WHEN
Her pieces were recovered in two separate discoveries. A burgundy suitcase was found that contained the torso and the arms. Her legs were later recovered.
Initial Find: July 11 1995 - a fisherman located a suitcase while culling at Valley Creek.
Second find: January 28 1996 - Core Creek Park in Langhome PA.
WHERE
Downington, PA
Langhome, PA
THE DISCOVERY
The fisherman found on July 11 1995 initially found a dark green trash bag in the creek. There is an area there called the Twin Tunnels and the bag was found on the north side of this area. He decided to open the suitcase and found a maroon/burgundy suitcase, smaller in size, and tape and wire were wrapped around the outside.
He observed a quilt and bed sheet inside, as well and a denim bottom down shirt. He continued to investigate what he had found.
Wrapped in the quilt and sheet was a garment bag, The garment bag contained the head, torso, and arms of the Doe. The torso still had bloody bra on it. Legs were not present in the suitcase and the remains were partially decomposed. The fisherman called the police department at approximately 1 pm that day.
The second discovery was by a jogger at Core Creek Park. The leg or legs (unclear if the jogger came across both to just one.) were found in a wooded area.
The right leg was found hip to foot. There was no skin from upper thigh to the ankle. This has been attributed to possible animal scavenging. A left leg was found nearby in a shallow grave. It was also wrapped in a dark green trash bag like the suitcase.
Additional clothing was discovered and the sizing was consistent with the sizing of the torso in the first find.
EVIDENCE AND FINDINGS
Clothing found on body: Light blue, long sleeved denim shirt with a collar, with light colored bands across the chest and copper colored buttons.
Clothing found with legs: Mickey and Minnie Mouse sweatshirt - blue, black and pink in color. A denim jacket. A denim skirt. A small black sweatshirt.
A white blouse with gold and black buttons was found near the trash bag during the second discovery.
Estimated age was 25-35
Estimated height - 4'11" to 5'3"
Estimated weight is about 125
Dark brown hair, worn in the shorter end, around 6 inches in length.
Eye color is brown
Ears are pierced
She is believed to be either white or Hispanic.
Apparently they were not able to 100% match the legs to the torso via DNA, but it was determined that the remains were from the same person as the leg bone was able to fit into the socket of the hip of Suitcase Doe. However according to suitcasejanedoe.com, DNA is in the system. Fingerprints are available as well.
The initial autopsy on the first find could not determine a cause of death. They did not observe any signs of sexual assault. The coroner did observe a bruise to her right eye. They also saw two smaller bruises on her back. They believed that lends to that this was perhaps a domestic violence situation and that she had attempted to run away from her killer.
No drugs were found in her system. Alcohol levels were consistent with 1-2 beverages being consumed before death.
The Coroner believed the body had probably been there for 3-7 days. The DA would later state he believed it could have been there for 1-2 weeks. No definite time of death has been determined.
On the second autopsy, it was determined that the range of time of death was consistent with the range of time of death of the torso remains.
Both the leg bone and torso had 15 cut marks cause by a small sharp blade. These cuts were consistent and therefore matched.
RESOURCES
suitcasejanedoe.com
this website has pretty much everything that is known about the case for those looking to deep dive and learn more information that is not covered in this blog post.
CONTACT
PA State Police - Embreeville Station
Trooper Chad Roberts 717-299-7650
Chester Co Coroner's Office 610 344 6165
Case IDs: NCIC# U-853071055
NamUS UP # 13616
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