Alta Jane Doe
She was petite, standing at only about 5 feet. In her 37-47 years of life, she had given birth to at least one child, had quality dental care, may have been left handed, may have been a smoker, and - somehow - ended up in a roadside dumping area. On May 9, 2001, a paving employee with the state of West Virginia was looking around for mason jars and happened upon some of her remains. Due to whatever circumstances, her bones had been scattered over an area approximately the size of a football field. Fortunately, the authorities were able to recover most or all of her remains.
A forensic reconstruction of what she may have looked like was created (pictured on the right), and this unidentified woman had a face. The next step would be to give her a name. Not for lack of trying, investigators from the West Virginia State Police have been unable, thus far, to determine who she was in life. |
What We KnowFound May 9, 2001
Est. Year Range of Death: 1998-2001 White 37-47 years old 5'0 Cannot estimate weight Hair & eye color unknown Distinguishing Characteristics: Had one or more children, possibly a smoker, possibly left-handed |
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My Two Cents
If you care to know my theory on who this Jane Doe may have been in life, I'm happy to share a short version of it. I'll spare you the minute details of how I came to this conclusion, but I'll touch on the key points.
There are currently only 15 females missing from West Virginia from 1945-2000. 3 of those are within the estimated 37-47 year age range for this Jane Doe. They went missing in 1979, 1988, and 1999. The woman who went missing in 1999 was ruled out by DNA. And, if you're one to think way outside the box (read: reasonable timeline), the other two women were excluded by DNA as well. So, that leaves two options: Jane Doe wasn't reported missing or she wasn't from West Virginia.
Because the first option isn't one that I'm fond of, I went through Door #2 and expanded my search. After some time sifting through the missing persons reports, photos, and possible matches, I settled on one missing woman that made a considerable amount of sense. Her name?
Alison Goodwin Thresher. Missing from Bethesda, Maryland since May 24, 2000. She was a beautiful 45 year old woman with a crown of curly blonde hair that had already begun turning white. She had a small 5'0" to 5'2" and 110lbs frame with a big, bright smile and what seems to be an even bigger personality. She had two children and was preparing to start a new job at The Washington Post's website. To compress the long, frustrating, heartbreaking story of her disappearance (you can read the more detailed version here on The Charley Project), I'll say that there was a male teacher who had inappropriate involvement with Alison's daughter (he was later sentenced to 168 years for the abuse), which Alison was very vocal about. She'd written letters to the teacher, demanding that he stop spending time alone with her daughter, and brought her suspicions to the school.
May 23, 2000 was a seemingly normal day. Alison had dinner with her parents, went home and spoke to a friend on the phone around 10:00pm, then emailed her employer around midnight. At around 3:00=4:00am, a neighbor was awoken by sounds of a woman sobbing coming from Alison's apartment, and loud footsteps going back and forth between the bathroom and bedroom. A man matching the teacher's description was seen running through Alison's neighborhood, near where her car was later found abandoned, around 6:00am on the day that Alison was reported missing. Her disappearance was initially investigated as a missing persons case, but was reclassified as a presumed homicide in February 2001 after evidence related to her disappearance was recovered and pointed to foul play. In 2018, the teacher was named as a person of interest in Alison's murder. Shortly after that announcement, he was found dead in his jail cell.
There are currently only 15 females missing from West Virginia from 1945-2000. 3 of those are within the estimated 37-47 year age range for this Jane Doe. They went missing in 1979, 1988, and 1999. The woman who went missing in 1999 was ruled out by DNA. And, if you're one to think way outside the box (read: reasonable timeline), the other two women were excluded by DNA as well. So, that leaves two options: Jane Doe wasn't reported missing or she wasn't from West Virginia.
Because the first option isn't one that I'm fond of, I went through Door #2 and expanded my search. After some time sifting through the missing persons reports, photos, and possible matches, I settled on one missing woman that made a considerable amount of sense. Her name?
Alison Goodwin Thresher. Missing from Bethesda, Maryland since May 24, 2000. She was a beautiful 45 year old woman with a crown of curly blonde hair that had already begun turning white. She had a small 5'0" to 5'2" and 110lbs frame with a big, bright smile and what seems to be an even bigger personality. She had two children and was preparing to start a new job at The Washington Post's website. To compress the long, frustrating, heartbreaking story of her disappearance (you can read the more detailed version here on The Charley Project), I'll say that there was a male teacher who had inappropriate involvement with Alison's daughter (he was later sentenced to 168 years for the abuse), which Alison was very vocal about. She'd written letters to the teacher, demanding that he stop spending time alone with her daughter, and brought her suspicions to the school.
May 23, 2000 was a seemingly normal day. Alison had dinner with her parents, went home and spoke to a friend on the phone around 10:00pm, then emailed her employer around midnight. At around 3:00=4:00am, a neighbor was awoken by sounds of a woman sobbing coming from Alison's apartment, and loud footsteps going back and forth between the bathroom and bedroom. A man matching the teacher's description was seen running through Alison's neighborhood, near where her car was later found abandoned, around 6:00am on the day that Alison was reported missing. Her disappearance was initially investigated as a missing persons case, but was reclassified as a presumed homicide in February 2001 after evidence related to her disappearance was recovered and pointed to foul play. In 2018, the teacher was named as a person of interest in Alison's murder. Shortly after that announcement, he was found dead in his jail cell.
You might be wondering how Alison's remains would have ended up all the way in West Virginia in a roadside dump. That is the more complex part of my possible match theory. Although the area where Jane Doe was found is only about a 4-5 hour drive along a major highway from Bethesda, Maryland, I can't say with any certainty how she could have gotten there. Of course, I have my suspicions and theories, but nothing concrete. I don't know if the teacher missed work that day (it was a Wednesday, but I'm unsure if the school year had ended by May 24th. Their current school year ends June 6th). Could he have killed her, made an attempt to clean up the apartment, put her in his vehicle and driven the 4-5 hours to Alta, WV to pull just off the highway and leave her remains in the dumping area? Yes, he could have. Did he? I don't know. That's not for me to determine. All I know is that Alison's photos resemble the Jane Doe's reconstruction, the descriptions fit well enough, and the timeline is within reason.
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I'm currently waiting to hear back from the very helpful and dedicated investigator with the West Virginia State Police regarding the comparison. While I'm hopeful that it's a match, I'm not getting my hopes up. With any case that isn't cut and dry (when are they, really, though?), I'm always torn on being hopeful because of the similarities, and being doubtful because of the inconsistencies.
Only time - and DNA - will tell.
Only time - and DNA - will tell.