawaii before settling in Australia.

The sheriff's office says they're relieved Dyer is alive but discouraged that they're "back to square one" with their investigation.

The sheriff's office reopened the "Jane Doe" murder case in 2004.
 
anthrobones said:
Some of these are a stretch, but just throwing them out there:

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2054dfor.html

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/799dfpa.html

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2220dfpa.html

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/532dfct.html
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Betty McCullough has a thread here in the Cold Case section. When I first posted it, I put the link to an article in the paper that had brought the case to my attention in the first place. In the comment section below the article, someone suggested that Betty might be BJD. I know the possibility has been looked into, but don't know for sure if it was ever ruled out. There was also some discussion about Betty possibly being BJD on her thread in the Cold Case section. Sorry, but I'm using someone else's laptop now and I can't copy the link for Betty's thread into this post. But if you click on Search and type in her name, there are 2 links for her on WS, one in the Cold Case section and one in Missing Kids.
 
Silvia said:
Thanks for your questions. There will be a lot more of this story to come, as we're still in the process of trying to figure out why Katharine used several alias, etc. I don't know. As to proof that this was not a hoax, the Australian caretaker emailed me divorce papers that postdated the April 1954 finding of Boulder Jane Doe. Then, information in Katharine's address book led me to her surviving sister who was able to document some of her post-1954 addresses and activities. The Australians, the sister, and I exchanged photographs of Katharine and her husband (now deceased), which then were checked out by the Sheriff's Office. Still, who would think to look for Katharine in Australia!
Click to expand...

Prior to the mid - late 1970's the Australian population was heavily skewed with males greatly outnumbering females. As a result, the Australian government actually "campaigned" overseas to get foreign females to move to Australia. In fact, in some areas of Australia, this is still going on today! Here's an article from Greg Norman's hometown, Mt. Isa from 2008 requesting Ugly Duckling women to move there because men outnumber women by 5 to 1!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...or-calls-for-ugly-women-to-populate-town.html

Interestingly enough, the shortage of women in Australian small towns such as Mt. Isa has been reversed in Australia's coastal cities, where women outnumber men by far:
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26420609/?gt1=43001

My husband's grandmother is among those women who migrated to Australia (from Scotland) as a "mail order" bride. Even in our parents generation, having the opportunity to get married was not guaranteed. In fact, Australian men of that generation greatly resented the presence of US Navy men in Brisbane during WWII because they were attracting (and marrying) the available Australian females. The phrase "Overpaid, oversexed and over HERE!" comes from this occurrence. http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/extras/ww2/yanks.htm
 
Wow. Amazing to find KFD. So, Silvia, is your book still coming out on schedule?
 
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