The Lost and the Found

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernon_County_Jane_Doe

Discovery of the body

The body was found on the night of May 4, 1984, near the town of Westby, Wisconsin at 11:15. It was found by three teenagers within 24 to 48 hours after her death. There was extensive damage to the victim's head, which left her face unrecognizable until mortuary procedures were conducted. After the case was broadcast on the news, a couple stated that they had seen a suspicious man near the location. He was returning to the driver's seat of a yellow car, believed to be a 1982 Datsun. When police went to the spot, they found tire tracks from a hasty U-turn. A broken denture, blood, and a man's watch were also found there. Because of this evidence, is believed that she was killed at another location alongside the same road, and that her body was then taken to the location where she was found.

The victim had been murdered, as she suffered blunt force injury to her head, which had broken her jaw, an eye socket and the pair of dentures that she was wearing. There was also sharp-force trauma to the left side of the head, near the ear. Her hands had been removed, most likely to prevent identification through fingerprint matching.

Description and clothing

Vernon County Jane Doe was a white woman between 50 and 65 years old. She had graying brown hair, presumed to have been done in a perm. She was 5 feet 5 to 5 feet 6 inches (approximately 170 cm). She did not appear to have any unique physical features. She weighed 150 pounds (68 kg) and had worn dentures, probably those that were found with her body. The dentures, missing two teeth, had both raised and indented numbers upon them, believed to be serial numbers. Despite this, investigators have stated that serial numbers for the given product were not assigned to specific recipients, which would not yield clues to the victim's identity.

She was wearing a multicolored coat, a black dress decorated with a blue-and-white paisley print, a blue turtleneck sweater, and nylon stockings. The brand labels of the clothing had been removed. There were distinctive buttons on her clothes; these had unique stitching.