https://www.kwch.com/content/news/Could-Miss-Molly-be-missing-woman-from-overseas-513420921.html[size=16]Could 'Miss Molly' be missing woman from overseas?[/size]The possible Dutch connection to a decades-long case in Kansas is the latest development in the quest to answer a lingering question: "Who is 'Miss Molly.'"
Some believe the answer to that question could go hand-in-hand with another question from more than 7,000 miles away: "What happened to Anna Agnes Maria Neeft?
That question is one Cornelis Neeft and his six brothers have asked for more than 30 years. And it's a question to which Keely Denning says might have an answer. In Kansas, Denning has followed "Miss Molly's" case for more than a decade. Denning says she believes it's possible "Miss Molly" could be Cornelis Neeft's sister.
From his home in the Netherlands, Cornelis Neeft says his sister was last seen when escaping what another of her brothers describes as an abusive relationship. A Dutch television show investigated Anna Neeft's disappearance and was able to confirm she was in England where she gave birth to her second child. Not long after that, the trail goes cold.
Cornelis says he believes his sister died. "Because what she's done is so unlikely and is so in contradiction to the woman I know," he says of her disappearance.
Cornelis says he dos not believe "Miss Molly" is his sister.
Looking at the photo comparisons of his sister and the unidentified woman in Saline County, he says he doesn't see much of a resemblance, although that can be complicated with "Miss Molly's" face swollen.
Investigators exhumed "Miss Molly's" body on Monday and collected DNA samples to compare to a missing woman the Saline County Sheriff's Office says may be from the Netherlands. The sheriff's office did not identify the woman it's comparing with "Miss Molly."
Interpol, the International Criminal Police Organization, shows interest in a case in Kansas. The agency wants to know whether a missing woman from overseas could be the murder victim in a Saline County cold case.
Three decades, numerous leads, and still no answers in the case of an unidentified woman found dead more than 33 years ago in a Saline County creek along Interstate 70. The public only knows this woman as "Miss Molly," but she remains a "Jane Doe."
Among the questions the Saline County Sheriff's Office hopes to find answers to: Who was this woman? Where is she from? Who killed her?
A truck driver found the woman in January 1986. Investigators called her "Miss Molly" and buried her in the Gypsum Hill Cemetery. Now, more than three decades later, the sheriff's office is looking to her body and advancements in DNA technology to put the puzzle pieces of her story together.
"Of course, back then (in 1986), DNA wasn't a thing," Saline County Sheriff Roger Solan says. "We sought a court order to exhume her body, hoping the DNA evidence would help us in the process. That was granted."
That process started early this year when Interpol was looking into a missing person from either Belgium or The Netherlands. The agency contacted the FBI, which led them to Kansas and the "Miss Molly" case. Interpol is trying to figure out if its missing person could be "Miss Molly." In order to do that, the international police organization needs to compare DNA.
Saline County Sheriff's Lt. Mike Smith, lead investigator in the "Miss Molly" case, says it's worth the time and effort to see if Interpol's suspicion pans out.
"It seemed to be our best option right now at this point to even try," Smith says. "If it gets to the lab and they decide the samples are too degraded, we may have lost that opportunity, but obviously, they draw DNA samples from bones much older than these."
Investigators have looked at the Doe Network Database which lists missing people from around the world. A search for missing people from either Belgium or The Netherlands around the time "Miss Molly" was found brought up a woman named Anna Agnes Maria Neeft.
We don't know if this is the woman Interpol is investigating, but she disappeared about the same time as the "Miss Molly" case. Neeft's family last heard from her in 1984 when she was in Canada. This was two years before "Miss Molly" was found.
If Neeft is a match, the Saline County Sheriff's Office says this could help them find out not only who "Miss Molly" was, but also, who killed her. The sheriff's office says results from DNA tests and possibly confirming "Miss Molly's" true identity could take anywhere from six to eight months.