Facial approximation of the unknown victim. Credit: Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Forensic Imaging Unit
Investigators from Flagler County Sheriff's Office (Florida) have released a new facial approximation of a Jane Doe whose body was found in 1993. Oddly enough, at least 30 relatives of Jane Doe have been identified and contacted, but her identity still remains a mystery.
Remains found
In January 1993, two young boys ventured into the woods at the end of their cul-de-sac to retrieve a basketball when they found skeletal remains under some brush.
The Flagler County Sheriff's Office (FCSO) was called to the scene, and they investigated the incident with assistance from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). They submitted what partial skeletal remains they found at the scene to forensic anthropologists at the University of Florida and the local Medical Examiner’s Office.
The anthropologists were able to determine basic estimates about the victim, including the fact that she was a female aged 25 to 35 years old. She was white, possibly Indian, stood 5” 3” tall, and had an old right nasal fracture. Additionally, the anthropologists determined the victim had been deceased for approximately 2 to 3 years before her remains were discovered.
A facial approximation was completed in 1993 and distributed to news media, but the case still went cold. Over the years, investigators compared the case to several missing persons cases with similar attributes, but no matches were ever made.
Cold Case Unit and genealogy
In 2021, the case was revisited by the newly established FCSO Cold Case Unit. The decision was made to partner with Othram to see if new DNA technology, including forensic genetic genealogy, could provide any investigative leads on the case.
In July 2021, Othram was able to successfully develop a DNA profile for the victim from the remains recovered in 1993. It was also discovered that the victim is African American, possibly mixed with Caucasian. Through forensic genetic genealogy research, Othram discovered that the victim was a descendant of George Washington Coleman and Clarissa Minnick from the Edgefield/Aiken, South Carolina area.
Continued research led to the discovery of at least 30 relatives of the victim, who have all been contacted. Still, despite the extensive family tree being revealed branch by branch, Jane Doe’s identity remains unknown.
One of the identified relatives is Donya Williams, who herself is a genealogist with the Genealogy Adventures organization. Williams has shared her knowledge of African American genealogy and specific expertise of the region of Edgefield, South Carolina with FCSO in hopes of identifying her relative.
On Jan. 10, 2023, on the 30th anniversary of Jane Doe’s discovery, FCSO Cold Case Detective Sarah Scalia brought the victim’s skull to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office (PBSO) Forensic Imaging Unit. After a careful review of the skull and the uncovered ancestry information, PBSO forensic artists were able to reconstruct the victim’s skull and create a new, updated facial approximation, which was released to the public on Friday.
“We hope that someone may be able to identify this woman so we can bring closure to her family who has been waiting for over 30 years to know what happened to her,” said FCSO sheriff Rick Staly. “We know someone out there knows something, so call us.”
FCSO says all its cold cases are in the process of undergoing new DNA processing in hopes of identifying both victims and suspects thanks to new technology and developments.