The Long Beach Jane Doe (known locally as Jane Doe 40) was an unidentified murder victim whose body was found on May 28, 1974. Her suspected murderer was arrested in 2013, but she has never been identified, despite extensive investigation.

Discovery of the body

The

strangled Strangling is compression of the neck that may lead to unconsciousness or death by causing an increasingly hypoxic state in the brain. Fatal strangling typically occurs in cases of violence, accidents, and is one of two main ways that hanging ...

body of a young woman was found on May 28, 1974, on the

jetty A jetty is a structure that projects from land out into water. A jetty may serve as a breakwater, as a walkway, or both; or, in pairs, as a means of constricting a channel. The term derives from the French word ', "thrown", signifying somet ...

of Alamitos Beach in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

. She was estimated to be between 18 and 28 years old and had been

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...

d. Basic physical examination showed she was about 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighed about 118 pounds. The victim was white with possible

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

ancestry, as she had brown or black hair and brown eyes. She also had a unique

scar A scar (or scar tissue) is an area of fibrous tissue that replaces normal skin after an injury. Scars result from the biological process of wound repair in the skin, as well as in other organs, and tissues of the body. Thus, scarring is a na ...

on the back of her left hand, which was shaped like the letter T. She also had an inch-long scar on the back of her left

thigh In human anatomy, the thigh is the area between the hip (pelvis) and the knee. Anatomically, it is part of the lower limb. The single bone in the thigh is called the femur. This bone is very thick and strong (due to the high proportion of bone ...

. She was wearing a

white gold Pure gold is slightly reddish yellow in color, but colored gold in various other colors can be produced by alloying gold with other elements. Colored golds can be classified in three groups: * Alloys with silver and copper in various proportions ...

, 14-karat

engagement ring An engagement ring, also known as a betrothal ring, is a ring indicating that the person wearing it is engaged to be married, especially in Western cultures. A ring is presented as an engagement gift by a partner to their prospective spouse when ...

with a small

diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of car ...

. She was clothed in a pinkish-orange pants suit with a

faux Faux may refer to: People *Faux (surname) Places Places in Belgium * Faux, a village in the Belgian commune of Court-Saint-Étienne Places in France * Faux, Ardennes, French commune of the Ardennes department * Faux, Dordogne, French commune of t ...

black fur coat and calf-high suede boots. The only items the Jane Doe carried were a house key and padlock key. The padlock key was attached to a broken chain.

Investigation

No missing persons have been found who match the victim's description. Investigators have the girl's DNA and fingerprints. A forensic facial reconstruction was created by the

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) is a private, nonprofit organization established in 1984 by the United States Congress. In September 2013, the United States House of Representatives, United States Senate, and the Pres ...

to assist with identification.

Arrest of Gary Stamp

Police received a confession from a

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

man who claimed he had assisted with dumping the victim's body. He led authorities to another suspect. On May 20, 2013, Gary Stamp, aged 61, was arrested. He confessed to killing her following meeting her at a bar, but was not certain of her name, which he suggested may have been "Ana" or "Anna". Stamp was arraigned on June 12, 2013, in Superior Court. Stamp told police that he had met her at a bar, which coincided with the prior evidence that the victim was possibly seen at an establishment of this nature. Stamp died in January 2014 of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

in police custody.

Gallery

File:Long Beach Jane Doe.jpg, Reconstruction by

NCMEC The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) is a private, nonprofit organization established in 1984 by the United States Congress. In September 2013, the United States House of Representatives, United States Senate, and the Pres ...

File:Anna Doe clothing.jpg, Clothing worn by the victim File:Long Beach Jane Doe scar.jpg, Scar on hand File:Anna Doe items.jpg, Keys and ring associated with the body File:Long Beach Jane Doe 1974.jpg, Mugshot of the corpse in the morgue

References

External links