The Vernon County Jane Doe

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14th October 2017  •  3 min read

Found murdered at the side of the road with her hands cut off, who was "The Vernon County Jane Doe"?


The Vernon County Jane Doe

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Morbidology is a weekly true crime podcast created and hosted by Emily G. Thompson. Using investigative research combined with primary audio, Morbidology takes an in-depth look at true crime cases from all across the world.


On the night of the 4th of May, 1984, three teenagers were driving along Old Line Road, approximately 4 miles west of Westby, Wisconsin, when they came across a gruesome scene. Lying at the side of the gravel road was the body of a female. The teenagers drove to a nearby farm to report what they had found. 1

When an officer arrived, the teenagers directed him to the deceased body. The woman’s face was bludgeoned beyond recognition. She suffered a broken jaw, a broken eye socket, and her dentures had been smashed inside her mouth. She had sharp force injuries to the left ear, possibly caused by a knife. 2

The Vernon County Jane Doe

A model of her likeness could only be created after mortuary personnel reconstructed her face.

She became known as the Vernon County Jane Doe and was described as a Caucasian woman between 50 and 65 years old. She had greying brown hair which was worn in a perm and blue eyes. She was approximately 5 feet and a half-inch tall weighed around 150 pounds. 3

On her abdomen was a 4” surgical scar and in her mouth were dentures with numbers 420 and 289 inscribed. Her blood type was O negative. She was wearing a black dress with a paisley print, a blue turtleneck sweater, a multi-coloured coat, and nylon stockings. On her feet, she donned tan slip-on shoes in a size 8.5B. Both the coat and dress were home-sewn.

The Vernon County Jane Doe
Vernon County Jane Doe’s inscribed dentures.

While no attempt had been made by the killer to conceal her body, the labels of the clothing had been removed to prevent identification. Even more gruesome, her hands had also been chopped off and were never recovered. Again, this would have been to prevent identification via fingerprints. Did the killer think her fingerprints were on file somewhere?

The Vernon County Jane Doe

After the case was publicised in local newspapers, a couple came forward to tell police that they had seen a suspicious man that same evening. He was climbing into the driver’s seat of a two-door yellow Datsun alongside US Highway 14 approximately three miles from the crime scene. When they directed police to where the car was parked, they found a broken denture, blood, and a men’s quartz Seiko watch. 4

They also noticed fresh tracks in the gravel, indicating the driver of the car had made a U-turn. Police theorised that the suspect in the yellow car had pulled in at the side of the road in an attempt to dump the body when the couple interrupted him.

The Vernon County Jane Doe
Anthony Falsetti worked on reconstructing the anonymous woman’s skull. His wife, a forensic artist, drew this rendition. Credit: Anthony Falsetti.

It was believed that she had been murdered elsewhere and then disposed of along Old Line Road. It is unlikely that she was a Vernon County resident but authorities believe she likely lived within 100 miles of where she was dumped.

Despite the fact that over 4000 leads were logged over the forthcoming years, her identity still remains unknown along with the identity of her killer. She was buried in the Viroqua Cemetery under a headstone which reads: “Jane Doe, found murdered on May 4, 1984.” The flowers which decorate her final resting place have been left by those touched by her lonely death. Hopefully one day, she can receive a headstone engraved with her true identity.

Do you think you know the “Vernon County Jane Doe”? Think back to 1984. Did you lose touch with a woman who was a friend, a neighbour, or just a familiar face? If so, tips can be called into the Vernon County Sheriff’s Department at 608-637-2123 or emailed to vcso@vernoncounty.org


 

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Footnotes:

  1. Vernon Broadcaster – 16 December, 2005 – “New Forensic Drawing Released”
  2. 12 News – 29 February, 2015 – “ASU group works to solve Wis. cold case”
  3. 12 News – 29 February, 2015 – “ASU group works to solve Wis. cold case”
  4. http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/261ufwi.html

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Mazikeen
Mazikeen
7 years ago

I get sad😢😔when I read this true crime stories

Michael Schneider
Michael Schneider
5 years ago

Get dna off watch, do reverse genealogy/familial dna from watch and from woman.

Michael Schneider
Michael Schneider
5 years ago

Get dna off watch and do reverse genealogy/familial dna from watch and from woman.

Angie Scheppmann
Angie Scheppmann
4 years ago

Is this not Patsy Clark. Patsy Delois Destelia Ridens Clark

Ashlyyn
Ashlyyn
3 years ago

I don’t think so because Patsy went missing in 1987 while the body was found in 1984.

DMcdonald
DMcdonald
3 years ago

If her dentures were numbered can that not be tracked

CRamey
CRamey
2 years ago

Wouldn’t the dentures have had DNA on them?

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