Author Topic: KALAMA JANE DOE: F, 20-29, victim of auto accident in Kalama, WA - 14 May 1991  (Read 482 times)

Akoya

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The victim was a passenger in a tractor trailer involved in a collision on I-5 in Cowlitz County, killing both the passenger and driver. The trucker's route was traced using fuel receipts which departed Missouri on May 7, 1991, drove through Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho and Oregon before arriving in Washington on May 14th.

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Akoya

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https://identifyus.org/cases/10449

Case Information

Status Unidentified
Case number 00004956
Date found May 14, 1991 00:00
Date created July 23, 2012 14:32
Date last modified July 27, 2016 14:11
Investigating agency
date QA reviewed July 28, 2012 06:45

Local Contact (ME/C or Other)
Agency Cowlitz Cnty Coroners Ofc
Phone 360-577-3079
Case Manager
Name Carri Gordon
Phone 360-704-2404

Exclusions
The following people have been ruled out as being this decedent:
First Name Last Name Year of Birth State LKA
Emily Ballantyne 1966 Washington
Barbara Cotton 1965 North Dakota
Martha Evans 1957 Oregon
Angela Hammond 1971 Missouri
Nguyet Phung 1971 Washington
Kelly Sims 1963 Washington
Barbara Sterbinsky 1959 Washington

Akoya

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https://identifyus.org/cases/10449

NamUs UP # 10449

ME/C Case Number: 00004956
Cowlitz County, Washington
20 to 29 year old Female

Case Information
Status Unidentified
Case number 00004956
Date found May 14, 1991 00:00
Date created July 23, 2012 14:32
Date last modified July 27, 2016 14:11
Investigating agency
date QA reviewed July 28, 2012 06:45

Local Contact (ME/C or Other)
Agency Cowlitz Cnty Coroners Ofc
Phone 360-577-3079
Case Manager
Name Carri Gordon
Phone 360-704-2404

Demographics
Estimated age Adult - Pre 30
Minimum age 20 years
Maximum age 29 years
Race Unsure
Ethnicity
Sex Female
Weight (pounds) 115, Estimated
Height (inches) 60, Estimated
Body Parts Inventory (Check all that apply)
All parts recovered
Probable year of death 1991 to 1991

Circumstances
Location Found
GPS coordinates
Address 1
Address 2
City
State Washington
Zip code
County Cowlitz
Circumstances
Subject was a passenger in a tractor trailer involved in a collision on I5 in Cowlitz County, killing both the passenger and driver. The trucker's route was traced using fuel receipts which departed Missouri on May 7, 1991, drove through Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho and Oregon before arriving in Washington on May 14th.

The load was dropped off on time and the trucker was heading south to Portland when his truck rear-ended another vehicle after pulling onto Interstate 5 near Kalama. The collision set off a fire that gutted the truck’s cab.
The trucker was known to pick up hitchhikers, but no one knew of anyone riding in his semi that day.

Other distinctive
physical characteristics
Dark complexion and high cheek bones

Clothing on body
Black cowboy vest, gray top possibly with pink in it

Dental
Status: Dental information / charting is available and entered

DNA
Status: Sample submitted - Tests complete

Akoya

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http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/919ufwa.html

Case File: 919UFWA
The Doe Network




Unidentified Female
Date of Discovery: May 14, 1991
Location of Discovery: Kalama, Cowlitz County, Washington
Estimated Date of Death: Same day
State of Remains: Not recognizable - Traumatic injuries/burned
Cause of Death: Auto accident

Physical Description
** Listed information is approximate
Estimated Age: 20-29 years old
Race: Unknown but had a dark complexion, possibly Native American.
Gender: Female
Height: 5'0" to 5'4"
Weight: 115 lbs.
Hair Color: Unknown
Eye Color: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: High cheek bones. Severe scoliosis.
Dentals: Available. Bad teeth and a slight gap in her front bottom teeth.
Fingerprints: Not available.
DNA: Not available.
Clothing & Personal Items
Clothing: Black cowboy vest and a gray top, possibly with pink in it.
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown

Case History
The victim, a passenger in a tractor trailer, was killed in a fiery crash on Interstate 5, near Kalama on May 14, 1991. The driver, also killed, was identified. She may have been a hitchhiker and was believed to have been picked up between Missouri and Washington.

She was buried as Jane Doe in Longview. Her body was exhumed in January 2014 in order to obtain a DNA sample and to create a reconstruction of what she may have looked like.

Investigating Agency(s)
If you have any information about this case please contact;

Agency Name: Cowlitz County Coroner
Agency Contact Person: Tim Davidson
Agency Phone Number: 360-577-3079
Agency Name: State Patrol Communications Center
Agency Contact Person: N/A
Agency Phone Number: 425-649-4370
Agency Case Number: 00-004956
NCIC Case Number: N/A
NamUs Case Number: UP #10449
Former Hot Case Number: 1305
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.

Information Source(s)
NamUs
Washington State Missing Persons
Seattle PI News Archive
TDN.com News Archive

Akoya

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http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-n...f/2014/01/dna_developments_could_help_id.html

DNA developments could help ID Jane Doe killed in 1991 Cowlitz County crash on I-5


Workers at Longview Memorial Park and Cemetery exhume the casket in which an unidentified woman was buried in 1991. Washington State Patrol investigators, with the help of forensic pathologists and experts in facial reconstruction, hope to identify the oldest unidentified person case on their books. (Washington State Patrol)

The Oregonian/OregonLive
By Kimberly A.C. Wilson | The Oregonian/OregonLive
on January 14, 2014 at 3:16 PM, updated January 14, 2014 at 4:13 PM

For more than two decades, the remains of the Jane Doe were buried in a Cowlitz County cemetery.

Now Washington investigators are hoping the latest developments in forensic technology will help put a name on the small-statured, brown-skinned woman who was killed along with Lester Harvel, both of them found in his burning tractor trailer in May 1991.

“DNA technology has come a long way since this tragic collision,” said Detective Sergeant Stacy Moate of the Washington State Patrol. “We hope to be able to finally identify her and return her to the care of her family.”

Last week, the woman’s remains were exhumed from an unmarked grave in the Longview Memorial Park and Cemetery, the first step in a monthslong journey. They were sent to Seattle, where King County forensic pathologist Dr. Kathy Taylor will clean and re-examine the remains for clues.

[​IMG]View full sizeA Washington State Patrol file photo from the May 14, 1991, crash scene shows the damage caused by a fire that burned Lester Harvel's truck along Interstate 5 near Kalama, killing the trucker and his unidentified passenger.Washington State Patrol
When that's completed, the remains will go to the University of Northern Texas for DNA extraction and entry into national DNA databases in the hopes of finding a match or a relative, Moate said. There, facial reconstruction on the skull will begin. Using depth markers and clay, experts will try to give investigators an idea of what the victim looked like.

Finally, the remains will return to the Cowlitz County Coroner’s Office, to be held in anticipation of reuniting the victim with her family.

It’s an ending WSP Det. Greg Wilcoxson has pursued for more than 13 years. The case was 10 years old when it fell to him it. For a decade, Wilcoxson used traditional policing methods to try to uncover the woman’s identity, checking her dental records against missing persons reports and comparing cold cases from throughout the nation.

She is the oldest unidentified person case on the investigators' books.

He even traced the trucker’s route to Washington, using fuel receipts. Harvel, who departed Missouri on May 7, 1991, drove through Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho and Oregon before arriving in Washington on May 14.

He dropped his load off on time and was heading south to Portland when his truck rear-ended another vehicle after pulling onto Interstate 5 near Kalama. The collision set off a fire that gutted the truck’s cab.

Harvel liked to pick up hitchhikers. But no one knew anyone rode in his semi that day until rescue crews found the unidentified female passenger’s remains. She was not an authorized passenger, Moate said, and the flames destroyed any identification she may have been carrying.

The young woman was slight, standing a little over 5-feet tall. She had high cheek bones, a dark complexion and appeared to be in her early 20s.

And the coroner determined she had been treated for scoliosis, a spinal disease.

“He could have picked her up from anywhere along his route,” Moate said.

After the facial reconstruction is complete, investigators plan to share the woman’s photograph far and wide.

“We were determined to identify this young lady and do everything we could to get her home,” she said. “We are hoping this is the final step toward that goal.”

-- Kimberly A.C. Wilson

Akoya

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http://tdn.com/news/local/authoriti...cle_440a35c0-a969-11e3-8320-0019bb2963f4.html

Authorities release facial reconstruction drawing of 1991 'Jane Doe'

Barbara LaBoe
Mar 11, 2014
Officials finally have a face for Cowlitz County’s last Jane Doe case. Now they’re hoping to add a name.

A new facial reconstruction of the body burned in a fiery 1991 truck crash near Kalama gives authorities some idea of what the woman likely looked like. They hope sharing the picture might help solve a nearly 23-year-old mystery and allow them to return the woman’s remains to her family.

“I want to make sure she gets back to her family,” said Cowlitz County Coroner Tim Davidson. “So they can have some closure after wondering what’s happened to her for all these years.”

The woman was traveling with trucker Lester Dean Harvel of Illinois when both of them died in the May 14, 1991, crash on Interstate 5 near Kalama. She wasn’t supposed to be in his truck, and authorities believe Harvel picked up a hitchhiker somewhere between Missouri and here. He stopped in Tacoma and was headed to Portland when the crash happened.

The woman’s body was burned in the fire that followed the crash, hampering the identification. All officials knew in 1991 was that she was between 5-foot 1-inch and 5-foot 4-inches tall and had been treated for scoliosis. Her age was estimated as early 20s and officials thought she might be Native American. Unable to identify her, the woman was buried as a Jane Doe in Longview.

The case has nagged at officials for more than two decades.

It is the last remaining unidentified remains case for the county coroner’s office, and it is the oldest such case for Washington State Patrol’s cold case unit.

In January, both agencies worked to exhume the body, hoping advances in technology could finally lead them to an identity. DNA has been sent to a laboratory and will be matched to a missing persons database when complete. And in Seattle, state forensic anthropologist Dr. Kathy Taylor reconstructed the woman’s skull and then gave the information to forensic artist Natalie Murry, who created the drawing.

After so many years of wondering, there’s “now someone staring back at us,” Coroner Tim Davidson said of the drawing. “It helps people relate more.”

“It’s a big step,” added Detective Greg Wilcoxson of the state patrol cold case unit.

Davidson said the drawing makes him suspect all the more that the woman is Native American. All such drawings are approximations, but Davidson said the same artist did a previous drawing for the county, and it was spot-on once they’d ID’d the man. Skeletal characteristics can help forensic anthropologists tentatively identify ethnicity. Witnesses who saw the woman in the truck just before the crash also described long, dark hair and a feather earring, which are depicted in the drawing.

Because of the possibility the woman was Native American, officials asked the Puyallup tribe to give a blessing before January’s exhumation.

The woman also had bad teeth and a slight gap in her front bottom teeth, which may help with the identification.

Anyone who thinks they recognize the woman can call Davidson at 360-577-3079.

Davidson said even with the drawing and the DNA, when it becomes available, establishing an identity may take some time. It’s hard to know when someone might see the image and it might spark a memory. Two bodies found in Cowlitz County in 1987 were finally identified in 2007 after a relative in another country saw a posting on the Internet, he noted.

“We’re going to keep working on it,” Davidson said. “It might not happen today, but we’ll have everything on file and we’re going to just keep our fingers crossed.”

Barbara LaBoe covers courts and law enforcement for The Daily News. Reach her at 360-577-2539 or blaboe@tdn.com.

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Officials will take another shot at identifying 1991 crash victim
No one knew who she was when the young crash victim was buried in an unmarked grave



Akoya

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Washington State Patrol file photo from the May 14, 1991, crash scene shows the damage caused by a fire that burned Lester Harvel's truck along Interstate 5 near Kalama, killing the trucker and his unidentified passenger.





Akoya

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The victim, a passenger in a tractor trailer, was killed in a fiery crash on Interstate 5, near Kalama on May 14, 1991.


Oregon Live
Washington State Patrol file photo from the May 14, 1991, crash scene shows the damage caused by a fire that burned Lester Harvel's truck .


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https://www.wibw.com/2020/07/29/washington-state-authorities-travel-through-kansas-searching-for-cold-case-clues/

Washington State authorities travel through Kansas searching for cold case clues
By Becky Goff
Published: Jul. 29, 2020 at 10:16 AM

JUNCTION CITY, Kan. (WIBW) - Nearly 30 years have gone by since a fatal collision in Washington State took the lives of a Missouri truck driver and his still unidentified, unauthorized female passenger.

The Washington State Patrol Cold Case Team sent a representative to follow the presumed route from Missouri to Washington, by using fuel purchase records to determine the most likely route.

There were two fuel stops in Missouri, and then a gap of more than 24 hours and more than 500 miles until the next known fuel stop in Limon Colorado.

Washington State Patrol representatives are stopping at gas stations and rest stops along a westbound route through Kansas, posting flyers asking for anyone with information to please reach out to them.

“A family is missing their loved one, and we really want to give her a name, and that’s why we’re doing this now and we’ll continue to do this. We may be talking again in ten more years. hopefully not.” Washington State Patrol, Program Manager/WA State AMBER Coordinator, Carri Gordon says.

Representatives of the Kansas Bureau of Investigations Missing persons/human trafficking division met with the Washington State Patrol at Sapp Bros truck stop in Junction City, Kansas to assist with placing the flyer inside the business.

If you have information which could help to identify this woman, you can call the Kansas Bureau of Investigations Missing Persons Tip Line at 785-296-4017.