PA PA - Philadelphia, Delaware River, WhtFem 25-45, UP16614, decapitated, Feb'66

[Moonwalker9]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Case Numbers
NCMEC Number--
ME/C Case Number66-0931
Demographics
SexFemale
Race / EthnicityWhite / Caucasian
Possible First Name--
Possible Middle Name--
Possible Last Name--
Possible Nickname--
Estimated Age GroupAdult - Pre 50
Estimated Age Range (Years)25-45
Estimated Year of Death1966
Estimated PMIDays
Height5' 6"(66 inches) , Estimated
Weight135 lbs, Estimated
Circumstances
TypeUnidentified Deceased
Date FoundFebruary 15, 1966
NamUs Case CreatedMay 12, 2017
ME/C QA Reviewed--
Location Found Map
Street AddressDelaware River Pier 11 at Spring Garden St. Spring Garden St.Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106
CountyPhiladelphia County
GPS Coordinates--
Circumstances of RecoveryBody found decapitated and floating in Delaware River by Harbor Patrol
Details of Recovery


Inventory of RemainsHead not recovered
Condition of RemainsNot recognizable - Traumatic injuries
Physical Description
Hair ColorUnknown or Completely Bald
Head Hair DescriptionNo head
Body Hair DescriptionGrey, dark brown, black pubic hair
Facial Hair DescriptionNo head
Left Eye ColorUnknown or Missing
Right Eye ColorUnknown or Missing
Eye DescriptionNo Head
Distinctive Physical Features
No Known Information



Clothing and Accessories
Item
Description
Accessories
--
Near the Body

Clothing
Brown nylon stockings White girdle & Brassiere
On the Body

 

[Hell0000nurse]

I was thinking this missing person may be possible- Mary Little a white 25 year old woman. She disappeared October 15, 1965 from Atlanta Georgia after having dinner with a coworker. Her car was later found in the parking lot of where she had dinner. Inside the car was her under garments and spots of blood were present. Her card was used the next day in North Carolina and signed with her signature.

“The gas station attendant in Charlotte recalled a woman with a cut on her head, trying to hide her face, traveling in the company of a man who seemed to be giving her orders. In Raleigh, the attendant told of a "bloody woman," with blood even on her legs, traveling with two men.“

The Doe Network: Case File 556DFGA

It seems they were traveling north. If they kept going they could have reached Pennsylvania.

A couple things though that might not line up is the time the body was found unless they kept her alive for a few months. Also the undergarments on the body- Little’s were found in her car. Possible though that in that time frame they bought her some.

 

[Hell0000nurse]

I was thinking this missing person may be possible- Mary Little a white 25 year old woman. She disappeared October 15, 1965 from Atlanta Georgia after having dinner with a coworker. Her car was later found in the parking lot of where she had dinner. Inside the car was her under garments and spots of blood were present. Her card was used the next day in North Carolina and signed with her signature.

“The gas station attendant in Charlotte recalled a woman with a cut on her head, trying to hide her face, traveling in the company of a man who seemed to be giving her orders. In Raleigh, the attendant told of a "bloody woman," with blood even on her legs, traveling with two men.“

The Doe Network: Case File 556DFGA

It seems they were traveling north. If they kept going they could have reached Pennsylvania.

A couple things though that might not line up is the time the body was found unless they kept her alive for a few months. Also the undergarments on the body- Little’s were found in her car. Possible though they in that time frame they bought her some.

Replying to myself to add that the height is a match. The weight is off a bit, she is listed as being 120lbs.

 

[PayrollNerd]

I was thinking this missing person may be possible- Mary Little a white 25 year old woman. She disappeared October 15, 1965 from Atlanta Georgia after having dinner with a coworker. Her car was later found in the parking lot of where she had dinner. Inside the car was her under garments and spots of blood were present. Her card was used the next day in North Carolina and signed with her signature.

“The gas station attendant in Charlotte recalled a woman with a cut on her head, trying to hide her face, traveling in the company of a man who seemed to be giving her orders. In Raleigh, the attendant told of a "bloody woman," with blood even on her legs, traveling with two men.“

The Doe Network: Case File 556DFGA

It seems they were traveling north. If they kept going they could have reached Pennsylvania.

A couple things though that might not line up is the time the body was found unless they kept her alive for a few months. Also the undergarments on the body- Little’s were found in her car. Possible though that in that time frame they bought her some.

There’s a lot of detail related to her disappearance. People out looking for her right away. Is it possible to test for DNA from the clothing? What about fingerprints?

 

[Hell0000nurse]

There’s a lot of detail related to her disappearance. People out looking for her right away. Is it possible to test for DNA from the clothing? What about fingerprints?

That is true, they were looking right away. I’m not too sure if it’s still possible to test the clothes. Doenetwork states fingerprints available for Little. I can’t find on namus if this UID has fingerprints.

 

[Hell0000nurse]

The grey pubic hair makes me think this may be a missing person towards the later end of the age range though.

 

[PayrollNerd]

The grey pubic hair makes me think this may be a missing person towards the later end of the age range though.

That’s a possibility unless it was premature gray. I want all these old cases DNA tested so their families can have peace.

 

[CCJD]

From her old NamUs Page
Fingerprint information is currently not available
Dental information/charting is currently not available
DNA sample is currently not available

No head so, of course, no dentals.
The attached article states that fingerprints were taken.

 

[PayrollNerd]

From her old NamUs Page
Fingerprint information is currently not available
Dental information/charting is currently not available
DNA sample is currently not available

No head so, of course, no dentals.
The attached article states that fingerprints were taken.

Interesting that the newspaper mentions a long white slip but the NamUS post doesn't.

This more complete visual makes me think of a nurses uniform. Nurses stockings are normally white tho.

If she was wearing a slip, she was originally wearing a dress. That tells me that perhaps she
1) went on a date on Sat Feb 12, 1966 or
2) she had attended church services on Sun Feb 13, 1966.

She was found Tues Feb 15, 1966 with an estimation of death 2-3 days prior. The description of body hair make me think she was older than the estimate. She likely met someone after church who was a tradesman - hence the cleanly severed skull. He wanted more and she didn’t so she was murdered for refusing his advances. JMO tho.

Clothing
Brown nylon stockings White girdle & Brassiere
On the Body

 

[MadMcGoo]

“0 Missing Person Exclusions” per NamUs
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[Filly]

This poor woman could be from the Jersey side.

A site newjerseygirlmurders.org goes from 1960 to 1980 I believe. If I recall some Nurses. Some found in water.

Plus at least one Philadelphia girl is on that site. How I remember it. Dolores Della penna. From Tacony. Some of her body was found in Pine Barrens so guess why she is on there. Dolores's head still not found.

 

[Filly]

Oh take a look at Serial Killer Richard Cottingham.

Water, stabbings, corpse mutilation. Mostly very young girls though, but?

 

[citizen_sleuth]

Joe O'Dowd and Joe Clark, "N.J. Man Tells Of Torso Killing," Philadelphia Daily News, 23 February 1966, 3.

He was held today without bail for a hearing March 3.

[...]

Partelow, a slightly built man with thinning black hair, told Detective Lt. Edmund Zongolowicz and Sgt. Edward Brooks that on Feb. 10 he went to New York where he was to start work at a construction site. Instead of going to work, Partelow said, he got on a bus and came to Philadelphia.

After drinking all day in mid-city bars, Partelow said he was walking in the vicinity of 13th and Arch sts. when he spotted an attractive brunette standing on a corner, apparently waiting for a bus.

[...]

Partelow said he followed her for about eight blocks. Then he caught up to her, he said, and pressed a 6-inch hunting knife to her side.

"Now you'll have to come with me," he said he told her.

They continued walking, Partelow said, passing several people on the street, until they came to a "weeded area" about 15 feet from the river.

[...]

He said he didn't want to throw the head into the river for fear it wouldn't float, so he wrapped it in one of the three shirts he was wearing and left it back at the weeded area.

[...]

Police last night made a search of the waterfront hoping to find the "weeded area" where Partelow said he left the head. They didn't find the spot and will return today.

"Laborer Tells Of Beheading Woman in Rage," Philadelphia Inquirer, 23 February 1966, 37.

A Jersey City man on Tuesday told Philadelphia police a macabre story of how he murdered a woman in a weeded area near the Delaware River, cut her head off and hurled the body into the river.

The body was found in the river Feb. 15, five days after the killing. The head has not been found and the woman has not been identified.

The suspect, Rowland Partelow, 29, a laborer from Jersey City, told homicide detectives he forced her to go with him to the river at knifepoint.

He was drunk, he said, and does not remember anything about the murder scene except that it was "a weedy area about 15 feet from the water."

Partelow, who surrendered in New York City, told Lt. Edmund Zongolowicz, of the homicide unit here, he had been drinking all day in Philadelphia on Feb. 10 before he met the woman at 13th and Arch sts. at dusk.

He asked her to have a drink with him, Zongolowicz said, and she refused. When Partelow insisted, she walked away. Partelow said he followed her "about eight blocks" before pressing a knife against her side and ordering her to come with him quietly.

Partelow said he next remembers the weeded area and making advances at the woman. She resisted and "called him names," Zongolowicz said, and Partelow slashed at her throat.

After she fell, Zongolowicz said, Partelow stabbed her again and began dragging her by the heels toward the river. Her head got caught on some obstruction. Partelow hacked off the head with his knife, Zongolowicz said.

He threw the body into the river, removed a bloodstained outer shirt and wrapped the head in it. He told police he left the head there and walked off. He found a bus station and returned that night to New York City.

In the days that followed, Partelow said, he could not eat or sleep. Finally, he went to a police station, walked up and down outside it for hours and then went inside to confess.

Partelow is 5 feet, 6 inches tall and weighs 130 pounds. He is slimly built and has thinning hair.

The dead woman was about 25 years old, about 5 feet, 6 inches tall and 135 pounds. Her body was found clad in a long white slip, a white brassiere, stockings and a girdle.

Partelow said he thought she might have been waiting for a bus when he first accosted her. He had never seen her before.

"Hoaxer Cleared In Headless Death," Philadelphia Inquirer, 23 April 1966, 19.

The slaying of an unidentified woman whose headless body was found floating in the Delaware remained a mystery Friday after officials cleared a Jersey City, N.J., man who had confessed.

Roland Partelow, 29, whose confession has been discredited, was sent by Judge James T. McDermott Thursday to Byberry State Hospital for 90 days of mental examinations.