https://www.abqjournal.com/266142/does-an-oklahoma-jane-doe-have-ties-to-nm.htmlDoes an Oklahoma Jane Doe have ties to N.M.?By Joline Gutierrez Krueger / Journal Staff Writer
Published: Thursday, September 19th, 2013 at 11:15pm
Updated: Friday, September 20th, 2013 at 9:40am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. The flowers were fresh last Memorial Day, not frayed and faded from weather and neglect like so many of the wilted, worn bouquets dotting the green hillsides of New Hope Cemetery near Hulbert, Okla.
Which to December Spearman meant somebody still cared about the woman buried there under a big oak tree.
And yet no one knew who that woman was.
On the headstone, she is Jane Doe, found April 27, 2006, in forevers peaceful sleep, known only to God, loved by strangers, buried Aug. 19, 2006.
Online
The Doe Network: doenetwork.org.
West Mesa women: Submit tips to APD 118th Street Task Force at 1-877-765-8273 or 768-2450 or Detective Ida Lopez at ilopez@cabq.gov or Crime Stoppers at 843-STOP.
In the center of the headstone is an image of the womans face, pretty and young, framed with dark hair, eyes closed, lips curled in a vague smile.
I realized, Spearman said, that she was dead in that photo.
Spearman, a criminal justice student from nearby Tahlequah, couldnt shake the image of the woman with the vague smile. Who was she, she wondered. Who knew her?
So I decided to try to find out, she said.
Spearman started reading old news articles about Jane Doe and women who disappeared in general (which eventually led her to me, but more on that later). What she discovered shed little light on the womans life but some on her death.
Jane Doe, the generic name she was given by law enforcement, was found dead in a ditch off Interstate 40 near Webbers Falls, about 140 miles east of Oklahoma City.
It didnt appear she had been tossed or thrown away but placed there in deliberate roadside repose, her hands neatly clasped over her chest.
She had been dead half a day by the time a passer-by saw her.
She wore a white turtleneck and dark-blue running pants with a white stripe, but no socks or shoes or jewelry, although indentations on her fingers and piercings in her ears indicated she had worn rings and earrings until recently.
In one hand she clutched a bloody paper towel, the kind used to clean windows at gas stations. Another bloody towel was found nearby. Medical examiners later determined that she had died of excessive vaginal bleeding, perhaps because of a miscarriage.
Stretch marks indicated that she had likely given birth to other children. She had a vaccination mark on her arm. She had a scar on her right shin. She was small, about 5-foot-4 and 140 pounds. She was between the ages of 25 and 40 and may have been Hispanic or Indian or possibly Asian.
No match was found to her fingerprints or DNA.
Her image was posted on various websites including the Doe Network, an international database of missing persons and her story was reported widely by Oklahoma media.
But no one could identify her. No one claimed her.
Mary Carey of Muskogee, Okla., didnt know Jane Doe. But, she told a local newspaper, she couldnt live with the idea that this lost woman would not have a proper funeral.
So four months later, she gave her one.
Weve adopted her, and shes ours now until her real family finds her, Carey told the Muskogee Phoenix.
Word of Careys generosity inspired others to contribute, too. Donations poured in for funeral expenses, flowers, the headstone and the casket. Musicians and ministers offered their services.
Its going to be a real good tribute to whoever this precious person was, Carey told the newspaper.
And it probably was.
Still, Spearman wondered who Jane Doe was. Eventually, she found an old 2009 column of mine about the women who disappeared in Albuquerque, 11 of them later unearthed from shallow graves on a mesa near 118th Street and Dennis Chavez SW.
Thats about 700 miles from where Jane Doe was found in 2006 a year after the women stopped disappearing.
Still, Spearman wondered: She is pretty and young like many of the women buried on the West Mesa. And the West Mesa site is not far from Interstate 40, the highway near where Jane Doe was found.
Could this be a woman who, at least for a while, got away?
Now I am not claiming that she is any of these women, but there are resemblances, Spearman said. The possibility is there.
Well, yes, but no. Albuquerque police spokeswoman Tasia Martinez said there is no reason to believe Jane Doe is connected to the West Mesa investigation which, she added is still active, though there is no new releasable information.
I realized after speaking with Spearman that it had been ages since anybody had asked me about the West Mesa women, ages since Id asked about them.
People disappear, sometimes without a trace. The Doe Network website lists 23 missing persons from New Mexico alone eight John Does and 15 Jane Does.
Spearman said she plans to keep searching for the identity of Jane Doe. We, too, should keep asking questions about what happened to the women on the West Mesa, to all the missing people.
Like laying fresh flowers on a grave implies, its important never to forget.
UpFront is a daily front-page news and opinion column. Comment directly to Joline at 823-3603, jkrueger@abqjournal.com or follow her on Twitter @jolinegkg. Go to
www.abqjournal.com/letters/new to submit a letter to the editor.