Identified! NH - Bedford, WhtFem 20-40, UP11273, hip-hugger dungaree cut-off shorts, Sz 7 sandals, Oct'71 - Katherine Alston

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It does make me wonder who in Canada or even NH would be wearing shorts into September--that could point to either someone who was coming from another area or more of an August date for our UID's death. I looked up historical weather info in Montreal, and the day Marthe was last seen, the high was 18.9 C (66 F), although it had been considerably warmer within a week of that time. I personally would not wear shorts in that weather.
 
Nancy Drew RN said:
It does make me wonder who in Canada or even NH would be wearing shorts into September--that could point to either someone who was coming from another area or more of an August date for our UID's death. I looked up historical weather info in Montreal, and the day Marthe was last seen, the high was 18.9 C (66 F), although it had been considerably warmer within a week of that time. I personally would not wear shorts in that weather.
Click to expand...

Just wanted to say, when you live in the northern states, 66° is still shorts weather, ;)
 
New Hampshire unsolved case file: Who is this woman found dead in Bedford in 1971?

Authorities are still hoping to solve a case that has been cold for nearly 50 years.

On Oct. 6, 1971, the remains of an unidentified white woman were found in a wooded area at the end of Kilton Road near the Route 101 Bypass in Bedford, which is now the on-ramp from Route 101 to Kilton Road.

-- Remains found: Oct. 6, 1971
-- Case status: Suspicious death

Forensic analysis indicated that the woman had died about one to three months before her body was discovered.

Officials have never been able to identify the body.

An autopsy determined that the woman was about 25 to 35 years old and stood between 5 feet, 1 inch and 5 feet, 5 inches tall. Her hair color may have been brown.

She was wearing a maroon pullover blouse with lace at the neck, short, hip-hugger jean shorts and size 7 sandals.

Officials have not determined her manner of death, but the circumstances indicate that foul play was involved. Her death is considered to be suspicious.
---
Can you help police solve this case? Submit a tip to the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit.

New Hampshire unsolved case file: Who is this woman found dead in Bedford in 1971?
 
Two for the road said:
Just wanted to say, when you live in the northern states, 66° is still shorts weather, ;)
Click to expand...

And it was noted she may have died in July or August. For what it is worth, we occasionally have very warm days in NH in September.Mid 80s are not unusual, even hitting 90 sometimes now.

I was curious, so picked a few random days in early September 1971 for Concord. The month started out cooler, but by the 7th and 8th temps were in the 80s.

I've wondered about this woman often, and like others, suspect she may have been an Alcala victim.
 
Looking again, and again! I'm curious though about the side profile of the DOE. Her nose is so very prominent/distinctive from that angle.

How accurate is this representation likely to be?
 
I have what is going to seem like an impossible possibility but I’ll try to explain my reasoning behind it as best I can. (without getting off track).

Okay, I’ve seen the clay models of this unidentified girl several times but just didn’t recognize her as any missing person I had ever come across. Until just now. I believe I was the one who started the thread her on WS for Elizabeth Ellen Palmer, missing from Salem/Roanoke, Virginia since July 1972. I know...but please hear me out.

I created a website several months ago but it sat collecting dust for almost as many months. I found Elizabeth on NamUs and was immediately drawn to her and her story. Kindred spirits, if you will. Anyway, a few days after I created the thread, I noticed her family had created a Facebook page for her and they have really done a wonderful job with collecting as much information as possible and appear to really want to locate Elizabeth.

I started saving photos and a bunch of letters that the family had received from Elizabeth after she left home (Salem, VA) around July-Sept 1971 (I’ll have to go back to my notes - but definitely during that time frame). I decided that I wanted to create my first story on Elizabeth. There was nothing about her anywhere but the Facebook page and Twitter. [getting off track]

Long version of the timeline cut short:
- Elizabeth left home July,Aug or Sept 1971 with plans to travel to South America or Mexico
- Elizabeth sent 3 postcards home from Alabama, Louisiana and Texas, Sept 28th, 29th, and 30th respectively. Also a letter on the 30th stating she was in Laredo, Texas and about to cross into Mexico.
- All other correspondence was sent to her family from Mexico. Except for one letter that was sent in November 1971 from Louisiana.
- Elizabeth (allegedly) returned to Salem in May-June 1972, stripped her vehicle of its license plates, hid it at a relatives and had her sister drop her off at an airport claiming she was flying to South Africa (no record of such flight)
- Next letter came in Feb 1973 postmarked Yonkers NY
- Next letter in April 1974 from Yonkers, NY

MANY, MANY more questions than answers. That was a poorly written summary, but every single letter (and I typed out each one so that they are easy to read and put them in order, etc.) it’s on my webpage. I am not promoting my page and that is not why I’m writing this.

I don’t want to come off as accusatory or violate any TOS, but I would like to hear others opinions about the situation. There is a lot of talk about Elizabeth joining a cult. In fact that is about the only theory certain people are willing to entertain. And it could be very possible.

But, for instance, I did a public search of the address listed on a piece of correspondence from the “Children of God” cult some people believe she joined, and address that they claimed to be one of their main “headquarters”, and the address had 2-4 people associated with it. One was a couple with the same last name as Elizabeth and the wife has the same maiden name as her mother. That can’t be a coincidence.

Again, I don’t want to make assumptions, I am a firm believer in facts, but I’ve researched until I was blue in the face and I can’t come up with the missing piece here. But I think this Jane Doe could be Elizabeth.

I am really hoping someone will take a look at all the letters and timeline of events in Elizabeth’s case and see if maybe it’s possible there is a mistaken date or something. I hope I haven’t overstepped, I’ve just become attached to Elizabeth! TIA!

www.websleuths.com

Presumed Located - VA - Elizabeth Ellen Palmer, 20, Roanoke, 25 July 1972

Elizabeth Ellen Palmer Missing Person / NamUs #MP61156 Date of Last Contact: July 25, 1972 Missing From: Roanoke, Roanoke County, Virginia Agency Case Number: 19-28672 Investigating Agencies: Virginia State Police: (540) 375-9568 www.vsp.virginia.gov Sex: Female Race/Ethnicity...
www.websleuths.com www.websleuths.com
5AA71A88-4319-4D1A-AB5A-744412EE69F3.jpeg F3A0BA99-DADC-4972-8645-DB4D9F9DE981.jpeg
 
Last edited:
MadMcGoo said:
I have what is going to seem like an impossible possibility but I’ll try to explain my reasoning behind it as best I can. (without getting off track).

Okay, I’ve seen the clay models of this unidentified girl several times but just didn’t recognize her as any missing person I had ever come across. Until just now. I believe I was the one who started the thread her on WS for Elizabeth Ellen Palmer, missing from Salem/Roanoke, Virginia since July 1972. I know...but please hear me out.

I created a website several months ago but it sat collecting dust for almost as many months. I found Elizabeth on NamUs and was immediately drawn to her and her story. Kindred spirits, if you will. Anyway, a few days after I created the thread, I noticed her family had created a Facebook page for her and they have really done a wonderful job with collecting as much information as possible and appear to really want to locate Elizabeth.

I started saving photos and a bunch of letters that the family had received from Elizabeth after she left home (Salem, VA) around July-Sept 1971 (I’ll have to go back to my notes - but definitely during that time frame). I decided that I wanted to create my first story on Elizabeth. There was nothing about her anywhere but the Facebook page and Twitter. [getting off track]

Long version of the timeline cut short:
- Elizabeth left home July,Aug or Sept 1971 with plans to travel to South America or Mexico
- Elizabeth sent 3 postcards home from Alabama, Louisiana and Texas, Sept 28th, 29th, and 30th respectively. Also a letter on the 30th stating she was in Laredo, Texas and about to cross into Mexico.
- All other correspondence was sent to her family from Mexico. Except for one letter that was sent in November 1971 from Louisiana.
- Elizabeth (allegedly) returned to Salem in May-June 1972, stripped her vehicle of its license plates, hid it at a relatives and had her sister drop her off at an airport claiming she was flying to South Africa (no record of such flight)
- Next letter came in Feb 1973 postmarked Yonkers NY
- Next letter in April 1974 from Yonkers, NY

MANY, MANY more questions than answers. That was a poorly written summary, but every single letter (and I typed out each one so that they are easy to read and put them in order, etc.) it’s on my webpage. I am not promoting my page and that is not why I’m writing this.

I don’t want to come off as accusatory or violate any TOS, but I would like to hear others opinions about the situation. There is a lot of talk about Elizabeth joining a cult. In fact that is about the only theory certain people are willing to entertain. And it could be very possible.

But, for instance, I did a public search of the address listed on a piece of correspondence from the “Children of God” cult some people believe she joined, and address that they claimed to be one of their main “headquarters”, and the address had 2-4 people associated with it. One was a couple with the same last name as Elizabeth and the wife has the same maiden name as her mother. That can’t be a coincidence.

Again, I don’t want to make assumptions, I am a firm believer in facts, but I’ve researched until I was blue in the face and I can’t come up with the missing piece here. But I think this Jane Doe could be Elizabeth.

I am really hoping someone will take a look at all the letters and timeline of events in Elizabeth’s case and see if maybe it’s possible there is a mistaken date or something. I hope I haven’t overstepped, I’ve just become attached to Elizabeth! TIA!

www.websleuths.com

Presumed Located - VA - Elizabeth Ellen Palmer, 20, Roanoke, 25 July 1972

Elizabeth Ellen Palmer Missing Person / NamUs #MP61156 Date of Last Contact: July 25, 1972 Missing From: Roanoke, Roanoke County, Virginia Agency Case Number: 19-28672 Investigating Agencies: Virginia State Police: (540) 375-9568 www.vsp.virginia.gov Sex: Female Race/Ethnicity...
www.websleuths.com www.websleuths.com
View attachment 224836 View attachment 224837
Click to expand...


Oh My God!!

Do you remember when Elizabeth's thread was new, and we were both trying to place why she was familiar??

I live in NH and come back to this case frequently......holy cow!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
taramarie said:
She is now a pending DDP case and is currently at the lab for sequencing per their fb pinned post!
Click to expand...

Wow, that's awesome news! I'm glad they were able to get usable DNA to put in DDP's pipeline. IIRC, she had insufficient DNA to profile at one point, didn't she? I'm going from memory from the time NamUs listed that information, so please forgive me if I'm wrong.
 
Unidentified Female in Bedford | Cold Case Unit | NH Department of Justice
''Year of Death or Disappearance: 1971

City/Town: Bedford

Status: Suspicious Death

On October 6, 1971 the body of a deceased female was located in a wooded area at the end of Kilton Road near the Route 101 by-pass in Bedford, NH (now the on-ramp from Route 101 to Kilton Road in Bedford). Forensic analysis indicated that the victim had died approximately one to three months before her body was discovered. The victim's identity has never been determined. Based on a post-mortem examination, the victim a Caucasian female, approximately 25 to 35 years old and between 61 and 65 inches tall. Her hair color was possibly brown. She was wearing a maroon pullover blouse with lace at the neck, short hip-hugger dungaree-type shorts, and size 7 sandals. The manner of death has not been determined but the circumstances indicate that foul play was involved in the victim's death.

Help us solve this case and bring justice to the family of this victim. Use our Tip Form.''

Composite Photos:

bedford-composite-1.jpg

bedford-composite-4.jpg

bedford-composite-3.jpg

bedford-composite-2.jpg


New Hampshire Department of Justice
33 Capitol Street | Concord, NH | 03301
Telephone: 603-271-3658
 
OT:
She looks so much like one of my friends (whose alive), same nose, especially.
 
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