WA WA - Seattle, WhtFem 30-50, 159UFWA, alias 'Mary Anderson', copper IUD, breast surgery scars, Oct'96

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sasha17 said:
I want to know if the male UID found in Seattle in 1984 was in any way related to Mary, as some suspected. There is a tentative ID in progress for him (possibly Mark Lawrence Ashland). If the male UID is confirmed to be Mark Ashland, I'd see about speaking to Mark's surviving family (@HalesNTX) to find out if they have any idea who Mary might be.

Mark Ashland's thread: WA - WA - Mark Lawrence Ashland, 27, Seattle, 4 Sept 1981

Seattle male UID thread: WA - WA - Seattle, White Male, 18-35, UP10814, 9 October 1984
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I'd be pretty surprised if there were any connection between Mary and Mark, but it never hurts to ask. Just got caught up on the Seattle UID/Mark Ashland thread, what a story! Really gives me hope that Mary can still be identified.
 
My podcast was finally released today! It's called Washed Away. You can find it on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you usually listen to podcasts.

The first episode is about Mary Anderson and I interview Dr. Kathy Taylor, the Forensic Anthropologist for Washington state. She was actually called to the hotel the day this woman was found, so she's been on the case from the very beginning. And Dr. Taylor recently had new digital illustrations of "Mary" created to make her look a little younger, without makeup. You can see them here.

And my second episode is with the incredible @HalesNTX, talking about her journey to find her missing uncle, Mark Ashland. There are some very interesting parallels between Mark and Mary... and Mark's case really gives me hope that Mary can still be identified.

I hope you'll listen! Thanks, Websleuths.
 

I listened to both podcasts and enjoyed them very much! Let's hope with more exposure, Mary will be identified. I think that she might be from a country other than the U.S. Maybe she really doesn't have any living family. I sure wonder why she had an iron and mixing bowl in her suitcase, strange.
 
papillon2126 said:
I listened to both podcasts and enjoyed them very much! Let's hope with more exposure, Mary will be identified. I think that she might be from a country other than the U.S. Maybe she really doesn't have any living family. I sure wonder why she had an iron and mixing bowl in her suitcase, strange.
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Perhaps she had an iron and a mixing bowl from an apartment or house that she’d vacated. Sometimes, when someone moves, there are left over items that don’t get packed or thrown out - they end up in a suitcase at the last minute. She might have put them aside as part of some process of relocating. Perhaps these mundane items had some sentimental value. It is possible that she was ambivalent for a time about suicide, and had more possessions with her at some point. There’s a lot of planning, but we don’t know about the duration of her planning process. Maybe she tried to restart her life at a new location, and things went very badly.
 
So, I don't know if anyone has mentioned it on this article. But it's mentioned in the podcast. When you take a look at the crime scene photos on NamUS, She looks like she's in her late 30s or early 40s, however, when they washed off all the makeup, she looked 10 years younger than she had seemed. They took an autopsy photo (which to my knowledge was never released to the public)
and Natalie Murry made a new reconstruction based on that photo.
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net...e_Murry.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20200530063035
 
papillon2126 said:
I listened to both podcasts and enjoyed them very much! Let's hope with more exposure, Mary will be identified. I think that she might be from a country other than the U.S. Maybe she really doesn't have any living family. I sure wonder why she had an iron and mixing bowl in her suitcase, strange.
Click to expand...

Its interesting because we do know that Mark had a girlfriend who was from British Columbia. There is speculation that she may have been from there.
 
Could this possibly be Frances Clark? Missing from Rochester, NY since January 1994. I can’t find but a couple of photos of her and they’re not great for comparison.

upload_2020-7-20_19-22-30.png
17 Jan 1994, Page 3 - Democrat and Chronicle at Newspapers.com

The biggest difference is weight, but with over 2 years between Frances’ disappearance and Mary’s discovery, that allows time for her to have gained weight.
 

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MadMcGoo said:
Could this possibly be Frances Clark? Missing from Rochester, NY since January 1994. I can’t find but a couple of photos of her and they’re not great for comparison.

View attachment 256329
17 Jan 1994, Page 3 - Democrat and Chronicle at Newspapers.com

The biggest difference is weight, but with over 2 years between Frances’ disappearance and Mary’s discovery, that allows time for her to have gained weight.
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I found Frances’ (Francis née Vigneri) high school graduation photo - Marshall High School, 1968, Rochester NY
upload_2020-7-20_20-35-8.jpeg
 
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Grungster said:
Maybe? She doesn't look anything like her, but Mary had a lot of makeup on and Natalie Murry used the autopsy photo for her reconstruction, which reportedly showed Mary looking VERY different.
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It’s hard for me to tell. There’s quite a bit of age and weight difference.
 
Coffee56 said:
Not sure if this one has been mentioned but not seeing that she has. I think height and weight rule her out. Date last seen is Oct 11 1996 but she wasn’t reported missing until 2012 so not too trusting in that date

OPP offers $50,000 reward for information on Beckwith woman missing since 1996
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Great suggestion on this one! Last confirmed sighting was same day as this UIDs suicide.

Perhaps the date is a couple of days off ... or the "Confirmed sighting" was actually a "confirmed contact" via telephone prior to her act?

The height could be a bit off as well given that there was a delay of 16 years between her last confirmation and the missing report. Would that be in line with her note stating she had "no family" left? A friend, years later, or an extended family member in 2012 wondering whatever became of her and finding no obituary or trace of her existence post-1996 this finally filing a report?

This UID also had no luggage per se - just a couple of small items that would have fit into a carry-on. Perhaps she flew from Ontario, to the western USofA to complete her act unadultered and anonymously? No need to bring luggage if that was her specific intent and plan.

I'm also wondering if that "iron" was actually a curling iron; very popular at the time and more in line with what one would carry in a small bag whilst moving about.
 
It's been a while since posting to this thread. I still have all my research on this case. And to this day, I believe Mary Anderson was not from here in the Seattle area, nor possibly the United States. I have always believed she may have lived a life in espionage. And after watching the second volume of Unsolved Mysteries on Netflix that dropped yesterday (10/19/20), the "Death in Oslo" episode just might confirm this as it has so many similarities to the Mary Anderson case. It possibly explains why no family and friends ever came forward saying they recognized or knew her. Different deaths, but same time era (1995/96), with possibly the same intent and circumstances. And who knows, maybe the two cases are related. Watch the episode and you'll understand.

And as of today, I shared The Case of Mary Anderson with Unsolved Mysteries as a story submission.

Link: death-in-oslo
 
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