1988 Mullica Murder Victim Needs ID

Most unsolved homicide cases have family and friends waiting for justice.

But in the case of a woman found dead in Mullica Township nearly 28 years ago, it’s investigators who are waiting.

Waiting to find out who she is.

Waiting for a loved one to come forward.

Waiting to solve a case that was hindered from the start.

“A lot of times the investigation can’t move forward until we identify the victim,” said Atlantic County Major Crimes Lt. Pat Snyder.

Mullica’s Jane Doe is one of 358 unidentified remains whose cases are still open in New Jersey. There are more than 10,000 nationwide, dating to 1915.

Sitting on a table in front of Snyder was an artist’s carving of “Jane Doe,” whose body was discovered by a hiker July 19, 1988, in a cedar swamp off Weekstown Road.

An investigation ruled it a homicide. She was fatally stabbed, likely about two to four weeks before she was found.

 

Her remains were so badly decomposed, a forensic anthropologist was called in to determine the features that were then sculpted into a bust.

The result is a young black woman with a square jaw and slightly crooked nose. With her eyes cast to the left and her lips slightly parted, it appears as if she, too, is looking for answers

She stood about 5-foot-2 and was likely somewhere between 25 and 35 years old, investigators believe. And there may be a child out there missing his or her mother, since it was determined she once gave birth.

Before her death, there was an attempt to take out her wisdom tooth, but the tooth had broken and the root was still intact. Evidence at the scene indicated she was coming from or going to a food store when she was killed.

When the sculpture was first released in early 1989, no one came forward. In the years since, two possible identities have been ruled out.

Family and friends are usually the best sources in investigating homicides, said Dennis McKelvey, a retired county detective and former head of Major Crimes.

But if someone is missing her, they haven’t found their way to Atlantic County.

“This is probably one of the cases we need the most help with,” Snyder said.

Her DNA is entered in the Combined DNA Index System under unidentified remains. The Unidentified Persons Database also includes DNA samples from missing people and biological relatives of missing people. There has been no match.

She is one of at least two still unidentified remains found in Mullica. On Oct. 11, 1994, a hunter found the remains of a white male in a wooded area. The cause of death was not determined.

Snyder now hopes someone will see Jane Doe’s face and recognize her.

Or maybe someone will finally submit their DNA to the database as the family member of a missing person. This missing person.

It’s happened before.

Marci Bachmann was 16 when she ran away from Vancouver, Washington, in 1984. Her remains were found months later near Deer Creek in Missoula, Montana. But it was more than 20 years before her mother’s DNA was logged and a match was found. She is believed to be a victim of suspected serial killer Wayne Nance, who was fatally shot in 1986 by a man he allegedly tried to kill.

Anyone who recognizes Jane Doe is asked to call Major Crimes at 609-909-7666 or Mullica police at 609-561-7600, ext. 127.

Lt. Pat Snyder, of the Atlantic County Major Crimes Unit. he is hoping someone will finally recognize the composite of a woman who was found dead in Mullica Township in 1988. Investigators know she was fatally stabbed, but not who "Jane Doe" is.

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/crime/statue-sole-means-of-identifying-mullica-jane-doe/article_4c878942-027b-11e6-a0bf-63ed9763384f.html