Janice Marie Young (born Janice Marie Brock and known primarily by her middle name) was a formerly unidentified American girl who was pushed into the path of a moving vehicle on June 9, 1973. A man (Lawrence Dorn) was arrested for her murder, but the charge against him was eventually dropped, as the suspect's "intent could not be proven." The victim was identified on May 20, 2015, nearly 42 years after her death, after Young’s biological younger brother, Timothy Young, noticed similarities between the unidentified victim and the circumstances surrounding his runaway sister. The match was then confirmed through DNA.

Physical description and circumstances

At around 1:00 AM on June 9, 1973, a teenage girl was seen arguing with a man at the intersection of 11th Avenue South and 8th Street South in St. Petersburg, Florida. She was armed with a knife and a broken bottle. The man, later identified as Lawrence Dorn, shoved her into the path of a moving truck, stating this was an act of self defense. She died at the scene. The victim appeared to be between 14 and 16 years old, but may have been as young as 11 or as old as 20. Her hair was auburn, wavy, and shoulder-length. Her eyes were noted as a distinctive shade of blue. She had noticeably short fingernails, which is consistent with

nail biting Nail biting, also known as onychophagy or onychophagia (or even erroneously onyhophagia), is an oral compulsive habit of biting one's fingernails. It is sometimes described as a parafunctional activity, the common use of the mouth for an activit ...

. Other distinctive features were three birthmarks on her back, a chipped tooth, no visible dental work, and freckles on her shoulders. It is possible that her tooth was chipped as a result of being struck by the vehicle. The victim had two

earrings An earring is a piece of jewelry attached to the ear via a piercing in the earlobe or another external part of the ear (except in the case of clip earrings, which clip onto the lobe). Earrings have been worn by people in different civilizations ...

in one ear, and a piercing in her other ear that had healed. She wore a ring that was missing its stone. At the time of her death, she was wearing a multicolored

dress A dress (also known as a frock or a gown) is a garment traditionally worn by women or girls consisting of a skirt with an attached bodice (or a matching bodice giving the effect of a one-piece garment). It consists of a top piece that co ...

and purple

tights Tights are a kind of cloth garment, most often sheathing the body from the waist to the toe tips with a tight fit, hence the name. They come in absolute opaque, opaque, sheer and fishnet styles — or a combination, such as the original concep ...

Investigation

It was strongly believed that the deceased girl was a runaway. It was known that she had been given clothing by other people, indicating she had little in the way of belongings. She had been spoken to by police officers shortly before her death. These officers believed that she was not the person whom they were trying to locate at that time. She had given various alias names during previous confrontations, using her birth name as well as the first names of "Cindy", "Maria" and "Marie" and the last name of "Bromke." It was suspected that she was involved with the

illegal drug trade The illegal drug trade or drug trafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs throug ...

and that this may have been a motive for her death. Among her possessions was a letter written in pencil with the name "Gloria" on it. The letter said that she was "on break," which led to speculation that she may have had a job at the time. It also made references to people whom she had met in the states of North Carolina and Virginia. The penmanship was said to be poor, and no address was on the envelope. Dorn was arrested and charged with the victim's murder. Eventually, this was reduced to manslaughter, but charges were later dropped and the criminal case was closed. The reason was that police were unable to "prove orn'sintent" when he pushed Young. She was buried in Memorial Park Cemetery in St. Petersburg, Florida. In 2010, her body was exhumed from an unmarked grave to obtain a DNA sample, in the hope that it would aid in identifying her.

Identification

Janice Marie Young was identified on May 20, 2015. Timothy Young, her younger brother, had reportedly searched for decades for his missing sister. He had been using her adoptive name, "Young", when making this search. When he made an Internet search using Janice's birth name (Brock), he found a police sketch of the victim, which bore a strong resemblance to Janice. He subsequently reported this to police by telephone on January 28, 2015. Investigator Brenda Stephenson was faxed documents regarding the adoption of Janice and Timothy. She stated that she knew immediately that Janice was the unidentified girl after reading her name on the documents. Janice's DNA was later compared with that found in the victim's remains and proved to be a positive match. The two siblings had lived in

foster care Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home ( residential child care community, treatment center, etc.), or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent" or with a family ...

after being taken from the custody of their parents. Their family name was changed from "Brock" to "Young" after they were legally adopted in 1969. Janice had run away from her adoptive parents' home in Newport News, Virginia, after being raped by an adoptive sibling; her brother had witnessed the rape. She told her brother of her intention of running away, packed a pillow case with belongings, left the home, and did not return. Her remains were eventually transported to her brother for

cremation Cremation is a method of final disposition of a dead body through burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India and Nepal, cremation on an open-air pyre is ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Janice Marie 1973 in Florida 20th century in St. Petersburg, Florida Burials in Florida Deaths by person in Florida Incidents of violence against women June 1973 events in the United States Pedestrian road incident deaths History of women in Florida