NJ NJ - Roberta Anne Michels-Hopkins, 28, Camden, 17 Feb 1981

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After reading the Facebook page you set up, it confirmed what I was already tending to think, that it certainly seems likely that Kumar may well have been responsible for her disapearence, given how he was known to treat her, and the fact that the vast majority of disapearences where the partner or wife supposedly goes to run an errand and never comes back are actually a cover up for a murder by the husband/partner, etc. That story and variations of it occurs again and again. I read that you posted he has passed away.

Or perhaps as he was involved in drug crime, her death had something to with his involvement in that, and maybe wasn't from him or intentional on his part. Or perhaps even known to him.

What happened with her father's wedding is interesting. It's too bad that isn't clearer. It sounds like it disappointed her though. Maybe it set Kumar off and that among other things led to her death. It's interesting her disapearence and the issues with her father's wedding happened close together. It is always possible she did commit suicide, but I don't get that feeling from the letter much, at least without knowing more about what else was going in her life or more about her.

It's possible she did voluntarily leave, but leaving your infant son is pretty drastic, especially when it doesn't sound like your grandfather was the kind of person to be a responsible parent. Her SS number should be run though just to see if it has been dormant all these years. She could have gotten another one and used another name, of course. It would be interesting to know how much money and what exactly she supposedly took with her when she went to run the errand. But as that was never looked into at the time, I'm sure it's unknowable now.

I think her remains are likely somewhere in NJ or a nearby state. Not all unidentified remains have DNA on file, but those that do will be ruled out once LE has your DNA. If she did start a new life and had any other children who have tested with genetic genealogy then having your DNA in more databases may find them. My feeling is she's a Doe somewhere though, maybe found, and maybe not.
 
summergirl1 said:
After reading the Facebook page you set up, it confirmed what I was already tending to think, that it certainly seems likely that Kumar may well have been responsible for her disapearence, given how he was known to treat her, and the fact that the vast majority of disapearences where the partner or wife supposedly goes to run an errand and never comes back are actually a cover up for a murder by the husband/partner, etc. That story and variations of it occurs again and again. I read that you posted he has passed away.

Or perhaps as he was involved in drug crime, her death had something to with his involvement in that, and maybe wasn't from him or intentional on his part. Or perhaps even known to him.

What happened with her father's wedding is interesting. It's too bad that isn't clearer. It sounds like it disappointed her though. Maybe it set Kumar off and that among other things led to her death. It's interesting her disapearence and the issues with her father's wedding happened close together. It is always possible she did commit suicide, but I don't get that feeling from the letter much, at least without knowing more about what else was going in her life or more about her.

It's possible she did voluntarily leave, but leaving your infant son is pretty drastic, especially when it doesn't sound like your grandfather was the kind of person to be a responsible parent. Her SS number should be run though just to see if it has been dormant all these years. She could have gotten another one and used another name, of course. It would be interesting to know how much money and what exactly she supposedly took with her when she went to run the errand. But as that was never looked into at the time, I'm sure it's unknowable now.

I think her remains are likely somewhere in NJ or a nearby state. Not all unidentified remains have DNA on file, but those that do will be ruled out once LE has your DNA. If she did start a new life and had any other children who have tested with genetic genealogy then having your DNA in more databases may find them. My feeling is she's a Doe somewhere though, maybe found, and maybe not.
Click to expand...
Your question just helped me remember more details that Aunt J told me. Kumar told Aunt J she left everything behind.
 
Where did the date she was said to be missing come from? Feb 17? It would fit with what someone said on the facebook page you set up about food stamps back then being issued Feb 15 as well as Feb 1st. I'm sure the police investigating can eventually look into that.

I looked through the Doe Network as regards Jane Does in NJ and also in Pennsylvania and Delaware which are nearby states ( I noticed looking at maps of nearby states that Philadelphia is right across from Camden NJ) and I didn't come up with any strong possibilities, but two that stood out to me as not outside the realm of possibility are the following.


She is a bit older in age range than your grandmother was (29 at the least) and the location is about an hour and a half from Camden. Also, her skeletal remains were only thought to have been there since 1985, and she was found in 1986. But when it's just a person's skull such estimates can be off. She did have brown hair. Unfortunately, according to the Doe Network at least she doesn't have DNA on file so she wouldn't be a eventual automatic rule out through DNA, although sometimes the Doe Network just hasn't been updated about whether there's DNA on a person or not.

Another possibility that is more remote are these remains that weren't found until 2001, but could be from as early as 1978. East Orange is also about an hour and a half from Camden. However, this Doe is younger in age range than your grandmother's age at the time she disappeared. She is said to be 22 at most. 1641UFNJ.
It says there they don't have DNA on her, but that hasn't been updated as according to her thread on here, they do.
www.websleuths.com

NJ - NJ - East Orange, WhtFem ~17, UP1621, partial skeleton @ demolition site, Sep'01

NamUs UP 1621 https://identifyus.org/en/cases/1621 No Image Available Unidentified White Female Body Condition: Not recognizable - partial skeletal parts only Probable year of death: 2001 Vital Statistics Estimated age: ~17 Approximate Height: cannot estimate. Approximate Weight: cannot...
www.websleuths.com www.websleuths.com
 
CarrieMe said:
NamUs #UP1514

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.
www.namus.gov
​
Click to expand...
She was found only about 20 minutes away from Camden and Roberta was known to sometimes wear wigs. She is thought to be a bit younger than Roberta, though, and is possibly thought not to have been dead as long as about a year. I'm not sure on the jewelry, if it's anything Roberta would have worn, although she does wear a cross necklace in a photo of her on Facebook. It's too bad they apparently don't have DNA on this Doe. She was a murder victim.
 
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summergirl1 said:
After reading the Facebook page you set up, it confirmed what I was already tending to think, that it certainly seems likely that Kumar may well have been responsible for her disapearence, given how he was known to treat her, and the fact that the vast majority of disapearences where the partner or wife supposedly goes to run an errand and never comes back are actually a cover up for a murder by the husband/partner, etc. That story and variations of it occurs again and again. I read that you posted he has passed away.

Or perhaps as he was involved in drug crime, her death had something to with his involvement in that, and maybe wasn't from him or intentional on his part. Or perhaps even known to him.

What happened with her father's wedding is interesting. It's too bad that isn't clearer. It sounds like it disappointed her though. Maybe it set Kumar off and that among other things led to her death. It's interesting her disapearence and the issues with her father's wedding happened close together. It is always possible she did commit suicide, but I don't get that feeling from the letter much, at least without knowing more about what else was going in her life or more about her.

It's possible she did voluntarily leave, but leaving your infant son is pretty drastic, especially when it doesn't sound like your grandfather was the kind of person to be a responsible parent. Her SS number should be run though just to see if it has been dormant all these years. She could have gotten another one and used another name, of course. It would be interesting to know how much money and what exactly she supposedly took with her when she went to run the errand. But as that was never looked into at the time, I'm sure it's unknowable now.

I think her remains are likely somewhere in NJ or a nearby state. Not all unidentified remains have DNA on file, but those that do will be ruled out once LE has your DNA. If she did start a new life and had any other children who have tested with genetic genealogy then having your DNA in more databases may find them. My feeling is she's a Doe somewhere though, maybe found, and maybe not.
Click to expand...
I agree- Kumar sounds suspicious. The Jane Doe that I suggested earlier in this thread is speculated to have died from domestic violence


www.websleuths.com

MD - MD - Frederick, WhtFem 17-45, UP7477, in steamer trunk in state park, Spondylolysis, Aug'82

they do have dentals for both, however so it should not be difficult to compare. The UID's case has just been updated in NamUS yesterday. Here is the list of ruleouts: Maureen Baca 1950 California Susan Cappel 1962 Ohio Valarie Cuccia 1953 New York Anne Manchester 1954 Delaware...
www.websleuths.com www.websleuths.com
 
Narkj said:
Here’s mh Philadelphia Inquirer story on this case. Roberta Michels-Hopkins
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I'm glad you mentioned online sleuths (me among them) pointing out the similarities between Roberta and Cheerleader in the Trunk case. The only problem is that that unidentified woman doesn't have DNA available for comparison. No one knows where her remains are
 
Trinity Jagdeo, 23, holds a 1970s era Pemberton High School photo of Roberta Anne Michels-Hopkins, her grandmother who went missing in 1981.

Trinity Jagdeo, 23, holds a 1970s era Pemberton High School photo of Roberta Anne Michels-Hopkins, her grandmother who went missing in 1981.

On a Tuesday in February, 43 years ago, Roberta Michels-Hopkins supposedly walked out into a blizzard to get cigarettes and food stamps and never returned home.

That image of Michels-Hopkins disappearing into the snow feels like a dream for the granddaughter who never met her. Growing up in South Jersey, Trinity Jagdeo heard other rumors about Roberta, who was 29 with two young children when she disappeared in 1981. Some people thought she died by suicide or may have been using drugs and disappeared onto the streets of Camden, where she was living at the time.

Since Michels-Hopkins was never officially reported missing at the time, all of those rumors just swirled in the air. But even the rumors are unreliable: It barely snowed in February of 1981, let alone a blizzard.

“The possibilities are endless,” Jagdeo, 23, said at her home in Vineland recently. “She could be a murder victim or she could have walked away. It could have been a suicide. I’m open to anything, even the 1 percent chance she’s still alive somewhere.”

Jagdeo’s endless curiosity, coupled with the dearth of details from her family, compelled her to take a DNA test in 2019. The results revealed family she’d never spoken to on her grandmother’s side, along with a letter that may offer clues into Roberta’s state of mind at the time.

“Family members were told she was running an errand and never returned,” her NamUS profile states.

Through DNA, Jagdeo connected with Judy Erichson, her great-aunt, who is 79 and lives in Burlington County. Erichson told her that Roberta’s partner, Kumar Jagdeo Sr., called her out of the blue in the winter of 1981.

“Your sister disappeared,” he said.

“We never had any closure,” Erichson said.

Trinity Jagdeo has also taken her case to the internet, posting on missing persons Facebook groups and sites like Websleuths.

“They all want to figure out what happened to her and think the case is so bizarre,” she said. “That’s nice because up until now, I’ve been the only one trying to do that.”

While suicide is a possibility, Jagdeo said she hadn’t heard that Michels-Hopkins had ever been suicidal or suffered from mental health issues. There were rumors among the family, she said, that Michels-Hopkins could have been using drugs or making money as a sex worker.

Erichson said her sister, a Pemberton High School graduate, had a seemingly normal life but that changed when she got divorced.

“She had a house, a baby, dogs. Went to the Shore together,” she said. “All of a sudden, she got divorced, moved to Camden, and had a baby. When she got divorced, her husband got custody of their daughter and that was a red flag to me.”
www.inquirer.com

A South Jersey woman disappeared in 1981 and was never reported missing. Her granddaughter wants to solve the mystery.

The last-known date of contact for Roberta Ann Michels-Hopkins was Feb. 17, 1981.
www.inquirer.com www.inquirer.com
 
HmmMysterious said:
I'm glad you mentioned online sleuths (me among them) pointing out the similarities between Roberta and Cheerleader in the Trunk case. The only problem is that that unidentified woman doesn't have DNA available for comparison. No one knows where her remains are
Click to expand...
I thought her remains were in the trunk?
 
tj2120 said:
I thought her remains were in the trunk?
Click to expand...
I posted the recent article about Roberta to the above thread about the Jane Doe so people posting on that thread could see it, and I also updated that Jane Doe's thread regarding comments and questions on getting DNA on her. They do have some DNA from the trunk, although her remains have been lost, misplaced, or possibly cremated.

However, the DNA from the trunk does not seem to be currently usable (insufficient DNA, not a usable amount, etc) with the DNA processes currently available. As well, Maryland is backlogged with DNA testing.
 
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As for suicide, if Kumar Sr believed that was a strong possibility it seems strange he wouldn't have mentioned he thought that's why she vanished to her sister? It would have helped him avoid suspicion. Unless he thought that would lead her family to make serious inquiries into why she probably committed suicide, and as to what was going on in her life ( besides whatever family issues were going on with the wedding, etc). He likely didn't want his activity with drugs or mistreatment of Roberta scrutinized even if he wasn't responsible for her death. He may have feared losing custody of his son (as eventually happened)? If she did commit suicide, that would be an explanation for leaving everything behind, too. Of course, sometimes people seem fine before they commit suicide and it is out of the blue. Kumar Sr may not have read or been aware of what the letter to her family said.

She looks to have lived close to the Delaware River. I wonder how iced over it would have been that February. The article about her says it barely snowed that February, that the weather was mild, so it probably wasn't very iced over, if at all? How far did she live from the ocean? It wasn't something I could easily figure out. Obviously, NJ is a coastal state.

Was there ever any sense in the family as to what her father thought happened to her? He was just unsure? He recieved the letter and was aware of the story behind it and later tried to have the insurance company look into her whereabouts or lack thereof, so he obviously was interested in finding answers to her disapearence. I saw from a comment on the Facebook page trying to find her that her mother was deceased by this time. I wonder who was the friend of Kumar's and her that made the dress for her to wear to her father's wedding as the letter mentions.

Just some thoughts that came to mind thinking about her case. The rumors that she was a sex worker are interesting. That is often very risky and there's many women that were murdered or women that disappeared because (or possibly because) they were involved in sex work, like for example in more recent times, the victims of Rex Heuermann. But if that was the cause of her disapearence, it seems strange she'd leave without her pocket book, unless she believed it was safer to leave it at home. Maybe Kumar Sr didn't want to admit she was involved in sex work so he said she was going to run an errand instead.
 
If Roberta's body ended up in the ocean because she committed suicide or because her remains were disposed of that way, it is possible that only fragments of her remains were ever found. If someone's body enters water, then sometimes only fragments are ever found, and sometimes not until many years later. These are two cases from the 1980s of partial remains found on beaches in NJ I found listed online. There may be more that may possibly be her, it's a long list on Name Us of such remains. These two hopefully have DNA that has already been ruled out against her as LE has her DNA, but if there's no DNA, then maybe one of these maybe be her? It doesn't say whether there is DNA or not.

This is a mandible found on the beach in Belmar, NJ, (about an hour from Camden) in Feb, 1983. They couldn't determine whether it was male or female, but I thought I'd mention it.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.
www.namus.gov

These remains were found near a beach about an hour from Camden in April, 1984. They could not determine whether they were male or female. However, the person is estimated to be 20 at most, so it's probably not Roberta. Age estimates can be off, though. I read elsewhere online they don't have DNA on these remains, although that or may not be accurate now. The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

There are other remains like this, in more recent years. But it is important to remember that even 20 or more years after remains end up in water, they can turn up on a beach or riverbank, etc. A recent case like that was just solved by the DNA Doe Project.

dnadoeproject.org

Scioto River John Doe 1996 - DNA Doe Project

Description: On August 1, 1996, a human skull was discovered in the Scioto River behind the correctional institution in Chillicothe, Ohio. Analysis of the skull found it to be from a man, but no other information could be determined. NamUs ID: UP91208 Date Body Found: August 1, 1996 Race...
dnadoeproject.org dnadoeproject.org


Sometimes remains also turn up years later in other locations, like construction sites. I was just randomly clicking on unidentified remains from NJ in more recent years, when I came across these remains that were found last May at a construction site in Camden. They don't even know whether they are male or female and they may not have DNA in the system yet, but I thought I would mention these remains. The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
 
what year were the terrible fires in Camden that destroyed a lot of buildings? If I remember correctly, it had something to do with mischief night
 
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