Just over 20 years ago, along a lonely stretch of Route 60 in Greenbrier County, the skeletal remains of a woman were found. To this day, officers have not discovered who this woman is or why her body was left near the side of the road, but they haven’t stopped trying.
First Sgt. Andy Evans with the West Virginia State Police Lewisburg Detachment is now in charge of the investigation and he is looking for answers. He, along with everyone who worked on the case, is determined to finally discover the identity of this woman and bring the person(s) responsible for her murder to justice.
According to Evans, back on May 9, 2001, a WV Paving employee was searching for Mason jars over an embankment located at a popular wide spot along Route 60 near Alta. People would frequently park at the wide spot and would often throw trash over the hill, making it the perfect spot to search for old treasures. As the paving employee was looking around, he noticed what appeared to be a human skull and called the police.
Vince Deeds, who now works for the Greenbrier County Prosecuting Attorney’s office, was a sergeant in the West Virginia State Police at the time. He was one of the original officers who responded to the call.
“It was apparent that the skull had been there for some time,” Deeds recalled. “We began a full crime scene. We took the time over several days to gather evidence including trash, deer bones and everything else. Some of the things we found were not relevant to the case, but we took all the bone matter to Regina Reynolds at the state medical examiner’s office.”
Medical examiners were soon able to discover that the remains were of a white woman who would have been about 5 ft. tall and between the ages of 37-47 at the time of her death. Her left humerus (upper arm bone) showed evidence of a healed fracture and she had a chip in one of her lower teeth. Additionally, she most likely bore at least one child, may have been left-handed and may have been a smoker. During her life, she had received quality dental work.
Based on the condition of the remains, investigators believe that she was the victim of a homicide and that her date of death is estimated to have occurred sometime between 1998-2001.
DNA was collected from the remains and her DNA profile was entered into the FBI’s CODIS database, Deeds said. Also, during this time, West Virginia State Police Sergeant Michael Spradlin, now retired, worked with local Fayette County artist David Weaver to have a clay facial reconstruction model made to show what she may have looked like. To date, this is the only facial reconstruction available.
The skull was later sent to forensics expert Dr. Douglas Owsley at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. where additional testing, including dental x-rays, were completed. This information was entered into the NCIC database to help identify her. Her skull remains at the Smithsonian today.
After all this effort to determine the identity of this woman, there have been no DNA matches and every missing person report follow-up has come back empty.
“We are still looking for leads and answers,” Deeds said. “We are hoping and praying that one day someone’s DNA will be put into CODIS and we will have a hit.”
In the meantime, Deeds said it is important for people to continue to discuss this incident in the hopes that an old memory may be the missing puzzle piece that helps solve the case.
“Now that some time has passed, a family member may be willing to come forward with information that they were not previously ready to disclose, or a person might be more willing to come forward with much-needed details,” Deeds said. “Help from those in the public is priceless.”
Since 2001, the wide spot, which was large enough for semi-truck drivers who needed a break from traveling nearby I-64 to park in, has been filled in with gravel and dirt. Unless a person has lived in the area for years, they would never know a wide spot had ever been at that location. Unfortunately, for those who know better, every time that site is passed, old memories return.
“We have no suspects,” Evans said one evening as he sat behind his desk going through the Jane Doe evidence box at his side. “This is unfinished business. This was someone’s mother, daughter, family member — we would love to be able to identify her.”
“I just want closure for her and for her family,” he continued. “I want to know about the person who did this to her. I want to know if this is the only person they have done this to.”
Through CODIS, 23 missing females have been cleared as being Greenbrier County’s Jane Doe.
Members of the public are encouraged to call First Sgt. Evans and provide any information they may have. He may be reached at the Lewisburg Detachment of the West Virginia State Police at 304-647-7600.
