MA MA - New Bedford, "Popes Island Jane Doe", WhtFem 30-45, UP7253, emerald ring from Belarus, Oct'96

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Rindicella said:
Thank you! That helps an old babushka like me! :D

So, this photo - was it retouched do you think?

I guess my real question is, do we know if all the shots were in the body or???
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There appears to be some possible photoshopping on her left temple.
 
CarlK90245 said:
There appears to be some possible photoshopping on her left temple.
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Forgive me for asking but do they normally photoshop on everything or just exit wounds???
I mean, would they cover up a bruise?

I guess what I'm getting at is: if she was shot in the left temple, (surely enough to kill her) then why fire 11 more rounds???? Unless you're just mad ?
 
Rindicella said:
Forgive me for asking but do they normally photoshop on everything or just exit wounds???
I mean, would they cover up a bruise?
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Often, they retouch out any bullet wounds (whether entrance or exit), and any other wounds that are particularly disturbing. Usually they don't cover up bruises.

Rindicella said:
I guess what I'm getting at is: if she was shot in the left temple, (surely enough to kill her) then why fire 11 more rounds???? Unless you're just mad ?
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You answered your own question. Someone was really mad.
 
CarlK90245 said:
Often, they retouch out any bullet wounds (whether entrance or exit), and any other wounds that are particularly disturbing. Usually they don't cover up bruises.



You answered your own question. Someone was really mad.
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Thank you so much for answering my questions...I'm learning ....

These stories are all so sad and tragic. :banghead:

I also noted this in the official information:

Her body was found wrapped in two green garbage bags and a white and teal wool blanket, the kind common to fishing boats. She was found by a maintenance worker at the Popes Island Marina.
She was found at the marina within 24 hours of being dumped in the water and within 48 hours of being killed.
Investigators believe the body might have been dumped in the water elsewhere, and that the current eventually pushed it to the dock.

I am wondering if she was killed at sea on a fishing boat. Maybe she was an abductee being forced in human trafficking? The Russian mob has their hand in everything not just drugs but prostitution...there are some alarming statistics on that ---here is a very good article on Russian mafia and human trafficking from Univ. of Rhode Island:

http://www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/russia.htm

This poor woman was found in 1996 --- part of the perfect time frame to fit that "explosion" in human trafficking. Boats are the perfect way to smuggle people into America and the Coast Guardd has always said that our ports are "impossible" to control.
 
This is the longest shot ever but, after thinking it over, what the heck --- I'll post this anyway.

Yelena Petrova was a Russian Ukranian journalist working on a story about the Chechens, etc. She went missing on Sept. 13, 1996. She was not heard from again.
I could not find any pictures of her, but here is a "snapshot" of her situation from the Committee to Protect Journalists:
"RUSSIA: 3

Vitaly Shevchenko, Lita-M, Chechnya, August 11, 1996, Grozny
Andrei Bazvluk, Lita-M, Chechnya, August 11, 1996, Grozny
Yelena Petrova, Lita-M, Chechnya, August 11, 1996, Grozny

Shevchenko and Bazvluk, journalists from Lita-M, a small television company in Kharkhiv, Ukraine, were reported missing by their colleagues in early September 1996. Fellow correspondents last saw the pair on August 11 in Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, during heavy fighting between Russian federal troops and Chechen fighters who had seized control of the city on August 6. Shevchenko and Bazvluk had reportedly traveled from their native Ukraine to Chechnya to cover the conflict. A third journalist, Yelena Petrova, a senior executive of Lita-M, was also believed to be missing. She did not contact her studio after mid-August, according to a colleague.

A representative of the Kharkiv Committee for Human Rights Protection told CPJ in March 2003 that the Lita-M television company no longer exists, and that the three are still missing. He also said that Shevchenko and Bazvluk were members of the ultranationalist Ukrainian Nationalist Assembly-Ukrainian National Self-Defense party. Other sources reported that the three were representatives of civic organizations and were involved in humanitarian work, making it unclear whether they were in Chechnya working as journalists."

Now, even if this poor woman is not Yelena (I doubt very much it's her ---very unlikely given the distance, situation, etc) what if she was a journalist who was working on a story about the Russian mob in America???
She could have been a free-lancer, not tied to any particular news organization.... A scenario like that could account for the "overkill" on the victim.

There have been reports of journalists missing/kidnapped from Belarus going back to 1999.
(Nothing involving a female and nothing earlier than that, officially)
http://www.cpj.org/reports/2008/02/journalists-missing.php
 
Whats crazy is that this is an every day thing over in Russia. Especially dealing with advocates of Chechen rights groups. They will get gunned down in broad daylight and the killers never get caught.
 
Charlie99909 said:
Whats crazy is that this is an every day thing over in Russia. Especially dealing with advocates of Chechen rights groups. They will get gunned down in broad daylight and the killers never get caught.
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You're right, of course Charlie....This happens all the time over there. People in the west do not hear about it very often unless the story the journalist was working on has international "implications" (Chechen war, anything that criticizes Putin-LOL!)

If she was a journalist this would account for her appearance: well groomed, traditional attitude toward women's grooming (unshaven) but clean, neat in appearance, etc.
As a woman, I couldn't help but notice her "groomed" eyebrows. She had spent money on eyebrow shaping/waxing. A reporter used to being on TV might do that.
 
Here's an example of an American female journalist who went missing, after writing about the Russian mob in New York. Admittedly, she also wrote some pretty strange articles about "modern real vampires". So it's entirely possible her disappearance has no connection to Russian mobsters. Still....it's a cautionary tale:

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/w/walsh_susan.html
 
Hm...From Wikipedia on New Bedford, Mass:
New Bedford is called "The Secret City" because of the Stop Snitching phenomenon. The show, broadcast on February 11, received good ratings, but "almost no" calls, being one of the first episodes, the first for such to happen.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Bedford,_Massachusetts

Someone, perhaps even a few people, knows what happened. So sad.
I'm going to keep reading about this woman...I'm off work tomorrow, so I'm going to go to church and light a candle for her. No matter if she was Orthodox or not. No one should die unremembered.
 
Rindicella said:
I am really sorry I seem to have offended you in some way.

Orthodox Judaism is a completely different religion than Russian and Greek Orthodoxy. These types of ring designs are common among people of Russian Orthodox Christian persuasion. That is all I was trying to say.
Since I am Orthodox myself I couldn't help but notice it.

I have never pretended to be anything other than an ordinary person who stumbled in this site. I am not familiar with your methods and only hung around because I was invited to do so. I am very sorry I offended you.
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BBM
I am not sure how you arrived at this conclusion but not to worry; I do not get offended when trying to clarify information. This is the Internet.
If I understood one statement you made is that you did not understand how cases are discussed here. I took that into consideration. :) As I stated, generally one puts a case out here they are interested in discussing and present logical reasons for making their case believable. There is discussion on the facts and personal opinions. Some agree. Some don't.

I believe what we all agree on (because we provide links) is that when we make a statement contradictory to or not presented in documents by the professionals and/or experts, we provide a source for or a link to that information. I did not see a link to a source indicating the ring in the Doe article had any religious significance. This is what I was asking for. Sorry my question was not clear. <mod snip>you don't have to be certified in any field to post an opinion unless you are presenting your opinion as fact and it contradicts the case or are acting in a professional capacity, i.e. forensic scientist, polygraph examiner, criminal profiler, medical examiner, etc. Without their professional input, there would be no need to try to gather info here. Sorry if I am repeating what someone else may have told you.

I have a good friend who is Belarusan and she sells jewelry and textiles made there. She is on vacation now, but when she gets back I will try to help you out with the ring and get some info from her. Will post when I get the opportunity.
All the best!
 
I just finished reading about New Bedford. What a lovely town.

I don't really have anything useful to add to this thread, so I will make notes in a "blog" and try to research from the official information.
If anyone ever has anything to add, please let me know. I am really sad for this woman and would like to find out who she is. Though my own efforts may seem pitiful to many of the experienced "sleuthers" please know that my heart is indeed in the right place.
Best wishes,
R.
 
Last note about the ring:

it says "gold", not "gold colored" but then it says "emerald colored" stone. Who puts a fake gem in a "gold" ring. (Or vice versa??)

Alexandrites come in green. And they come from Russia. So do emeralds (Ural)
I'm thinking this ring was the real deal. Gold, genuine gem stone, and somewhat expensive. It also appears to have the vine design (but no engraving of a prayer) that is common with Slavic Orthodox women....she's wearing it on her left hand. In the east, this means, I'm still available. In the west, such a ring could signify, "I'm taken".

From the official info: "Experts say the ring is from Belarus". Who the heck goes to Belarus without a reason, unless its because they are from there??? The economy there is crap. Maybe this girl is from Minsk? The provinces? Her dress/clothing is American but the WAY she wore it is European. (Pantyhose under jeans. Practical boots with cotton socks.) One of her pullovers is noted to probably have been bought mail order 10 years before. She wears this under another sweater. What was the weather that day???? Or was she dressed for the chilly weather to go to sea? She was killed somewhere else and dumped into the water. In trash bags and a blanket common to fishing boats.

She doesn't shave her legs or underarms so she still LIVES like a European even in "America", where she knows that's "not acceptable".
 
Rindicella said:
I just finished reading about New Bedford. What a lovely town.

I don't really have anything useful to add to this thread, so I will make notes in a "blog" and try to research from the official information.
If anyone ever has anything to add, please let me know. I am really sad for this woman and would like to find out who she is. Though my own efforts may seem pitiful to many of the experienced "sleuthers" please know that my heart is indeed in the right place.
Best wishes,
R.
Click to expand...

Actually New Bedford isn't a nice town any more. Impoverished area, large sections run down, lots of gang activity and crime. I think it has recovered some recently, but in the 1990's, people tried not to even drive through it.
 
Thanks carbuf,
I was looking at photos of the harbor etc, where the body was found. I've never spent much time in New England and so of course the "PR"/travel photos look astonishingly "quaint" and lovely --- I appreciate your insight on the town. Reading the stats of crime in the area and especially the "stop snitching" attitude is very enlightening. It's a fairly small town and I did read this morning that unemployment in June was about 11-12 percent.
(http://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.ma_newbedford_mn.htm)
Seems to be a little high for a town that size (93,000?) but of course that takes the national economy into account etc.

The information about the victim says that investigators believe she was put in the water somewhere else, and that currents pushed the body into the dock. Do you think she was transported a long way to be dumped there? Perhaps dumped there precisely because of the blighted area?
 
Rindicella said:
Thanks carbuf,
I was looking at photos of the harbor etc, where the body was found. I've never spent much time in New England and so of course the "PR"/travel photos look astonishingly "quaint" and lovely --- I appreciate your insight on the town. Reading the stats of crime in the area and especially the "stop snitching" attitude is very enlightening. It's a fairly small town and I did read this morning that unemployment in June was about 11-12 percent.
(http://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.ma_newbedford_mn.htm)
Seems to be a little high for a town that size (93,000?) but of course that takes the national economy into account etc.

The information about the victim says that investigators believe she was put in the water somewhere else, and that currents pushed the body into the dock. Do you think she was transported a long way to be dumped there? Perhaps dumped there precisely because of the blighted area?
Click to expand...

It is very pretty, yes. The main reason it's a depressed area is that the fishing industry has slowly dried up over the years.

I vaguely remember when the body was found, the assumption was that she had been killed by her boyfriend/partner and dumped at sea. Boating and fishing are extremely popular, and the day she is presumed to have been killed was one of the nicest of the fall. She's appropriately dressed for boating and the blanket is common on boats.
 
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