Identified! WI - Racine Co., WhtFem 199UFWI, 14-25, cauliflower ear, western shirt, July'99 - Peggy Lynn Johnson

[itsmegan]

I live in the next town over and we never hear about this story. I find that very odd!

 

[Roselvr]

I live in the next town over and we never hear about this story. I find that very odd!

Very strange for sure. They were doing a lot of press in 2013 but haven't seen much since then

 

[MelmothTheLost]

According to what I'm seeing isotopes were inconclusive, supposedly the Smithsonian are still working on it.

As far as I know isotopes are very stable and don't deteriorate, unlike DNA which can, so I wonder what "inconclusive" means. Presumably just that the profile they obtained didn't narrow things down very much.

 

[Roselvr]

As far as I know isotopes are very stable and don't deteriorate, unlike DNA which can, so I wonder what "inconclusive" means. Presumably just that the profile they obtained didn't narrow things down very much.

There is no way the Smithsonian had inconclusive results. Her LE do not like to share info. No doubt they held onto isotope results too. Wonder about FOI request for results.

Racine Jane Doe investigation continues with new leads Posted on: 9:29 pm, October 25, 2013, by Ben Handelman, updated on: 10:25pm, October 25, 2013

Earlier in October, the body was exhumed and sent to Milwaukee where a forensic anthropologist has joined the case.

“Through the study of her bones, we can tell where she was born and was raised. We’re hoping based on that geographically where she is from, and her age group, we might be able to identify her,” said Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmeling.

A press conference two weeks ago also generated new leads.

“I’m not at liberty to discuss what that information is or where we are at with it, but I can tell you the last press conference did produce some tips,” said Schmeling.

Authorities will continue to work on the case in the hopes of providing closure to the woman’s unknown loved ones.

Want to bring over my post #562

Body of Jane Doe exhumed, due for new analysis - October 16, 2013

RACINE CO. (WITI) — The body of an unidentified homicide victim discovered on the edge of a cornfield along 92nd St. in Racine County back in July 1999 was exhumed on Wednesday, October 16th. She was transported to the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office for analysis.

The Sheriff’s Office has been consulting with the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, NCMEC & NamUs about exhuming her body. Scientific testing technology has advanced a lot since they found her. They feel they could get answers about her life in the weeks, months & years before she was murdered due to the new technology as well as helping to figure out who murdered her.

My link in post #418 doesn't work; here is the new URL -
Body of Jane Doe exhumed, due for new analysis

Could she finally be named? Police confident they can identify Jane Doe murdered 14 years ago using new technology - By Anna Edwards - PUBLISHED: 03:36 EST, 17 October 2013 | UPDATED: 03:37 EST, 17 October 2013

Body of murdered Jane Doe, who was found 1999, has been exhumed
Technology could tell authorities about her life in years leading to her death

Racine Jane Doe investigation continues with new leads
Posted on: 9:29 pm, October 25, 2013, by Ben Handelman, updated on: 10:25pm, October 25, 2013

Earlier in October, the body was exhumed and sent to Milwaukee where a forensic anthropologist has joined the case.

“Through the study of her bones, we can tell where she was born and was raised. We’re hoping based on that geographically where she is from, and her age group, we might be able to identify her,” said Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmeling.

A press conference two weeks ago also generated new leads.

“I’m not at liberty to discuss what that information is or where we are at with it, but I can tell you the last press conference did produce some tips,” said Schmeling.

Authorities will continue to work on the case in the hopes of providing closure to the woman’s unknown loved ones.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

There is no way the Smithsonian had inconclusive results.

It depends on what is meant by inconclusive perhaps. I agree that they would have obtained a result, but it might not have told them as much as they expected. Some of the data might also have conflicted.

I notice that RCJD was 5' 8" which is several inches above average height for a US woman. This suggests to me that one of both of her parents must have been fairly tall, and that she was not malnourished for an extended period of time. I know her teeth weren't in particularly good condition but overall she seems to have been in good physical shape until fairly recently before her death. Which rather adds to the mystery of who she was and how she came to end up as she did.

 

[Roselvr]

It depends on what is meant by inconclusive perhaps. I agree that they would have obtained a result, but it might not have told them as much as they expected. Some of the data might also have conflicted.

I notice that RCJD was 5' 8" which is several inches above average height for a US woman. This suggests to me that one of both of her parents must have been fairly tall, and that she was not malnourished for an extended period of time. I know her teeth weren't in particularly good condition but overall she seems to have been in good physical shape until fairly recently before her death. Which rather adds to the mystery of who she was and how she came to end up as she did.

I'm very familiar with the Smithsonian's isotope testing. I've never seen a case where they had inconclusive results. Every case that I know about where Smithsonian did isotope testing they had results. I don't understand how this case is the only one that was inconclusive. I think they don't want to release it because they're using it to try to find her ID on their own 1st.

I have a TN Jane Doe, in 2013 then an officer Amy Dobbs (now with NamUs) sent her teeth to be tested by the Smithsonian Institute, they had found she came from one of 14 states; Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, or Florida. As new testing methods are developed, the Smithsonian re-evaluated the previous testing results and adjusted the states to a more Northern focus in 2014 it's now one of 10 states; Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, Maryland, Virginia & West Virginia.



Smithsonian Institution to help Knox County with unsolved killings

 

[MelmothTheLost]

I'm very familiar with the Smithsonian's isotope testing. I've never seen a case where they had inconclusive results. Every case that I know about where Smithsonian did isotope testing they had results. I don't understand how this case is the only one that was inconclusive. I think they don't want to release it because they're using it to try to find her ID on their own 1st.

OK, thanks. It does sound as though they want to sit on the results for reasons of their own. Perhaps it opens up a very specific line of enquiry and they don't want to tip the wrong person off. I'd be surprised if the person(s) responsible for her death don't keep an eye on developments to some extent or other.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

I absolutely love those that think out side the box! That is a plausible theory, and one worth searching on to.

Thank you. The subject of private church-run Christian residential facilities for wayward teenagers was raised on the BG thread. That also seems to me to be a very useful line of enquiry.

I just wish we had some recent information from LE on RCJD. I suspect there's quite a bit going on behind the scenes and one day they'll just announce her identity.

 

[Roselvr]

OK, thanks. It does sound as though they want to sit on the results for reasons of their own. Perhaps it opens up a very specific line of enquiry and they don't want to tip the wrong person off. I'd be surprised if the person(s) responsible for her death don't keep an eye on developments to some extent or other.

I believe they have semen and have a male DNA profile, I'm not sure if they have a name associated with it though.

I'm convinced they want to keep it for themselves, could be because of the person(s) responsible or for other reasons, could be because she's not from the US like they've always thought was the case. I'm surprised they posted isotope testing continuing at The Smithsonian on their FB page. I still have to find the article I remember that did say they weren't going to release the isotope results because I'm sure I read it

While looking for it, I ended up on her wiki looking for the article, ended up seeing something that caught my eye; it was citation #18 "Investigators find ties between Jane Doe, Illinois case". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel By Tunkieicz, Jenny July 21, 2000 but there isn't a working URL, thankfully her Porch light thread has it. I'm going to have to go there and read when I have time but basically the female was Mary Kate Sunderlin. Sunderlin, 34, disappeared from Carpentersville, Illinois on September 4, 1999. In December of that year, her remains were found in the Green Belt Forest Preserve. She had been tortured and beaten to death. Three men were eventually convicted in her case, but Sunderlin was not identified until February 2006, when an investigator saw her case listed on the Charley Project and made the connection. Dental records confirmed the match.

See post #6
Title: WIF990721 WARNING: Post-Mortem - Description: Racine county July 21 1999

PorchlightUSA - December 14, 2006 05:12 AM (GMT)
The story below is brought to you by this Standard Press advertiser

Computer rendering of Jane Doe - Jane Doe: Body found here may have global connections

Reilly said she believes the identity of the woman found in Raymond may have been so difficult to establish because she may not even be from this country.

She came to this realization in an odd and unexpected way.

While searching for caregivers for her mother, who became ill five years ago, Reilly found a hospice agency in Illinois that hired and trained women from the Ukraine and Eastern Bloc countries to work in people's homes.

Reilly hired a Ukranian woman to care for her mother, and while working the case of the woman in Raymond, she began thinking seriously about a connection.

''There are over 1,000 women from the Ukraine and the surrounding countries living and working through these agencies in the northern Illinois area,'' she said.

Based on the description of the woman found in Illinois, Reilly believes she, too, could be from outside the United States.

Thank you. The subject of private church-run Christian residential facilities for wayward teenagers was raised on the BG thread. That also seems to me to be a very useful line of enquiry.

I just wish we had some recent information from LE on RCJD. I suspect there's quite a bit going on behind the scenes and one day they'll just announce her identity.

BBM

This is the most recent, I posted it the other day but depending on how you sort your threads, it may be on another page. Was post #744

According to what I'm seeing isotopes were inconclusive, supposedly the Smithsonian are still working on it. I could have sworn LE decided not to release that information but I'm not finding what I'm looking for. I know it was posted in the thread, probably by me but I don't have time to search right now. I want to ask but I want to make sure I read they weren't releasing it 1st.

Jane Doe Racine County, Wisconsin posted August 1 ·

Isotope testing continuing at The Smithsonian

Racine County Jane Doe case remains unsolved - By Eric Ross - 12:36 PM, Aug 1, 2016 - 5:01 PM, Aug 1, 2016

Investigator Hintz hopes the composite sketch of the girl and a description of her clothing will help crack this case....

So far, nobody has come forward to claim the woman, who investigators believe was in her late teens or early 20’s when she was tortured and killed.

“She was burnt and beaten,” Hintz said. “In the last few days of her life it escalated substantially.”

DNA samples were collected, and in 2013, her body was exhumed for isotope testing.

Mystery of Racine County Jane Doe Continues - Posted By: Heather Asiyanbi November 18, 2015

Investigators hoping advanced forensic testing would help lead them to the identity of the young woman found in a Raymond cornfield in 1999 continue to work her case despite the testing proving inconclusive...

Two years ago, Jane Doe was exhumed for isotope testing, a process by which bone tissue is removed from a body to try and determine where she was from or at least had been in the months leading up to her death.

In a nutshell, the makeup of the earth – gases, minerals, chemical compounds – varies greatly from region to region. The foods we eat – both animal and vegetable – can be a map to where we’ve been because the foods absorb the unique makeup of the earth where they are, so when we eat those foods, we’re also absorbing those gases, minerals and chemical compounds.

Certain isotopes can be found in teeth and bones even after death, so investigators were hoping that Jane Doe’s isotopes would give them a key to eventually lead to her identity, but the tests were inconclusive. Still, Racine County Sheriff’s Investigator Tracy Hintz, lead detective on Jane’s case, continues to follow leads and believes that as science continues to evolve, answers about Jane’s identity and her killer(s) will become clear.

Sheriff On Catching Jane Doe’s Killer: It’s Only A Matter Of Time -
Posted By: Denise Lockwood July 21, 2015

With law enforcement officials from several jurisdictions surrounding her casket, the woman they’ve come to know as “Jane Doe” was buried at noon Tuesday, July 21 at Holy Family Cemetery in Caledonia after her body had been exhumed in October 2013 to gather more DNA evidence. Investigators with the Racine County Sheriff’s Department know she wasn’t a girl as they originally thought, and that she was likely between the ages of 18 to 25-years-old when she died.

 

[Alleykins]

The article about this JD possibly being from the Ukraine intrigued me so I went to the Interpol site and looked around. I wasn't sure if there was anywhere else to look. Maybe I'll check doe network, too. I found one possible but highly unlikely match because of her height. Luydmila Halushyna,14, went missing in Aug. 1999 from Belgium, but her place of birth is the Ukraine. She disappeared along with her 4 month old daughter, Cathy. Long shot, but worth noting, I think.
http://www.interpol.int/notice/search/missing/1999-34445

 

[Alleykins]

I found this MP from Greece: http://www.doenetwork.org/cases-int/1116dfgrc.html
I would have passed on it if it weren't for the fact that the contact is the RCMP (Ottawa, ON). Wonder what that is about. Is that normal?

 

[Alleykins]

I found another possible one: http://www.doenetwork.org/cases-int/2251dfukr.html

 

[Roselvr]

I found this MP from Greece: http://www.doenetwork.org/cases-int/1116dfgrc.html
I would have passed on it if it weren't for the fact that the contact is the RCMP (Ottawa, ON). Wonder what that is about. Is that normal?

Canada probably compared her to someone there which makes no sense cause her porch light thread says missing from home

Its pretty common for people to think some of our better known cases are from other countries but as we've seen with Cali and GDF they're from here, just have to have the right person see her info

Wish they'd release her isotope results. I'm tempted to see about freedom of info act

http://z13.invisionfree.com/PorchlightEurope/index.php?showtopic=14

 

[Alleykins]

I figured it was worth taking a look, anyway.

 

[Roselvr]

I figured it was worth taking a look, anyway.

She resembles a FL case, but is missing 20 years too late.

 

[Lucy's mom]

Hi all - What do you think about Lurline Bergeron. She's been missing since 1991 from Florida when she was 14 so when Racine was found in 1999 Lurline would have been 22. I looked at her folder and immediately thought of Racine Jane Doe. Thoughts?

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/b/bergeron_lurline.html

 

[Spurser]

I had suggested her to the DOE network years ago and they said no. I always thought she was a good potential match.

 

[Lucy's mom]

I had suggested her to the DOE network years ago and they said no. I always thought she was a good potential match.

Thank you for the info. I agree, I think she is a good match. I wonder what the reason was for them two not being a match?

 

[Roselvr]

I had suggested her to the DOE network years ago and they said no. I always thought she was a good potential match.

Turn her into NamUs

Lurline NamUs
Racine NamUs

 

[Spurser]

I know that the Racine County Sheriff has Lurline Bergeron's name on their list, but I don't know if she has been positively ruled out.

We discussed this PM a few years back. I can't access NAMUS from my work computer to see if she is listed on the rule outs.