Perry County Jane Doe, also nicknamed "Girl with the Turquoise Jewelry" is an unidentified woman whose body was found on June 20, 1979, in

Watts Township, Perry County, Pennsylvania Watts Township is a township in Perry County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,231 at the 2020 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 12.0 square miles (31.0 km2) ...

, near the

Juniata River The Juniata River () is a tributary of the Susquehanna River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed August 8, 2011 in central Pennsylvania. The river is ...

. The cause of her death is not known, but it was considered to be suspicious by the authorities. Her name is still not known, despite efforts to identify her. She is the only

unidentified decedent Unidentified decedent or unidentified person (also abbreviated as UID or UP) is a term in American English used to describe a corpse of a person whose identity cannot be established by police and medical examiners. In many cases, it is several ...

in the county. She is currently undergoing

genetic genealogy Genetic genealogy is the use of genealogical DNA tests, i.e., DNA profiling and DNA testing, in combination with traditional genealogical methods, to infer genetic relationships between individuals. This application of genetics came to be used b ...

Othram Othram (also Othram Inc.) is an American corporation specializing in forensic genealogy to resolve unsolved murders, disappearances, and identification of unidentified decedents or murder victims (colloquially known as John Does and Jane Does). ...

Description

The badly decomposed remains were found by a stonemason alongside a river, near a highway in

Perry County, Pennsylvania Perry County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 45,842. The county seat is New Bloomfield. The county was created on March 22, 1820, and was named for Oliver Hazard Perry, a hero of the ...

, near Watts Township. The remains were mostly skeletonized and the estimated time of death was months before, perhaps as early as the Autumn of 1978. The decedent is believed to have been between 15 and 30 years old when she died, although she may have been as old as 38. She was

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, had straight or possibly curly, shoulder-length

blond Blond (male) or blonde (female), also referred to as fair hair, is a hair color characterized by low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin. The resultant visible hue depends on various factors, but always has some yellowish color. The color can ...

or light

brown hair Brown hair, also referred to as brunet (male) or brunette (female), is the second most common human hair color, after black hair. It varies from light brown to a medium dark hair. It is characterized by higher levels of the dark pigment eumela ...

. She was between and tall. She weighed between and . She had received dental care during her life, as a back tooth had been removed four or five years prior to her death. She also had teeth fillings. One tooth, which was a molar, had not yet erupted. Her teeth showed no evidence of crowding. Despite that her teeth appeared to have had some dental work, it is not known if she had ever had braces. Prior to her death, she had suffered a fractured

rib In vertebrate anatomy, ribs ( la, costae) are the long curved bones which form the rib cage, part of the axial skeleton. In most tetrapods, ribs surround the chest, enabling the lungs to expand and thus facilitate breathing by expanding the ches ...

, which had healed. Just before her death, she may have returned to Pennsylvania after having spent several months in the southwestern United States. Recent analysis of the decedent's bones indicated that she had spent a long time living in the

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

or in Southern Canada, near the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

, when she was an adolescent.

Belongings

Perry County Jane Doe wore several pieces of

jewelry Jewellery ( UK) or jewelry (U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a western ...

. She was wearing two

sterling silver Sterling silver is an alloy of silver containing 92.5% by weight of silver and 7.5% by weight of other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925. ''Fine silver'', which is 99.9% pure silver, is r ...

rings with

turquoise Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrated phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula . It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gemstone and ornamental stone for thousands of yea ...

stones, one of which also contained

onyx Onyx primarily refers to the parallel banded variety of chalcedony, a silicate mineral. Agate and onyx are both varieties of layered chalcedony that differ only in the form of the bands: agate has curved bands and onyx has parallel bands. The c ...

pieces that are believed to have originated in the Southwest, possibly having been made by

Navajo The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...

or Zuni Indians inhabiting that area. She also had a chain bracelet on her right arm and a turquoise necklace and earrings. The jewelry led authorities to believe the victim had ties to

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

or a similar region. She wore a tan jacket, white boots with silver buckles, green and white socks, and blue slacks. The slacks were described as having been made from knitted wool which contained strands of red thread. She was wearing two

tops Total Operations Processing System (TOPS) is a computer system for managing railway locomotives and rolling stock, known for many years of use in the United Kingdom. TOPS was originally developed between the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP), S ...

, which consisted of a white shirt and a blue tank top.

Investigation

The victim had been buried shortly after her discovery, but was exhumed in 2008, following the reopening of her case. Her DNA and dental records were recorded and are on file. Because of the condition of her remains, no fingerprints and no cause of death could be confirmed. An initial examination of her teeth indicated that she had had three teeth extracted, but this was later disproved. Despite the fact that these characteristics have been entered into national databases, there have been no matches with missing persons. About sixty possible identities for her have been ruled out. Her face was reconstructed twice by professionals. A sketch by Barbara Martin-Bailey was drawn in 2009, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children created a three-dimensional rendering by digitally adding layers of muscles and skin to a

CT scan A computed tomography scan (CT scan; formerly called computed axial tomography scan or CAT scan) is a medical imaging technique used to obtain detailed internal images of the body. The personnel that perform CT scans are called radiographers ...

of her skull, which was released in 2013. A revised image was later released in 2018. On September 27, 2023,

announced its intention to perform

on the decedent's remains in order to uncover her identity.

References

External links

* * *{{Doe Network, 11ufpa.html 1978 murders in the United States 1979 murders in the United States 1978 deaths 1978 in Pennsylvania 1979 deaths 20th-century births 20th-century women Female murder victims History of women in Pennsylvania Child murder in the United States Unsolved murders in the United States People murdered in Pennsylvania Unidentified American children Unidentified murder victims in Pennsylvania Violence against women in Pennsylvania Year of birth unknown

Description

Belongings

Investigation

See also

References

External links