Feb 14 2022
by Lena Salzbank
Cold case: 'Jeweled Mom' murder remains a mystery for more than 40 years | WPEC (cbs12.com)
''LOXAHATCHEE GROVES, Fla. (CBS12) — On a Sunday morning in December of 1982, a real estate agent was assessing land along Okeechobee Boulevard and F Road when he made a gruesome discovery.
A woman's body was found scattered along the empty fields and gravel roads. The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office said she was shot to death.
"What they found was scattered remains. They found remains along the roadway and scattered about from animal activity," said Detective John Cogburn said.
The "Jeweled Mom" murder is a case the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office has been trying to solve for more than 40 years, reports Lena Salzbank. Feb. 14, 2022. (WPEC)
For over 40 years the victim has remained nameless and detectives have worked hours, days, months, and years trying to solve the murder mystery and give the victim a name.
The woman's body was found with five pieces of jewelry. A silver handcrafted heart-shaped pinky ring, a gold mariner's anchor neckless with a 180-degree twist, a wristwatch, a four marquis cut ring, and a diamond ring with 14K white gold setting.
"It looks like she had a wedding ring or an engagement ring," said Cogburn. "Some of this jewelry is not cheap jewelry probably intimate stuff she wore all of the time."
The Cold Case Unit built a profile of the woman. Detectives believe she was a middle-class woman between the ages of 25 and 40 years old. She is believed to be around 5 feet tall with brown shoulder-length hair.
The woman is believed to have had two or more children.
"She wore pink frosted nail polish, and they believe she was a cigarette smoker," said Cogburn.
A pathology report tells detectives the woman may have suffered from a back injury before her death and suffered from a childhood illness.
A chart of the woman's teeth was prepared by a West Palm Beach forensic dentist shortly after she was killed. It was sent to over 2,000 dentists in Florida, but there were no matches.
If anyone recognizes the jewelry in the photos above or remembers a woman who disappeared back in the 80's you asked to call CRIMESTOPPERS at 800-458-TIPS.''