Lewis County Jane Doe

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lewis County Jane Doe is the name given to an unidentified murder victim whose body was discovered on April 7, 2011 in Morton, Washington. She was approximately 20-35 years old at the time of her death, and had been deceased for about 3 months.[1]

Discovery[]

The partial skeletal remains of the victim were discovered on April 7, 2011 by a motorist who pulled over to take a break. The body was dumped several yards off a logging trail along highway 12 just west of Morton, Washington. According to the county sheriff, the body was transported to the location from another area, suggesting that she was killed elsewhere. This also indicates that the victim was most likely not from Lewis county.

Autopsy[]

Autopsy results showed that she had been deceased for around three months and passed away between December 2010 and January 2011. Due to the state of decomposition, a cause of death could not be determined. Despite this, due to the remote location of where she was found, her death was deemed suspicious and soon regarded as a homicide.

Investigation[]

Based on some evidence at the scene, investigators believed there might be a military connection to her death, but these details have been kept hidden for fear of jeopardizing the investigation.[2] It was speculated that she could have been a victim of Alaskan serial killer Israel Keyes, who was known to be active in the state of Washington. However, nothing relating to this aspect of the investigation has ever been publicly released.

A DNA analysis completed in 2018 revealed that the remains belonged to a woman of petite stature between the ages of 20-35,[3] and most likely had brown eyes and black hair. She was initially believed to have been a Caucasian woman, but DNA phenotyping done by Parabon NanoLabs in 2019 revealed that she had East African ancestry, and was most likely Somali. Her complexion is believed to have been light to medium brown with no freckles.

Updated composite sketch of the victim released in 2018 by Parabon NanoLabs based on DNA phenotyping that revealed she was of East African descent

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Morton Jane Doe".
  2. ^ Roberta, Steve. "Lewis County Cold Case Task Force hoping new technology, clues will help identify woman". Q13 Fox.
  3. ^ Fitzgerald, Emily. "Two Sets of Unidentified Human Remains Are With Lewis County Coroner, Including One Recently Found Near Winlock". The Chronline.
Retrieved from ""