Author Topic: LADY OF THE DUNES: WF, 27-49, found in Provincetown, MA - 26 July 1974  (Read 890 times)

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Lady of the Dunes

Born 1925 – 1949
Status Unidentified for 41 years, 6 months and 16 days
Died c. July 1974 (aged 25–49)
Cause of death
Blunt force trauma
Body discovered
July 26, 1974
Provincetown, Massachusetts, U.S
Resting place
Saint Peters Cemetery, Provincetown, Massachusetts, U.S.[1]
Other names "Provincetown Jane Doe"
Known for Unidentified victim of homicide
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Lady of the Dunes (also known as Lady in the Dunes) is the nickname given a woman whose unidentified remains were discovered on July 26, 1974 in the Race Point Dunes, Provincetown, Barnstable County, Massachusetts[2][3] Her body was exhumed in 1980, 2000, and 2013[4] in efforts to identify her and her murderer, but have since been unsuccessful, despite the reconstruction of her face a number of times.[3][5][6][7][8][9] The case was featured on the television series Haunting Evidence in 2006.[10]

Discovery
File:Lady of the Dunes body.jpg
The body of the victim upon her discovery
The naked, decomposing body of a woman was discovered by a teenage girl on July 26, 1974.[11][12][13] Sandra Lee, who later became a crime author, stated that she and her sister had found the remains two days before the report, which had traumatized the pair. The body was found meters from a nearby road and had a significant amount of insect activity.[11] Two sets of footprints were found leading to the body and tire tracks were located fifty yards from the scene.[13] She was lying face down on a green towel, with folded Wrangler jeans, and had a blue bandanna placed under her head.[3][7][8][14][15] She had long auburn or red hair, which was pulled back into ponytail with a holder with gold sparkles, and she had pink painted toenails. Lady of the Dunes was approximately 5'6" tall (initially believed to have been 5'8"[16]), weighed 145 pounds, and was of an athletic build.[3][17][18][19]She had extensive dental work on her teeth, worth between five and eight thousand dollars, although several teeth were removed by the killer, likely as an attempt to prevent her identification.[3][16][20] Her hands had also been removed; one at her wrist and the other at her elbow. She was nearlydecapitated, possibly from strangulation, and had a massive wound on the side of her skull.[13][11][19][20] There were also signs of sexual assault at the scene, possibly performed with a piece of wood, likely after she died.[9][16] Because of the effort her killer took to prevent her identification, it is suspected that the decedent may have had a criminal history, as her fingerprints may have been on record.[21] The age of the victim has been widely disputed, as most sources describe the woman's age between twenty-five to forty years old.[8] However other sources state she was between twenty-seven to forty-nine, or twenty-five to thirty-five