"We're not angry. Please call. We love you""Mother is worried. Come home or call""It's been 1 year. Worried sick. Please call home""We miss you terribly. Just tell us you're okay"Before texting, social media, and apps to find your friends, loved ones turned to newspaper personals ads to try to reach those who have distanced themselves (literally or figuratively) from their family, whether voluntary or involuntary. In so few words, they convey desperation, sadness, guilt, heartache, and fear. I can't help but wonder what became of those "missing" people and their loved ones. But their stories will have to wait for another day. I'm still deep in the rabbit hole searching for the identity of the Televangelist's Daughter. The ever-growing list of people that aren't the Televangelist's Daughter has become frustratingly long. She is not "Irish-Indian", a woman who faithfully wrote into the Confidential Chat column of The Boston Globe from 1956 to 1981. She is not the 5-foot-tall brown-haired blue-eyed mother of a finalist in the 1968 Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest who was from Minnesota, married to a retired Air Force dentist. She is not a young woman competing in a Kansas beauty pageant in 1960 who was featured in an article which described her as 5 feet tall, brown hair, blue-gray eyes. And the list goes on (and on, and on). The most challenging part of any case like this is that there are no missing persons reports (that are currently available) that are even close to being a possible match. When there's a Jane who was only skeletal remains, you often have limited details to aid in identification (which is how they end up being Janes for so long). A height estimate, no weight, age range that can encompass anywhere from a 3 year range to "We really don't have a clue", some have a note about distinguishing characteristics (unusual dental work, old fractures, skeletal abnormalities, etc.) or a description of items found with the remains. There are enough details that you can compare to missing persons. You're looking for a needle in a haystack in the dark, but at least you know that the needle is in there somewhere and you've already found the haystack. This Jane's identity is a transparent needle that was thrown into the ocean 37 years ago. I feel like I'll only find this needle if it stabs me while I'm aimlessly swimming in this sea of information. I know it's there, somewhere, I'm just not sure if it will ever be found. As I go from searching strings of keywords like "family worried please call" or "reported her missing brown hair blue eyes" or "declared legally dead missing" in the newspaper archives to looking people up on Ancestry, Family Search, and Genealogy Bank, to finding yearbook photos to compare with this Jane's hospital admission photo, I wondered what she looked like when she was healthy and happy. Before she stood in front of that awful red-orange wall. Before she had a seizure, fell, and died. So, like any normal person, I went back to a facial reconstruction program and tried to match her features as best I could. Then I hopped over to Photoshop and gave the reconstruction some color and tweaking. It's far from perfect, but I'm pretty darn proud of it. I'm just glad to have something to compare with other photos that doesn't have a glare across her face. The retouched photo, while much better than the original, has some slight differences (mainly in the eyes) that just bugged me. I cannot express how grateful I am for officials who are not only receptive to people like me, but make themselves available for back-and-forth communication about a case. I was able to get some new-to-me information that isn't on her NamUs or Doe Network pages, and I'm hopeful that these details will allow me to narrow the search area and timeframe significantly. For now, I'll keep brainstorming on keywords and phrases for the newspaper archives, searching through yearbooks, and praying for a miracle for the Televangelist's Daughter. Fortunately, there's still a possibility that someone who knew her in life is still alive today and, if her photo and story get back into the public eye, maybe - just maybe they will recognize her.
We have a photo of her, we know her exact height and weight, we know her eye and hair color, we know where and how she died. People are identified with significantly less information available, and sometimes only partial skeletal remains, so I know that this puzzle can be put together; it's just a matter of finding all of the pieces. Until next time, EC |
EmilyTrue crime, cold case, long-term missing/unidentified, and all things mystery. I've always been interested, but now I'm involved in the search. Archives
June 2023
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Photos used under Creative Commons from Jinx!, Damian Gadal