IL IL - LaSalle Co, WhtFem 35-50, UP11079, breast implants, tattoos, Sep'91

[Cubby]

The year is incorrect in the article title, which lists 1993 - which apparently is the year investigators published her dental information in an IL dental journal.

This UID is not yet in NamUs or DoeNet.

On Friday afternoon, Sept. 13, 1991, a farmer found the remains lying face-up on a curtain in a field he was harvesting. The body was in the southwest corner of the field along a gravel road, one mile south of U.S. 52 and about three miles east of Norway.

The body was that of a white woman, wearing a white men's-style dress shirt with vertical light stripes and black, Spandex pants. There were no shoes or personal effects.

Above her left breast was a tattoo of a blue cross with a superimposed red flower. On her lower right abdomen was a tattoo of a star-shaped red flower and a yellow-and-red flower on a stem with green leaves.

She had been right-handed, had breast implants and might have had a hysterectomy, but had never given birth or suffered a broken bone. The woman was about 5 feet 4 inches tall, weighed about 120 pounds. Her age? Between 40 and 50. She had been dead about three weeks, during a particularly warm period.

The woman had not been shot, stabbed or strangled, but her system did contain three times the amount of cocaine necessary to cause death.

Despite the likelihood of an overdose, the pathologist could not rule out other causes.


Much more at link:

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local/illinois&id=8356724&rss=rss-wls-article-8356724


also noted in article, the UID had breast implants which were not numbered. (Numbering began shortly after she was found.) Also noted is unusual dental work.

 

[Cubby]

I'm going to contact the LaSalle County ME today and request they enter this UID into NamUs. along with any other UID's they may have in LaSalle County as it appears there are no listings at NamUs for LaSalle County, IL.

 

[Cubby]

No sketch or recon at previously posted link, but there is a lot of information to possibly id this lady.

 

[Cubby]

Just spoke with the coroner in LaSalle County. Very nice lady. She is familiar with both DoeNet and NamUs. however, she had registered at NamUs and is having a hard time getting back in due to forgetting her password and not having added a security question.

I am going to email her the NamUs, DoeNet info and Todd Matthews info so hopefully he can assist her in getting back into NamUs. And then we'll see this Jane added to both sites soon.


She did tell me this is currently the only UID in LaSalle County.

 

[Cubby]

Also sent the coroner the link to Charley Project as she was unfamiliar. Thought it couldn't hurt for her to be aware of CP too.

 

[Cubby]

Ah, here is a link for this Jane from the LaSalle County coroners office.

Recon, dentals and description/drawing of tattoos at following link.

http://www.lasallecounty.org/coroner/index.htm

​

 

[Cubby]

I can't pull the second recon over. Perhaps if Carl see's this thread he can bring it over. ETA: Can't pull over the drawings/description of the tat's either.

Dental info: (more at link)

Forensic Odontological Identification and Examination
Dr. F. Nicholas Powers, Jr., D.D.S.
Forensic Odontologist
Teeth #'s 1, 4, 12, 13, 16, 17, 20, 29 and 32 were missing. Tooth #21 was exfoliated but recovered at scene and did articulate. Tooth #18 had a porcelain veneer crown and teeth #'s 22 through 27 had a splint porcelain veneer bridge. There was noticeable external root resorbtion on all teeth and substantial horizontal bone loss throughout.
The missing teeth (#'s 1, 4, 13, 16, 17, 20, 29 and 32) seemed to have been removed for orthodontic reasons. Orthodontic treatment is supported by the external root resorbtion of the remaining teeth and the curvature of both maxillary and mandibular arches demonstrating a Class I occlution. Missing tooth #12 seems to have been extracted within the last 12 to 18 months judging from the amount of bone present in the tooth socket. The exfoliation of tooth #21 was due to decomposition and did not appear to be traumatically exfoliated. The generalized horizontal bone loss is consistant with periodontal disease. The mandibular bridge (covering teeth #'s 22 through 27) supports the theory of a splint bridge for periodontal reasons. Because of this bone loss amount and time required to achieve this point (including the definite possibility of orthodontic treatment), I feel this individual to be in 40's to early 50's in age.


Of note, from the MSM article there was no reply as a result of the Dentals being published in the 1993 IL Dental journal, leading investigators to believe the dental work was performed outside of IL.

 

[CarlK90245]

I can't pull the second recon over. Perhaps if Carl see's this thread he can bring it over. ETA: Can't pull over the drawings/description of the tat's either.

Tattoos:

 

[STANDREID]

I wonder if she could have been a drug mule who had one of the packets accidentally burst in her stomach.

At any rate, I vaguely remember this case and at the time it was one that some thought might be the victim of a purported serial killer - a hypothetical one that may have also murdered Veronica Blumhorst and Tammy Zywicki, both in the same general area.

I have been to Norway a few of times. My brother used to race his go cart at the track there.

Thanks for posting this case Cubby.

 

[Cubby]

Thanks STANDRIED. So we don't get too OT here, can we continue the discussion on Tammy's case in the cold case forum? I'll find and bump her thread.

 

[badhorsie]

Might have had a hysterectomy? How does that work?

 

[STANDREID]

Adding to the frenzy of the era in the same territory, another dead woman was found in a different field but I believe that case was later solved. As I recall, it was a domestic murder that actually occurred in Chicago with the body transported to the southwest for dumping.

At the time, I was dating a woman who lived in Minonk, IL which is in the same general region (north central Illinois). I was a little concerned about her especially because, for a couple of months, she worked at a grocery store like Miss Blumhorst did.

 

[Donjeta]

Of note, from the MSM article there was no reply as a result of the Dentals being published in the 1993 IL Dental journal, leading investigators to believe the dental work was performed outside of IL.

That seems possibly a bit premature conclusion to me... Why couldn't it have been performed in IL but just by a dentist who had a hard time remembering all of his/her old patients or who didn't happen to read that particular issue of the dental journal very carefully or who died or maybe by several different dentists, none of whom knew the patient well and didn't remember the whole lot of dental work that had been done?

 

[Cubby]

That seems possibly a bit premature conclusion to me... Why couldn't it have been performed in IL but just by a dentist who had a hard time remembering all of his/her old patients or who didn't happen to read that particular issue of the dental journal very carefully or who died or maybe by several different dentists, none of whom knew the patient well and didn't remember the whole lot of dental work that had been done?

It could be that the dentist didn't read that particular journal.

Based on some information from the MSM article, the links at the coroners site and my conversation with the coroner, here is why I believe they came to the conclusion the dental work was likely not performed in IL.

From the dental link at the Coroners site:

Missing tooth #12 seems to have been extracted within the last 12 to 18 months judging from the amount of bone present in the tooth socket.


From the MSM article:

Most importantly, the woman had extensive and unusual dental work. There were also signs she had had orthodontic braces.
"You almost never see a crown like that," said Dr. William Vesely, an Ottawa dentist who participated in the effort to identify the woman 20 years ago.




Fairly recent and unusual dental work would most likely make a patient stand out more than others.

Also, from my conversation with the coroner. LaSalle County is fairly rural. In the immediate area this UID was found there are 5 state parks. The area's population triples between the months of April and October - which would increase the chances this UID was from out of the area.

Additionally, while it was not mentioned in the article, I-80 runs very near this area and is the direct route to these state parks.

Through talking with the coroner, I really got a sense she and whomever may have preceeded her, if she was not coroner when this Jane was found, have put in a lot of effort to ID this Jane. The coroner was in no hurry to get me off the phone and she willingly shared more information than I had requested. Which was great, because a lot of times investigators push us 'civilian' researchers off the phone once they realize we are not with an agency.

HTH and gives a better idea of both the dental info and the area from which this Jane was found.

 

[Cubby]

Gonna try a map here and a little additional information.

norway, il - Google Maps

The map is just for Norway, IL. It's not indicative of the exact location this UID was found. US 52 can clearly be seen in the map. Just west is the Fox river area which has some of the state parks, tourist area's.

Scrolling a bit - just a little bit north and west of US 52 (within what looks like 3-5 miles at most) is Sheridan, IL. The Sheridan Correctional Center is located here and was re-opened in 2004. however I don't know what
year(s) it was closed or if it was an operating facility when this jane was found. If so, it's possible she may have been a friend of a recently released inmate?

I-80 will be found by scrolling a little to the south.

The manner in which she was found, lying face up on a curtain in a soybean field almost makes me wonder if she was with someone partying there who left her after realizing she od'd?

Need to do a little more research to find out of the Sheridan Correctional center was in operation in the summer of 1991.

And another theory is she could have been a transient who took up with a truck driver from anywhere making her way here to this area of LaSalle County. I've visited one of these state parks and it is a very nice area. Someplace I'd definately go again, and someplace I'd choose as an overnight or weekend rest area if I were a long haul trucker and didn't have sleeping accomodations in my vehicle.

There is also a lot of camping in these state parks during the months of April - October when the area gets more tourists.



.

 

[Cubby]

A little info on the Sheridan Correctional facility in the area.

http://www.illinoisprisontalk.com/index.php?topic=5624.0;wap2

Sheridan Correctional Center is located approximately 70 miles west of Chicago in LaSalle County and was originally constructed in 1941 as a juvenile facility. On Aug. 13, 1973, it was converted to an adult facility. Sheridan Correctional Center was closed from Aug. 15, 2002, until it reopened on Jan. 2, 2004

It was definately operational when this UID was found.

 

[Cubby]

I haven't found this jane in NamUs or Doenetwork yet, so sent off an email and spoke to Cynthia with lostnmissing.com, who is also registered with NamUs requesting her assistance to get this one entered.

 

[marycarney]

The curtain - for me anyhow - is of interest. Any other description of it? I think that it would make a trucker unlikely - seems like one of the motels would have remembered missing curtains. JMO

PS I cannot get the link to work

 

[Cubby]

The curtain - for me anyhow - is of interest. Any other description of it? I think that it would make a trucker unlikely - seems like one of the motels would have remembered missing curtains. JMO

PS I cannot get the link to work

The link for the coroners page? If so, it doesn't go straight to the info on the Jane. From the link I added, click to open and then click the link at the top center of the page open coroners info. Another window will open and the unidentified jane's info is the last/bottom choice in that window.

hth!

and I agree, the curtain is of interest. Especially if it appeared to be something that may have been from a motel. FWIW, the curtain and the way the remains were found reminds me of something someone used to have a picnic or lay out. Something they had handy if a blanket wasn't available, or for some reason didn't want to lay a blaket in a soy bean field and get it dirty. There was no description of being wrapped in the curtain so I think they possibly laid it out as something to sit on while partying.

Makes me wonder if whomever she was partying with knew her name. But then again, a lot of hard core partiers party together without really knowing each other having just met and might not even share a name or only share a first name. I do wish whoever was with her would come forward. It's not like they can get busted for partying this many years later....... Perhaps whomever was with her might remember and give her a thought and come forward. Even if it was with info on where they met if they don't know her name.


ETA: the msm link in the OP is no longer valid.

 

[WholeLottaRosie]

Bumping for Jane - I am in this area this week and was reading some of the cases.