Colo. authorities identify longtime Jane Doe

[samanthajane13]

By JUDITH KOHLER, Associated Press Writer Judith Kohler, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 14 mins ago

DENVER – Police on a cold case hunt have finally identified a woman whose nude and battered body was found along a Boulder creek 55 years ago but it's not closed — they want to name the killer.

She was buried under a headstone that read "Jane Doe" and remained anonymous until a DNA test revealed that she was Dorothy Gay Howard of Phoenix, officials announced Wednesday. Howard had been reported missing in March 1954 when she was 18.

The ID was resolved by the Boulder County Sheriff's Department, Internet research and the persistence of local historian Silvia Pettem. Sheriff Joe Pelle, whose department renewed efforts five years ago to find out who she was, said a relative provided the genetic sample.

Sheriff's Cmdr. Rick Brough said it was gratifying to finally know who the woman was. But he added "it's not closed yet;" the department still wants to find Howard's killer.

"With her identification, a major piece of the puzzle has been added," said detective Steve Ainsworth, the lead investigator.

Officials say serial killer Harvey Glatman, executed in 1959 in California, might have murdered Howard. Glatman, who confessed to killing three women, had served time in a Colorado state prison for violent assaults on women.

"I'm confident now that we will be able to find the missing links that will tie this all together," Ainsworth said.

Sheriff's officials have credited historian Pettem with encouraging them to renew efforts to identify the woman buried in a Boulder cemetery with a gravestone that reads "Jane Doe — April 1954 — Age About 20 Years."

Pettem became interested in the woman and her story after visiting the cemetery in the 1990s. She wrote the book "Someone's Daughter, In Search of Justice for Jane Doe."

"After 55 years, we can put her name on the grave," Pettem told The Associated Press.

But there's still the fact that a young woman's life ended so tragically, Pettem said. "I have almost been grieving for her," she said.

The mystery that made headlines across Colorado when the woman's body was found in 1954 was renewed in 2004 after investigators exhumed the body to extract DNA. A sculpture of her head was made using her reconstructed skull.

Howard's DNA profile was added to the FBI's national database of missing persons.

For a while, investigators thought Jane Doe was possibly a Denver woman reporting missing in 1954. They learned through an Internet contact earlier this year that the missing woman was alive and living in Australia.

It was another Internet contact that finally led to Howard's identity. Pettem said Howard's great-niece had been following the story on Pettem's Web s0ite and contacted her, saying the mystery woman might be a relative.

"There was something about this young woman, she just sounded right," Pettem said. "I urged her to contact the sheriff's office."

Howard's younger sister provided DNA, which was a match with Jane Doe. Police said the relatives don't want their names or location released and want Howard to remain buried in Boulder.

Pettem hopes they don't change their minds. Boulder residents raised the money in 1954 to buy her a gravestone and again supported efforts to identify her.

"She's a part of Boulder. I feel like she belongs," Pettem said.

______________________

On the Net:

Boulder County Sheriff's Department: http://www.bouldercounty.org/sheriff/

Silvia Pettem: http://www.silviapettem.com/


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091029/...ering_jane_doe

[samanthajane13]

Police determine teen missing since 1954 was slain
By AMANDA LEE MYERS, Associated Press Writer Amanda Lee Myers, Associated Press Writer – Wed Nov 4, 12:40 pm ET

PHOENIX – A murdered young woman buried as Jane Doe in Colorado 55 years ago. An Arizona family puzzled and saddened as Dorothy Gay Howard's disappearance stretched into decades.

It took a historian, a detective and a determined family member to make the connection after more than a half century that these two people were one and the same.

Howard's younger sister, Marlene Howard Ashman, the last surviving member of the immediate family, was relieved last month when authorities announced the identification.

"It was just complete and utter shock," said Ashman, who lives in Mena, Ark., but spoke to The Associated Press from Newport, N.C., where she was visiting her daughter.

"All these 55 years, I guess I learned as a child to put it in an abstract form so I could deal with it; it's easier to accept," Ashman said.

But the younger sister is grappling with the fact that Howard was murdered and is aching to know who killed her.

"Now that I know, it isn't so much that she died, but the horrible death," she said.

Boulder County Sheriff's Detective Steve Ainsworth, the lead investigator in the case, said Howard died of blunt-force trauma. She couldn't be identified because her body was found a week after she was killed, and animals had gotten to her face and fingers.

At the time, the mystery made headlines across Colorado, and Boulder residents raised enough money to buy her a gravestone, which read "Jane Doe — April 1954 — Age About 20 Years."

Boulder County sheriff's officials have credited historian Silvia Pettem with encouraging them to renew efforts to identify Jane Doe. Pettem became interested in the woman and her story after visiting the cemetery in the 1990s and writing the book "Someone's Daughter, In Search of Justice for Jane Doe."

Meanwhile, Howard's grandniece Michelle Marie Fowler decided to contact Ainsworth after reading an article about Jane Doe and suspecting for years that Howard had been killed.

Ainsworth asked Ashman to provide a DNA sample, and the family learned Oct. 23 that Ashman and Jane Doe were related.

Ainsworth said it was gratifying to tell Howard's family what had happened to her, but he now has a new focus.

"We know who she is, but there's still another mystery and that may be the biggest mystery of all, and that's who did it," Ainsworth said.

He said his gut tells him it was serial killer Harvey Glatman, who was executed in 1959 in California. Glatman, who confessed to killing three women, had served time in a Colorado state prison for violent assaults on women, including one about a quarter of a mile from where Howard's body was found.

Because of marks on her body, evidence at the scene and a passing reference Glatman made to a California police detective, Ainsworth's theory is that Glatman hit Howard with his car as she tried to get away. Now, Ainsworth just has to prove it.

Ashman said all she wants is justice for her sister.

She said Howard was extremely strong-willed and lived quite a life in her 18 years, including marrying twice. "Once she decided on a course, it would take heaven and earth to stop her," Ashman said.

Petite and attractive with blond hair, Howard was the oldest of three sisters born in the Texas Panhandle. The girls' parents moved the family to Phoenix in 1942 for "greener pastures."

Howard married her first husband at age 15 with her parents' permission, but she got divorced and remarried unbeknownst to her family, Ashman said. The family found out about the second marriage years after Howard disappeared.

Howard was working as a live-in nanny in Phoenix the last her family heard from her; they reported her missing when she didn't show up to take one of her sisters to the movies.

Because Howard was so willful and had run away from home once before, Ashman said the family thought she just didn't want to see them again. "We always waited to hear from her," she said.

Ashman still has a letter that her sister wrote to her parents soon before she disappeared.

"She just said, 'Here's some money to help out,'" Ashman said. "She signed it, 'Love always, Dot.'"

(This version CORRECTS when authorities announced the identification.)


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091104/...ljZWRldGVybQ--

[SaraSidle]

Sylvia Pettem posts here and I think she did a fantastic job assisting the search for Jane Doe's indentity. We need more people like that for the
missing/found. IMO