carbuff
Well-Known Member
This is a good match, but I feel like the Chicago detail makes me think it’s not her. IMO.
Are you talking about Mary Margaret Cook? Where are you seeing anything about Chicago?
This is a good match, but I feel like the Chicago detail makes me think it’s not her. IMO.
Sorry, I misread the Cook thinking Cook County (I have family there). This actually seems like a good match.Are you talking about Mary Margaret Cook? Where are you seeing anything about Chicago?
Sorry, I misread the Cook thinking Cook County (I have family there). This actually seems like a good match.
Usually the initial assumptions on a case turn out to be the most accurate, so I think there may be something to that.
However, "Carol" is described as a "street person". LMLP wore clean, matching, highly fashionable clothing that would be way impractical for someone homeless (the cape! It does not keep you warm, it doesnt keep you dry and you cant sleep on it, either). And she wore expensive jewelry and a nice watch and had extensive dental care and was of great overall health.
That does not match someone living on the streets, not even someone who was homless for a shorter period of time only, as even a short period of no consistent dental hygiene takes a huge toll.
Maybe Carol was living in better conditions at the time of her death. Remember, the witness saw Carol until the fall, when she left with 3 men in the fall of '70.Usually the initial assumptions on a case turn out to be the most accurate, so I think there may be something to that.
However, "Carol" is described as a "street person". LMLP wore clean, matching, highly fashionable clothing that would be way impractical for someone homeless (the cape! It does not keep you warm, it doesnt keep you dry and you cant sleep on it, either). And she wore expensive jewelry and a nice watch and had extensive dental care and was of great overall health.
That does not match someone living on the streets, not even someone who was homless for a shorter period of time only, as even a short period of no consistent dental hygiene takes a huge toll.
True. This scenario only works if she ran away right before she died.The tipster said Carol was a frequent runaway and that her parents hired a private investigator who tracked her down and brought her home the last time she ran away.
If it was only a week or so she was missing before she ended up in the lake, that may be a possibility.
If she was on the street longer, no way she could have been able to keep all her clothing and jewels together and neat. Even if she stays overnight at various "friends" and does not sleep on the street, still her watch and jewelry would be stolen or she may pawn them to buy food, drugs or alcohol for herself or her "friends".
There have been quite a few matches made in which the age was as much as 20 years off, and also significant discrepancies in other identifying data.
The problem that you run into (besides typos) is that identifying data tends to get repeated over and over, sometimes "corrected" and sometimes never. On the internet, any typo or miss statement lasts forever.
And you have to ask where did the information come from? With an unidentified body, medical examiners are usually pretty careful to measure and weigh them, but if there has been a lot of deterioration of the body - or if it is just skeletal remains or partial remains - then what you get is a wide ranging guess.
With regard to missing persons, again the weight, height, etc. is often just a guess made by someone who is reporting them missing and it could be way off - either accidentally or intentionally.
My point is that you have to consider listed factors as estimates rather than absolutes.
When comparing "Little Miss Panasoffkee" with Mary Margaret Cook, I considered the following similarities:
- The age is within a year
- Height is within about 3 inches
- Weight within about 20 pounds
- Hair color same
- White and American Indian race
- Two previous children born
- Time frame between Mary's disappearance and LMP's discovery is 3 months.
- Distance between disappearance and body discovery about 60 miles.
- Similar facial features
- The mention in both cases regarding green colored clothing.
- A "birthmark" on Mary's right ankle could be a scar from an operation as noted on LMP. (Often a form asks for "identifying marks, scars, etc." in one small block)
The dental information on Little Miss Panasoffkee would tend to rule out Mary Margaret Cook - assuming that she truly did have "excellent" teeth which required no dental work. However, consider the reliability of that information. Excellent teeth could mean that dental work had taken place. Or, it is possible that the person supplying the information about "excellent" teeth might have lied about it.
I have studied and written on both of these cases over the years in their separate threads. I do not know if they are connected, and don't know if LE has ever considered a possible match.
If DNA is available on LMP it could be compared with DNA from Mary's sons.