Margaret Fetterolf (December 27, 1959 – September 11, 1976) was an American murder victim from

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of downtown Washington, D.C. In 2020, the population was 159,467. ...

, who was discovered on September 12, 1976, in

Woodlawn, Baltimore County, Maryland Woodlawn is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, Baltimore County, Maryland. Per the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 39,986. It is home to the headquarters of the Social S ...

. For 45 years, her body remained unidentified before being identified in September 2021 through DNA testing by

National Center for Missing & 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 ...

, Bode Technology, and Othram. Prior to her identification, she was known as "Woodlawn Jane Doe", in reference to the area of the county her body was found. The murderer, or murderers, have never been apprehended.

Discovery of the body

On September 12, 1976, at 10:20 a.m., the body of a 15- to 30-year-old woman was found partially wrapped in a white sheet. She had been beaten, strangled, and raped. The rape had caused bleeding that had seeped into her clothing. She likely died at a different location and had been transported to the side of Dogwood Road near the back gate of a cemetery. It is possible that a

Ford Econoline The Ford E-Series (also known as the Ford Econoline or Ford Club Wagon) is a range of full-size vans manufactured and marketed by the Ford Motor Company. Introduced for model year 1961 as the replacement for the Ford F-Series panel van, the E-S ...

van may be linked to the case, as one was seen near the location of the body an hour before it was found. The victim wore a

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 year ...

-colored stone bead tied to a rawhide string as a necklace. Also in her possession were two brass keys (one believed to be for a house and the other for a "night latch") that were found attached to a safety pin in one of the pockets of a pair of tan-yellow jeans. She wore a white and tan shirt, a white bra, and distinctive knee-high socks with multi-colored stripes. A single, light tan moccasin with twine laces and a rubber sole was found near the body; it is believed to have been worn by the victim. Other pieces of cloth were also found on the body. Two

bandanna A kerchief (from the Old French ''couvrechief'', "cover head"), also known as a bandana, bandanna, or "Wild Rag" (in cowboy culture), is a triangular or square piece of cloth tied around the head, face or neck for protective or decorative pur ...

s and a bag for grass seeds were found over her face. These had been fastened behind her neck in a square knot. One bandanna was blue and white, and the other was orange and white. The orange-and-white bandanna was found to have holes cut in it to fit the locations of her eyes and nose. Besides the bag over her face, a piece of the grass seed bag was found in her throat. This was determined to have been the cause of her death, along with ligature strangulation. The bag read "Farm Bureau Association Grass Seed, Lexington, Mass." Additionally, the hands had been bound behind her back with some sort of "bandage" in noticeably high-quality knots. An extremely large amount of a sedative drug,

chlorpromazine Chlorpromazine (CPZ), marketed under the brand names Thorazine and Largactil among others, is an antipsychotic medication. It is primarily used to treat psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia. Other uses include the treatment of bipolar di ...

, was found in the victim's stomach. Chlorpromazine is used to treat

schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social wit ...

, which led to a theory linking the victim, or those responsible for her murder, to a mental institution. Additionally, the sheet that was wrapped around her body was consistent with those provided at

inpatient A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other health car ...

institutions.

Examination

Examiners measured the victim and concluded that she weighed between 149 and 159 pounds and was 5 feet 6 to 5 feet 9 inches tall. The blood type of the victim was determined to be O positive. There had been evidence that she had been treated by a dentist. The victim had three of her molars removed and had fillings in the remaining five. Because of the amount and quality of the dental care, authorities surmised that she did not come from a background of poverty. One of her other teeth was crooked. A poorly tattooed pair of letters, possibly initials, was found on her left arm. It contained two letters, believed to be JP, SS, JB or a similar letter combination. She had her ears pierced and a scar on her upper right thigh. A

widow's peak A widow's peak is a V-shaped point in the hairline in the center of the forehead. Hair growth on the forehead is suppressed in a bilateral pair of periorbital fields. Without a widow's peak, these fields join in the middle of the forehead so as t ...

was noted on the victim's forehead. She had dark brown to black, shoulder-length hair with a wavy texture and brown eyes. She had a dark olive complexion. The exact race and ethnicity of the victim puzzled investigators and medical examiners, but it is believed that she may have been white.

Investigation

Shortly after the body was found, fingerprint and dental information were collected to establish its identity. Her fingerprints were added to national databases, as well as her dental chart. Various investigations were subsequently conducted in the case. The victim has previously been linked to regions in Massachusetts and New York. Recent developments indicated she was possibly a teenage immigrant from Central or South America who had lived in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, although the family of the individual had yet to be located. In 2016, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children released the detail that she may have used the names "Jasmine" or "Jassy" when alive. Many missing women from across the United States have since been eliminated as possible identities for Woodlawn Jane Doe. The county police department currently offers a cash reward of two thousand dollars for information about this case. A notable case was that of Maria "Mia" Anjiras, a teen that had run away from her Connecticut home in February 1976. The victim's face has been reconstructed multiple times for release to the public. Three versions exist that were rendered by the

. Other sketches of her also exist. The local police department provided an age-regression and an additional reconstruction, created by Eve Grant, hoping to provide an estimation of her appearance at a younger age (in case she was "a runaway" or someone knew her at an earlier period of her life). One of the keys which the victim carried was made in

Fitchburg, Massachusetts Fitchburg is a city in northern Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The third-largest city in the county, its population was 41,946 at the 2020 census. Fitchburg is home to Fitchburg State University as well as 17 public and private e ...

and had "DB09212" stamped onto it. The grass seed bag was connected to a factory in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

. It had been sold exclusively in the Massachusetts cities of Waltham, Rochdale, Lowell, South Weymouth, and Greenfield. Years before the murder, production of this type of bag had been halted. Forensic pollen analysis of the items found with the body indicated she had spent time in a populous area, such as Boston, Massachusetts, or New York, New York. These results were aided by the detection of cedar and hemlock pollen, which possibly originated from a site such as the

New York Botanical Garden The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) is a botanical garden at Bronx Park in the Bronx, New York City. Established in 1891, it is located on a site that contains a landscape with over one million living plants; the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

. The case has been featured on '' America's Most Wanted''. Leads were processed but did not lead to the victim's identity or to that of her killer or killers. A break in the case was announced in December 2015 by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children after the Baltimore County police received a tip. A suitable match was discovered, being described as a Puerto Rican or Colombian teenager that had moved to Boston, Massachusetts with her parents and as many as five siblings. The explanation for the tattoo of "JP" on her arm was announced to possibly be the initials for a part of the city, known as "

Jamaica Plain Jamaica Plain is a neighborhood of in the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Settled by Puritans seeking farmland to the south, it was originally part of the former Town of Roxbury, now also a part of the City of Boston. The commun ...

" where the possible match lived, on "Forbes Street." Potential school locations were also included. The department has had difficulties finding the relatives of the girl, putting the investigation on hold. On the 40th anniversary of her discovery, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children released an updated reconstruction of the victim.

Identification

On September 15, 2021, after further DNA testing done with the assistance of The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Bode Technology, and Othram, detectives identified the girl as 16-year-old Margaret Fetterolf from

. Fetterolf went missing in the late summer of 1975, and at the time of her disappearance was a student at

Hayfield Secondary School Hayfield Secondary School is a secondary school (grades 7–12) in the Fairfax County Public Schools system of Virginia. It opened in 1968 and graduated its first senior class in 1971. History The land that Hayfield Secondary sits on was at one ...

. She was reported missing by her family one year before her body was found. An investigation continues into who was responsible for her sexual assault and murder.

References

External links