The Lost and the Found

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Henry C. Lee, forensics expert, professor and founder of the University of New Haven Forensic Research Training Center, said technology has changed tremendously in the years since the discovery of East Haven's Jane Doe. According to Lee, in older cases of unidentified remains, DNA samples weren't taken, but with today's technology, DNA can be extracted from hair and bone.

Lee also cautioned that getting DNA from the remains won't necessarily solve the East Haven mystery.

"It is so many years ago, it would be hard to track down family to get the known DNA (for comparison)," Lee said. "If we don't know where the victim came from, we don't have known DNA to compare with, and that becomes shooting in the dark, and makes the case very difficult."

Scobie said he doesn't believe Jane Doe was from the area, as he believes someone would have reported her missing, and she would have been recognized back then from publicity about the case. It is possible her parents are dead, he said.

"The theory is she was killed elsewhere and then brought to that location," Scobie said. "I personally don't think the crime occurred very far away. She was pretty well bound, tied and gagged. Someone took their time with her. I think it was a premeditated killing."

Doe possibly had a small mole on her chin, and she had pierced ears and wore small gold circular earrings, according to Scobie.

"There was an item used to gag her which leads me to believe the homicide was committed locally," he said.

Police don't want to be specific about the item used to gag the victim, because if police ever get a confession, only the killer could identify it, Scobie said.

Police believe she had been there up to five days before her discovery.

"Whoever put her there, did not want her found," Scobie said. "There are a lot of theories. I'm not sure a person who was just traveling through would take the time to conceal a body like that."

Over the years, leads about her possible identity have come through the Doe Network, but they have all been ruled out through dental or medical comparisons, according to Scobie.

According to Scobie, police have a suspect in Jane Doe's death, Glen Askeborn, who served prison time for a similar slaying in Maine. Askeborn, who dressed in women's clothes, used the name Samantha Glenner also, according to police.

According to the Maine Department of Corrections, Askeborn was released from prison in September 2009.

"The body in that (Maine) case was concealed and disposed of in a similar manner, and we went to interview (Askeborn) in a Maine prison," Scobie said. "He denied any knowledge of it. He lived in East Haven at the time of this (Jane Doe) incident, and there were a lot of similarities. Personally, I do think he was involved, but we have no direct evidence."

Investigators in Old Saybrook have their own unsolved case. Fishermen discovered the badly decomposed body of a man floating in the Connecticut River in Old Saybrook on March 31, 1998.

John Doe's case is on the Doe Network, and it was entered on NamUs in 2008. The NamUs site says his DNA is not available, but his dental information is available for comparison. The site estimates his age at between 30 and 35 and describes him as a white male, who was 5 feet, 8 inches tall. His remains were mostly skeletonized. He was wearing a coat with a purple zipper, and had remnants of black socks and pants, and he wore size 9½ FILA brand sneakers. He also had a silver lighter, the NamUs site shows. Officials estimate his death as between 1990 and 1998. His remains were eventually buried as a John Doe.

The man is featured in the state's cold case playing card deck, which is given to state prisoners, as the nine of hearts. The card describes him as an unidentified person, aged between 29 and 32, and about 200 pounds. A drawing of him on the card depicts him as dark-skinned.

Old Saybrook police Sgt. Charles Mercer said the investigation determined his body was in the water for years, and police believe he floated downriver to Old Saybrook.

"The condition of the body indicates he was in a marshy area before high water moved the remains to the river," Mercer said.

According to Mercer, the facial reconstruction of a dark-skinned male was done by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and police believe it is an accurate representation of what he looked like, though Mercer said the skin color could be much lighter and is "at best a guess."

"His bone structure suggests he probably was Hispanic or Caucasian, or of mixed race," Mercer said.