The Search ContinuesIf you haven't already, hop on over to her page to read more about her story and what led me here. Since I created her page, the Jane that I call the Televangelist's Daughter has been my primary focus. Because of the absolute lack of leads or information about her possible identity, it's not surprising that she's been a Jane for 37 years. Today I spoke with the coroner's office that has her case and got the chance to connect with someone who is even more determined to see the Televangelist's Daughter be reunited with her identity. Unfortunately, he couldn't offer any more information than was available on her NamUs and Doe Network pages, but at least now I know that there isn't some important detail that I didn't know about. What you see is what you get for this Jane. I'm also happy to say that she has been considered, and is at the top of the list for, DNA comparison with genealogy banks. Unfortunately, her DNA sample is pretty degraded, so there may be a chance that the comparison won't be an option, but you don't know until you try and I'm glad that she's getting that chance. Aside from having a new contact in South Carolina, I've been trying to come at this search from every possible angle. Assuming that investigators checked psychiatric institutions and residential facilities to inquire about the Televangelist's Daughter, I haven't gone down that path. Instead, I've gathered 15 years of birth records, high school yearbooks, an entire newspaper archive site, and facial reconstruction software, then piled them up like the mountain of laundry that we've all had at one time or another. The daunting mountain sits in wait, taunts you, dares you to try to conquer it. And conquer it we shall! Because we don't know where the Televangelist's Daughter came from, it was difficult to even decide where to start searching. Because she was found wandering the streets of Columbia, South Carolina, I thought that she may have lived in the area at some point. Where better to start than high school yearbooks? I am forever thankful for the person who started Classmates.com and those who go through the process of scanning all of the yearbooks because it's been an invaluable resource. The estimated age range for the Televangelist's Daughter is 35 to 50 years. I ran her photos through a web-based program that does some pretty cool facial recognition work, and all of her photos were marked with ages from 45 years to 50 years. So that's my starting point. With that age range as my focus, she would have been born anywhere from 1931-1938, meaning that she would have likely been a high school graduate between 1948-1956. There are 3,774 results from a search for 1950's high school yearbooks from South Carolina. Lucky for me, many are duplicates (different pages from the same yearbook). I try not to think about the possibility that I'm missing THE student by focusing on these years only, but it's only the beginning. My process is pretty simple, to be honest, but frustrating at times. Having easily found a name and a photo from 1950 does not in any way mean that finding any records after that will be the slightest bit simple.
I'm hopeful that this simple but tedious process will turn something up. If not, oh well. That's just where I'm at right now. Eventually, I'll have sifted through all of the South Carolina yearbooks and can move on to surrounding states, if necessary. I've reached out to pages that advocate for and post about missing persons from South Carolina, and they've agreed to share the Televangelist's Daughter's photo and information in hopes of getting her face back out to the public. To be honest, this Jane's story really breaks my heart. The local media did an excellent job of getting her photo and story out to the public at the time, but it didn't turn up any helpful information. How can someone live for 35-50 years on this earth and have no one who cares about them enough to notice that they're missing, report them missing, or call investigators to say that they know who Jane is?! No husband? No children? No siblings? No friends? The idea that someone could disappear, die, and be gone for 37 years without anyone looking for them is ridiculous. Someday, somehow, she will get her name back. It may not be because of my efforts, but I know that her identity is out there waiting to be found. Until next time,
E.C. |
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