http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/Invesig..._123919809.html

Updated: 10:44 PM Jun 22, 2011
NEW INFO: Examination Completed on Murder Victim From 30 Years Ago
The body of “Jane Doe” was found in a well in April 1981 in the Dobbstown area of Lawrence County, Ohio.
Posted: 10:44 PM Jun 22, 2011
Reporter: Randy Yohe

UPDATE 6/22/11 @ 10:30 a.m.
IRONTON, Ohio (WSAZ) -- While there's no name yet, investigators now have more information that may help them identify a woman found murdered 30 years ago in Lawrence County, Ohio.

The body of “Jane Doe” was found in a well in April 1981. Investigators at the time said she had been strangled and could have been in the well for up to two years.

Last Wednesday, the woman’s body was exhumed and taken to the to Boyd County Coroner’s Office to be examined.

Bill Nenni, an investigator with the Lawrence County Coroner’s Office say forensic anthropologist Dr. Elizabeth Murray did the examination.

Nenni says the Murray concurred with the original autopsy that the woman was between 30 to 60 years old.

Murray collected bone specimens for DNA testing. Those samples were then sent to the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification. Nenni hopes that testing will completed in about 90 days. Murray also took extensive photographs of the skull and mandible. A computer generated likeness will be developed from her findings.

The most telling information came from the examination done by Boyd County Deputy Coroner and Forensic Dentist, Dr. Ralph Beadle.

Nenni say Beadle found that “Jane Doe” has a very pronounced overbite, a condition commonly known as “buck teeth.”

Beadle believes that even a casual acquaintance would notice the way her upper teeth protruded over her lower lip.

Beadle plans to submit her chart to the American Dental Association in hopes another dentist will recognize her from her records.

Also according to a press release, full body X-rays were taken and those images will be available to compare with any potential matches. Any prior bone fractures, metal plates, pin could match or eliminate missing person descriptions.


UPDATE 6/15/11 @ 6 p.m.
KITTS HILL, Ohio (WSAZ) -- Some homicide investigations may grow cold, but they never go off the books. That’s why the sheriff and coroner in one county exhumed the body of a murder victim Wednesday morning.

Investigators hope to use new technology to solve a 30-year-old mystery.

It’s a murder case that has gnawed at folks for generations. A female victim, brutally murdered -- never identified -- was buried in an unmarked grave, with no suspect ever named. And now three decades later, some burning questions may find answers, and a grieving family somewhere the ability to find peace.

Exhumation crews removed the 30-year-old woman's body from her remote resting place on a Kitts Hill pasture, and it was taken to a coroner's lab. The Lawrence County Ohio Sheriff says this cold case has never frozen over.

In April 1981, two girls playing near their home on Wright Ridge found a woman's body placed down a cistern. The cause of death at the time -- strangulation. Investigators say the victim was tied around the neck and weighted down to keep her down the well.

The coroner’s report from 1981 says the strangled body was in that well for six months to a year. The body was so badly decomposed that there were no fingerprints, no identifying features at all.

Several years ago, the coroner's office entered the unknown victim's limited information into NAMUS, a national missing and unidentified persons data system. The website is a free and open clearinghouse that makes forensic and DNA comparisons to identify missing and unidentified persons.

On Thursday, a forensic specialist will use the neighboring Boyd County coroner's lab to collect DNA and other evidence from the exhumed woman's body. Then, they will enter the deceased's data into NAMUS and hopefully find a match, solve a murder and offer someone somewhere some closure.

The sheriff believes the murder victim, found with rubber bands on her wrists and weighing about 140 pounds, was likely not from the area -- since the initial investigation came up empty. But he's taking nothing for granted.

So he's asking anyone who might remember something that happened back in April 1981, to contact the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department while the DNA testing takes place.

Those tests may take months to complete.

Keep clicking on WSAZ.com for the latest information.


ORIGINAL STORY 6/15/11 @ 11 a.m.
LAWRENCE COUNTY, Ohio (WSAZ) -- The investigation into the identity of a woman who was murdered 30 yeas ago has been reopened.

Wednesday morning officials in Lawrence County, Ohio disinterred the woman’s body from a cemetery in Lawrence County.

In April 1981, the unknown woman’s body was found in a cistern in the Dobbstown area of the county. Investigators at the time ruled the death a homicide.

The Ironton Tribune from April 23, 1981 reports it was two girls, 13 and 14, who found the body. A detective with the Sheriff’s Office told the paper at the time, that a piece of cloth was tied around the woman’s neck. They also found a cinder block with the same type material tied to it in the bottom of the well. They say the body had been in the well for 6 months to a year. The woman was wearing a red sweater and blue jeans with her hands covered by a pair of socks.

Sheriff Jeff Lawless says officials want to identify woman "so that her loved ones can get a small sense of relieve."

Lawless says that technologies are available to us today that were not available when the body was found.

The Sheriff says that several years ago, the Lawrence County Coroners Office entered information about the female into the National Unidentified Person Data System in an attempt to determine her identity. Lawless says since then, 13 people have been excluded as the deceased.

The body will be taken to the Boyd County Kentucky Coroner's Office where experts will attempt to collect DNA and other medical information from the remains. Afterward, the body will be returned to the burial site.

http://z13.invisionfree.com/PorchlightUSA/...showtopic=18845

http://dailyindependent.com/local/x9470296...-Ohio-cold-case

June 16, 2011
Body exhumed in Ohio cold case
Kenneth Hart The Independent

IRONTON — Lawrence County, Ohio, authorities on Wednesday exhumed the body of a woman killed 30 years ago in an attempt to learn her identity.

They were assisted in the endeavor by the Boyd County Coroner’s Office.

The woman’s body was found in a cistern in the Dobbstown area in April 1981. Her death was ruled a homicide and her identity could not be determined.

The Lawrence County Coroner’s Office entered information about the woman into the National Unidentified Persons Data System, also known as NamUs, several years ago, according to a news release from the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department. NamUs is a clearinghouse for missing persons and unidentified decedent records and will also do DNA comparisons to try to identify missing individuals.

NamUs has already excluded 13 people as the unidentified woman, Sheriff Jeff Lawless said.

Lawless said he and Lawrence County Corner Dr. Kurt Hoffman both believe it’s important to try to identify the woman so her family can have a small sense of relief.

“We have no new leads in this case,” the sheriff said. “We are simply trying to determine the identity of this person. Technologies are available to us today that were not available to us in 1981.”

Following disinterment, the body was taken to the Boyd County Morgue. It was examined there by Dr. Elizabeth Murray, a biology professor and forensic/biological anthropologist, who attempted to collect a DNA sample, and Boyd County Deputy Coroner Dr. Ralph Beadle, a forensic dentist, who examined and made a record of the teeth.

Once the exams were completed, the body was returned to the burial site. The sheriff’s department did not say where that was.

DNA and other evidence collected will be entered with NamUs, Lawless said. Individuals who have missing loved ones can also donate DNA samples to the database for comparison, he said.

“Anyone who would like more information about this case can visit the NamUs website at www.namus.gov and refer to Case No. 6259,” Lawless said.

Perry Brock of Brock’s Vault Co. volunteered his services for Wednesday’s disinterment, as did Phillips Funeral Home, which transported the body, Lawless said.

Anyone with information on the case should call the sheriff’s department at (740) 532-3525 or the coroner’s office at (740) 532-3309.

DNA from ‘Belle in the Well’ now in national database
Published 9:48am Friday, March 2, 2012
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We may not yet know who she is, but we know who she isn’t — thanks to a national DNA database.

Lawrence County Coroner Kurt Hofmann said Thursday the DNA from a woman whose body was found stuffed in a rural well more than 30 years ago has been submitted to The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) database in hopes of matching her DNA with another sample in the system. The hope is that somehow modern technology can be used to identify the body and give a name to a woman who died so many years ago. Right now, she only has a number: She is NamUs case 6259.

Hofmann said thus far, DNA has ruled out some possibilities. Her DNA match has precluded her from being several other missing women.

“We know she’s not Ellen Akers of Florida; we know she’s not Christi Booth of Texas or Laura Flink of Washington,” Hofmann said.

Hofmann said the woman’s skull has been sent to the Franklin County Coroner’s Office for possible clay reconstruction, which may also help identify the woman.

Hofmann said this case has cost the county nothing. The Boyd County, Ky., coroner’s office, which helped with the exhumation and allowed the use of its morgue, didn’t charge for its services.Hofmann said he did but Coroner Mark Hammond and his deputy dinner. The other entities have worked for free as well.

“If anyone wants to submit DNA to NamUs for this or any other case, all they have to do is get on the website and they (NamUs) will send a kit (to collect the specimen) and do it for free,” Coroner’s Assistant Bill Nenni said.

In June of last year, the county coroner’s office exhumed the remains of the woman who had been buried in an unmarked grave off Homeless Road in the early 1980s, the county’s only unidentified missing person. The woman’s body, which had been weighted down with a concrete block and thrown in a well near Dobbstown, was found by children playing in the area.

At the time she was found, the body was so decomposed that authorities could not determine if it was male or female, much less identify who it was. That was in 1981, before DNA matching was commonplace and databases created. Authorities theorized the body could have been put there as early as 1979.
http://www.irontontribune.com/2012/03/02/d...ional-database/
The image on the left is a recon of what the girl might have looked like.

The picture on the right is from: The article mentions they are looking at Sheila Gail Wears Pierce who went missing from Point Pleasant in West Virginia on 24th June 1978. I could not find Sheila on Doe Network or NAMUS however there a picture and details here on the West Virginia Police website - http://www.statepolice.wv.gov/missin...px?personid=17

https://identifyus.org/en/cases/full_report/6259

Exclusions
The following people have been ruled out as being this decedent:
First Name Last Name Year of Birth State LKA
Geneva Adams 1922 Missouri
Ellen Akers 1966 Florida
Tammy Akers 1963 Virginia
Elizabeth Allen 1924 Texas
Ida Anderson 1937 Michigan
Katherine Anderson 1954 Maryland
Maria Anjiras 1962 Connecticut
Andria Bailey 1963 Washington
Nancy Baird 1952 Utah
Rose Baker 1940 Texas
Donna Barnhill 1968 North Carolina
Phyllis Berry 1954 Texas
Amy Billig 1957 Florida
Marie Blee 1964 Colorado
Kristy Booth 1960 Texas
Niki Britten 1954 Oregon
Linda Britton 1944 Ohio
Mary Brosley 1937 Massachusetts
Barbara Bruno 1961 New York
Rosemary Buck 1952 New York
Colleen Burgess 1948 Colorado
Pamela Burrows 1949 Washington
Sandra Butler 1962 Nevada
Peggy Byars-Baisden 1941 Florida
Teresa Byers 1959 Texas
Rosemary Calandriello 1952 New Jersey
Christina Carter 1970 Alabama
Benita Chamberlin 1954 Oregon
Dorothy Clitheroe 1959 Arizona
Rose Cole 1957 California
Kathryn Collins 1957 Texas
Lynn Connes 1962 California
Cynthia Constantine 1954 New York
Mary Cook Spencer 1955 Maryland
Cynthia Coon 1957 Michigan
Carla Corley 1966 Alabama
Jan Cotta 1954 New Jersey
Barbara Cotton 1965 North Dakota
Andrea Coyle 1948 Pennsylvania
Melinda Creech 1966 Indiana
Brenda Crowley 1963 New York
Valarie Cuccia 1954 New York
Teresa Cupps 1957 Oklahoma
Evelyn Davis 1962 Ohio
Linda Davis 1946 Oklahoma
Teresa Davis 1955 Washington
Vali Davis 1955 Indiana
EVA DeBruhl 1962 South Carolina
Carol Donn 1963 Florida
Kimberly Doss 1966 Florida
Diane Dye 1966 California
Susan Earls 1959 Florida
Christine Eastin 1952 California
Wendy Eaton 1960 Pennsylvania
Carol Edwards 1956 Washington
Ann Ellinwood 1966 Oregon
Megan Emerick 1956 Alaska
Virginia Erickson 1941 Oregon
Loy Evitts 1948 Kansas
Patricia Faulkner 1942 Georgia
Teresa Fittin 1957 Florida
Nellie Flickinger 1949 Pennsylvania
Laura Flink 1947 Washington
Melanie Flynn 1943 Kentucky
Melanie Flynn 1943 Kentucky
Kathaleen Folk-Hine 1920 Florida
Dixie Forrester 1941 Missouri
Iva Foss 1901 New York
Margaret Fox 1960 New Jersey
Francine Frost 1937 Oklahoma
Rachael Garden 1964 New Hampshire
Joanne Garr 1940 Michigan
Cynthia Gastelle 1962 Maryland
Trenny Gibson 1960 Tennessee
Patricia Girou 1929 Missouri
Sharon Giusti 1943 Washington
Barbara Glueckert 1960 Illinois
Cynthia Gooding 1958 Florida
Dorothy Goroshko 1935 Massachusetts
Ranee Gregor 1961 Pennsylvania
Jamie Grissim 1955 Washington
Corinne Groenenberg 1957 California
Leslie Guthrie 1947 New York
Norma Halford 1958 Colorado
Gina Hall 1962 Virginia
Margaret Hayes 1955 Indiana
Lorraine Herbster 1962 New Jersey
Julie Hill 1958 Minnesota
Pamela Hobley 1954 Michigan
Carolyn Holloway 1943 Texas
Margaret Holst 1959 Nebraska
Sandra Hopler 1955 Pennsylvania
Dolores House 1935 Colorado
Cheryl Ann Iacovone 1960 Pennsylvania
Paulette Jaster 1954 Michigan
Gail Joiner 1959 Florida
Rita Jolly 1956 Oregon
Karen Kamsch 1962 Maryland
Terry Kelley 1954 California
Tina Kemp 1965 Delaware
Cindy King 1962 Oregon
Kimberly King 1966 Michigan
Tracy King 1961 Pennsylvania
Cynthia Kinney 1960 Oklahoma
Nancy Kirkpatrick 1960 Montana
Gloria Korzon 1943 Pennsylvania
Rhonda Labbe 1957 Massachusetts
Vicke Lamberton 1949 Massachusetts
Sandra Landrum 1957 Georgia
Anna Leatherwood 1921 Tennessee
Cynthia Leslie 1959 Arizona
Jackie Leslie 1961 Arizona
Loralee Lhotka 1955 Washington
Lori Lloyd 1963 Ohio
Ella Beth Lodermeier 1949 South Dakota
Charlotte Loomis 1958 New Jersey
Debora Lowe 1959 Florida
Carol Lubahn 1955 California
Lynn Luray 1948 California
Sylvia Lwowski 1953 New York
Sheila Lyon 1962 Maryland
Dorothy Madden 1948 Ohio
Kim Mallon 1960 California
Anne Manchester 1954 Delaware
Aleca Manning 1953 Arizona
Vicki Martinez 1959 Texas
Deborah McCall 1963 Illinois
Angela Meeker 1966 Washington
Deborah Meyer 1959 Wyoming
Cherril Miller 1947 Oregon
Jeanette Miller 1953 Washington
Mary Miller 1932 Utah
Connie Minchaca 1961 California
Barbara Monaco 1960 Virginia
Charlotte Moriarty 1945 Hawaii
Cathy Moulton 1955 Maine
Michelle Mulcahy 1962 Florida
Audrey Nerenberg 1958 New York
Linda Nickel 1956 Michigan
Georgia Nolan 1946 Kentucky
Dana Null 1963 Florida
Nadine O'dell 1958 Michigan
Nancy O'Sullivan 1959 Illinois
Mary Opitz 1964 Florida
Patricia Otto 1951 Idaho
Tiffany Papesh 1972 Ohio
Laurie Partridge 1957 Washington
Susan Pearson 1936 Montana
Dean Pyle Peters 1967 Michigan
Robyn Pettinato 1961 Montana
Sherry Pickle 1957 California
Carol Pierce 1940 Wisconsin
Linda Pleva 1950 Oregon
Denise Porch 1954 North Carolina
Sharon Pretorius 1960 Ohio
Wanda Priddy 1958 Texas
Debra Pscholka 1959 California
Deborah Quimby 1964 Massachusetts
Angela Rader 1963 Virginia
Laureen Rahn 1966 New Hampshire
Peggy Rahn 1960 Florida
Angela Ramsey 1961 Florida
Rebecca Kellison 1955 Colorado
Donnis Redman 1943 California
Sallie Reed 1954 Louisiana
Yvonne Reglar 1960 Ohio
Marcia Remick 1962 Virginia
Simone Ridinger 1960 Massachusetts
Sherry Roach 1959 California
Betty Roberts 1930 Maryland
Elaine Robertson 1955 Washington
Rebecca Rodriguez 1961 California
Lonene Rogers 1952 Pennsylvania
Alma Root 1966 California
Nancy Rose 1951 Idaho
Lucinda Schaefer 1963 California
Cheryl Scherer 1959 Missouri
Diane Schulte 1955 Idaho
Suzanne Schultz 1961 Wisconsin
Lynne Schulze 1953 Vermont
Dorothy Scofield 1964 Florida
Khymbrly SCRUGGS 1961 California
Patricia Seelbaugh 1956 Pennsylvania
Denise Sheehy 1954 New York
Martha Shelton 1944 Kentucky
Mary Shinn 1953 Arkansas
Agnes Shoe 1942 New York
Salie Signani 1940 Washington
Roxanne Sims 1958 Oregon
Catherine Sjoberg 1957 Wisconsin
Verna Smith 1919 California
Nancy Snow 1936 Maryland
Patricia Spencer 1953 Michigan
Debra Spickler 1955 Connecticut
Mary Sprague 1960 Florida
Linda St. Germaine 1961 New York
Delores Stanton 1955 Florida
Wendy Stevenson 1961 Florida
Myrna Stone 1939 Washington
Mary Ann Switalski 1947 Illinois
Judy Sylvester 1955 Virginia
Teresa Rhodes Teresa Rhodes 1962 Pennsylvania
Nancy Tharp 1954 Minnesota
Dorothy Thompson 1915 Washington
Edna Thorne 1960 Pennsylvania
Sheryl Tillinghast 1956 New York
Nadine Timm 1935 Illinois
Sarah Tokier 1960 California
Deborah Tomlinson 1957 Oregon
Rebecca Triska 1943 Pennsylvania
Mary Trlica 1957 Texas
Belinda VanLith 1957 Minnesota
Wilma Vermaas 1953 California
Beatrice Villela 1960 Texas
Arrilla Webb-Vaul 1956 Louisiana
Christina White 1967 Washington
Lisa White 1961 Connecticut
Kathy Wilcox 1957 Michigan
Joanne Williams 1956 Pennsylvania
Lisa Wilson 1960 Texas
Selinda Winegar 1963 Vermont
Cynthia Woolard 1956 Florida
Jennifer Wyant 1958 Tennessee
April Zane 1960 Illinois
Karen Zendrosky 1963 New Jersey
Patricia Zentner 1962 Michigan

http://www.irontontribune.com/2012/05/15/l...%E2%80%99-case/
Leads followed in ‘Belle’ case
Published 9:22am Tuesday, May 15, 2012
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Clay model sparks interest


Law enforcement continues its detective work as it tries to find the identity of the woman now referred to as the “Belle in the Well.”

In 1981 the remains of a woman was pulled from a cistern near Dobbstown, her body weighted down with concrete blocks tied to her with panty hose. An autopsy performed at the time showed that the body could have lain in the cistern as long as 1979.

Since no one came forward at the time her body was found authorities surmised she was homeless. The body was found with a bus ticket and a key to a Greyhound Bus Terminal locker. Two years ago, County Coroner Dr. Kurt Hofmann put the data from that autopsy into National and Missing Unidentified Persons System to see if there would be a match with any missing women listed. In June the woman’s body was exhumed to take DNA samplings to add to that data.

At the end of April Hofmann and Sheriff Jeff Lawless unveiled a clay model that is supposed to give an approximate model of her face.

Since then calls have been coming into the sheriff and coroner’s offices suggesting possible identities from the Tri-State and as far away as Texas and Florida.

“Nothing has panned out,” Lawless said. “There are ones that we can dismiss right off the bat. Some that could be close we have asked a relative to donate some DNA.”

The most that authorities believe they can say for certain is the body is of a woman, Caucasian and 5-foot-4. They estimate her age at between 40 to 60 years old. The age is based on the condition of her teeth and amount of dental work in the mouth.

One identification suggested is Sheila Gail Wears Pierce, a woman from Point Pleasant, W.Va., who was last seen on June 24, 1978.

“Her time frame fits,” Bill Nenni, chief investigator for the coroner’s office, said. “We have looked at her before and have talked to the state police in charge of the case. She has always been someone we thought was a possibility. She now has some DNA in the FBI files. I have requested a one-on-one match.”

What could exclude Pierce is that she was 24 when she disappeared and investigators believe the unidentified body is of a women much older.

“With our girl all her lower molars are missing,” Nenni said. “All of that bone is all healed and in good shape. She had one upper molar that has super-erupted.”

That happens when there are no teeth on the lower jaw to bite against the upper ones. That causes the upper molar to grow longer than it would normally.

“By the fact she doesn’t have those lower molars and the upper tooth is super-erupted is the reasoning we are saying she probably is older than 30 years,” Nenni said. “It is not a real exact science, but it gets us in the ball park.”