I definitely believe this woman was not native to the area she was found. If I was gonna commit suicide and I wanted to make it difficult for LE to identify me I'd kill myself in a random location that I have no connection to.
Identified! VA - Annandale, WhtFem 245UFVA, ~60, 'NO CODE, DNR, No Penicillin', Dec'96
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carbuff
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I think of her every Christmas. I'm sorry she didn't want to go on.
Sometimes I wonder this as well. Usually when people commit suicide they choose a method thats quick and painless. Asphyxiating yourself with a plastic bag doesn't fit that one bit.
carbuff
Well-Known Member
It's taken directly from a book that was popular at the time that dealt with how to end your life if you wanted to. A bunch of details of her death, including the DNR bracelet, fit with the information in the book. I forget its title right now but we discussed it quite a bit earlier in the thread.
When I took a forensics course a couple of years ago the instructor said it's very difficult to fake a suicide without leaving traces that are obvious to a medical examiner. In this case it would be really hard to get a bag over her head without a struggle, for instance.
But it's always possible, I suppose.
When I took a forensics course a couple of years ago the instructor said it's very difficult to fake a suicide without leaving traces that are obvious to a medical examiner. In this case it would be really hard to get a bag over her head without a struggle, for instance.
But it's always possible, I suppose.
ThePhantom
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Thank you for your post, Carbuff. I think this poor lady killed herself, unfortunately. Even though a big part of me thinks she's local -- and lived in one of the multitudinous concrete cookie cutter apartment buildings in the area, another part of me can't believe that not a single soul has recognized her through the years. Of course there have been cases in which an unidentified soul was recognized eons later, but these seem to be the result of people such as those reading this thread right now (rather than family members). I know we've discussed this over and over, but I would still like to hear once again everyone's thoughts about where she might be from and how her life concluded in such a tragic way. Many thanks to you in advance!
I have to wonder what other steps this woman took to hide her identity. It seems to me that she spent months planning this out. She most likely quit whatever occupation/job she had. I suspect that the woman might have been unemployed for a good while. Whatever house/apartment she lived in she left and took all her personal belongings with her. Whatever car she drove she probably got rid of and anything in the car that could be used to identify her was taken out and thrown in the trash.
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carbuff
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I have always suspect that she spent the last of her resources to buy the good clothing to die in. Which makes me feel like crying when I think about it.
SpanishMossAntiques
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I would suggest you do some research on suicide. Having worked *advertiser censored* an LEO, I've seen people who have killed themselves in any number of ways; from the quick and painless like a gunshot to your head behind your ear, to pills and alcohol, to a woman who chose to burn alive in her car, to several who have jumped to their deaths, and even one who dove head-first onto an outcrop of rocks in a lake (which caused his head to explode). I believe the accepted method for suicide that is close to painless and has very little chance of being treated/reversed medically is to 1. Overdose on specific pills, 2. Drink a lot of alcohol, 3. As you begin to feel sleepy place a plastic bag over your head.
ThePhantom
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The whole darn thing is just heartbreaking!! To think that someone could leave this world and not have a single person make an inquiry about her. Maybe she isn't from the area she was found, perhaps she had no living relatives or the ones she may have aren't internet savvy. I've heard of people who passed away in their homes and weren't found for years later. This world can be a cold place I guess.
This is probably a long shot and most likely isn't the case, but what about the possibility that she faked her death prior to actually committing suicide? This would explain why her family or friends aren't looking for her because they believed she was already dead.
carbuff
Well-Known Member
I wouldn't assume family and friends aren't looking for her. We've seen too many cases where a missing persons report was either lost over the years or never taken in the first place. More than one where the family went to LE and LE wrote things down but never opened a case. We've seen many cases where the family didn't know how to go about searching for their loved one. We've seen cases where the family was searching but hadn't made the connection to a particular UID because it was in the wrong place, or had a mistake in the statistics, or just hadn't happened to run across it before.
And that doesn't include the cases where there's no family to search--which I kind of suspect might be the case here. Or the case where she deliberately left, for instance to live a lifestyle her family disapproved of, or fleeing an abusive father or husband.
And the even sadder case that her family knows who she is and how she died, and chose to to claim her because suicide is such a big sin in their religion.
So many possibilities...
And that doesn't include the cases where there's no family to search--which I kind of suspect might be the case here. Or the case where she deliberately left, for instance to live a lifestyle her family disapproved of, or fleeing an abusive father or husband.
And the even sadder case that her family knows who she is and how she died, and chose to to claim her because suicide is such a big sin in their religion.
So many possibilities...
Hello! My sister and I were talking about our cousin, Shirley Sprang, today and we were searching with the tiny bits of info we had. We came across this page and saw that she had been considered as a possible identity for this Jane Doe. I see the thread is now 88 pages long and I have to admit to not reading all of the posts, but if there's any more information/evidence linking Shirley to this woman, we'd appreciate it. I could write more, but it seems unnecessary.
Ah! I should have read a bit more before posting. I see at the bottom of page 85 that Shirley has been ruled out. Thank you all for your posts. Her brother died 2 1/2 years ago, but there are still people who care about her.
Crimsonrosetail
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634 exclusions and still no matches. v.v
245UFVA
Date of Discovery: December 18, 1996
Location of Discovery: Annandale, Fairfax County, Virginia
Estimated Date of Death: Hours prior
State of Remains: Recognizable face
Cause of Death: Suicide
Physical Description
Estimated Age: 50-70 years old
Race: White
Gender: Female
Height: 5'0"
Weight: 157 lbs.
Hair Color: Auburn or red, almost a copper color, curly.
Eye Color: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: She had an 8-inch scar on her abdomen, probably from a C-section. Her fingernails were painted red.
Identifiers
Dentals: Available.
Fingerprints: Available.
DNA: Samples submitted - Tests not complete.
Clothing & Personal Items
Clothing: Teal all-weather Eddie Baur hooded jacket (size M), navy blue Classiques Entier sweater (size L), red Classiques Entier sweater (size XL), red Classiques Entier sleeveless silk shirt (size Petite L), navy blue Classiques Entier knit wool pants (size L), knee-high stockings, white support bra, white Fruit of the Loom underpants (size 6), and black loafers (size 7M). Her clothes may have come from an upscale store such as Saks Fifth Avenue.
Jewelry: Two clip-on earrings, a small gold women's Guess watch with a mesh band, a 14-karat gold ring with four jade stones, and a metal bead chain with a medic alert "NO CODE, DNR, No Penicillin."
Additional Personal Items: Bifocals with translucent frames. A green knapsack that held Jeff Foxworthy's You Might Be A Redneck cassette, a tape of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, two empty juice bottles, and a new roll of masking.
Date of Discovery: December 18, 1996
Location of Discovery: Annandale, Fairfax County, Virginia
Estimated Date of Death: Hours prior
State of Remains: Recognizable face
Cause of Death: Suicide
Physical Description
Estimated Age: 50-70 years old
Race: White
Gender: Female
Height: 5'0"
Weight: 157 lbs.
Hair Color: Auburn or red, almost a copper color, curly.
Eye Color: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: She had an 8-inch scar on her abdomen, probably from a C-section. Her fingernails were painted red.
Identifiers
Dentals: Available.
Fingerprints: Available.
DNA: Samples submitted - Tests not complete.
Clothing & Personal Items
Clothing: Teal all-weather Eddie Baur hooded jacket (size M), navy blue Classiques Entier sweater (size L), red Classiques Entier sweater (size XL), red Classiques Entier sleeveless silk shirt (size Petite L), navy blue Classiques Entier knit wool pants (size L), knee-high stockings, white support bra, white Fruit of the Loom underpants (size 6), and black loafers (size 7M). Her clothes may have come from an upscale store such as Saks Fifth Avenue.
Jewelry: Two clip-on earrings, a small gold women's Guess watch with a mesh band, a 14-karat gold ring with four jade stones, and a metal bead chain with a medic alert "NO CODE, DNR, No Penicillin."
Additional Personal Items: Bifocals with translucent frames. A green knapsack that held Jeff Foxworthy's You Might Be A Redneck cassette, a tape of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, two empty juice bottles, and a new roll of masking.
Bit of hope
Life is a long lesson in humility.
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Hi and welcome. I, among others, thought this woman was a potential match for this Jane Doe. The problem is that Shirley had allegedly contact with LE on the 19th and this woman was discovered on the 18th. So unless the police report is wrong she can not be this lady.
From her Charley Project file Shirley Leona Sprang – The Charley Project
"The last sign of her was on December 19, 1996, when the police in Lincoln, Nebraska had contact with her".
I couldn't find a missing person thread for her on websleuths. Maybe somebody can create one?
BTW @CBinWI, sorry for being so straightforward but sometimes it's helpful in a search to know a date of birth. Is it possible to "dig" that up?
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Bit of hope
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I think that's wonderful! People still care. See my other post.
Bit of hope
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