Beth Doe

Beth Doe
Most recent facial reconstruction of the victim, created in May 2015 (nose is an approximation).
Born	1951 - 1962 (approximate)
Status	Unidentified for 39 years, 11 months and 16 days
Died	c. December 13–19, 1976
Cause of death	Strangulation
Body discovered	December 20, 1976
Resting place	Laurytown Road Cemetery, Weatherly, Carbon County, Pennsylvania, USA
Known for	Unidentified victim of homicide
Height	4 ft 11 in (1.50 m) (minimum) 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m) (maximum)
Weight	140 lb (64 kg) to 150 lb (68 kg)
Children	1 (at least; unborn)
Website	Facebook

Beth Doe (known officially as Incident No. N3-27244)^[1] is the name given to an unidentified young European-American woman who was found murdered on December 20, 1976, in White Haven, Pennsylvania. The brutality of the crime, the fact that she was pregnant when she was killed and the length of time that she has remained unidentified have created national attention.^[2]

Death and discovery

Beth Doe, who was carrying a nine-month female fetus, had been strangled and shot in the neck by an unknown person. Her body was then dismembered with a serrated blade.^[3] Her nose, breasts, and ears were severed and have never been found.^[4][5]

The parts of her body and that of her unborn daughter were then placed into three suitcases, two were striped with red, blue, and white, and the other one was tan with a plaid design.^[1][6] They were of vinyl material and were of the same size.^[7][8] It was evident that the suitcases had been spray-painted black at some point and that their handles had been severed.^[6][9][10]

To dispose of the body, the suitcases were thrown off a bridge over the Lehigh River in White Haven, Pennsylvania, along Interstate 80.^[11][12] They fell about 300 feet before hitting the ground.^[13] It is believed that the suitcases were thrown out of a vehicle travelling west.^[14][15][16] The killer most likely intended to have the suitcases land in the water below, to lessen the chance of their being found.^[17] Two of the suitcases landed in the woods, 20 feet from the river, and the third, containing the head and fetus, was found on the river's bank.^[8][9]

Beth Doe's body was found by a teenage boy at approximately 4:30 p.m., within 7 hours to a week after her death.^{[17][18][19][20][21]}

Due to the having fallen a long distance, two of the suitcases had opened and parts of the body had emerged. The head, fetus, and the two halves of the torso were exposed.^[8][22][23]

Other evidence included straw, packaging foam, a bedspread, and waterlogged fragments of a newspaper later determined to have been The New York Sunday from September 26, 1976.^[1][4][24] The bedding and newspaper fragments had been wrapped over some of the body parts.^[25] The newspaper was linked to the northern part of New Jersey, where the perpetrator may have had ties.^[10] The bedspread in the suitcases had a reddish-orange color, was made of chenille fabric, and was wrapped around some of the body. It had yellow and pink embroidered flowers.^[1][6][8]

Investigation

Reconstructions of the three suitcases in which Beth Doe was found.

After the body was found, the victim was fingerprinted. Her teeth examined and recorded on a dental chart.^{[13][22][23][26]}

The medical examiner noted that it appeared that a set of numbers had been written on the victim's body. The ink, believed to have originated from a pen, was located on the left hand of the victim, indicating that she was right-handed if she had written it herself. The writing consisted of the letters WSR and the numbers 4 or 5, followed by 4 or 7.^[10]

Her fingerprints were submitted to the FBI, but they did not match anyone in national databases.^[1][14] When she remained unidentified for some time, a sketch was made and the public was asked for assistance. However, this obtained few solid leads.^[12][15] Information about the case was subsequently published across the country in an attempt to generate leads.^[27]

In 2007, her remains were exhumed to obtain additional forensic evidence and to create a new facial reconstruction.^[28][29] The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has also released two reconstructions, the latest in May 2015.^[10][18]

Nine missing women have been excluded as a possible identity of Beth Doe:

• Annastaes Banitskas of Australia^[30]
• Iris Brown of Vermont
• Valerie Cuccia of New York
• Teresa Fittin of Florida
• Trenny Gibson of Tennessee
• Anna Leatherwood of Tennessee
• Georgia Nolan of Kentucky
• Patricia Seelbagh of Pennsylvania
• Denise Sheehy of New York^[19]

Examination and physical description

Original sketch of the victim, created around the time her body was found.

External images

2015 reconstruction with long hair

Reconstructed bedding

Previous reconstruction

The body was removed by authorities and was transported in plastic bags to the nearby Gnadden Huetten Hospital for examination.^[4][31]

After a three-hour autopsy on December 23, 1976, it was determined that she was a white woman in her late teens or early twenties. However, her identity could not be determined.^{[15][32][4][33]} The cause of death was determined to be strangulation, although she had been shot in the neck as well.^[34]

Beth Doe was between 4 feet 11 inches and 5 feet 4 inches tall. She weighed 140 to 150 pounds (due to her pregnancy}.^[5] Her hair, which was shoulder-length, was an undyed dark brown. The medical examiner also classified her blood as type O.^[5] She also had some distinctive markings on her body. A 2 to 6 inch scar was visible above one of her heels.^[1][8][32] Two moles on her face, one above her left eye and one on her cheek, may have developed during her pregnancy.^[5][8]

At some point during her life, prior to her becoming a teen, some of her molars had been extracted, and she had received fillings in her teeth. However, she had likely not seen a dentist recently, as she was suffering from severe tooth decay.^[18]

It is believed that she was probably born in Europe and moved to the United States before becoming a teenager, as examination of her tooth enamel indicated.^[10] Isotope testing was conducted on her hair, teeth, and bones.^[35] She had lived in the United States for 5 to 10 years, and most likely had resided in Tennessee or some nearby state.^{[10][36][37][18][16]}

See also

• List of murdered American children
• Murder of Erica Green (a young girl who was murdered in a similar manner in 2001 and was unidentified until 2005)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Unidentified murder victims.

• Beth Doe at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
• Beth Doe at The Doe Network
• Beth Doe at NamUs
• Beth Doe at Find a Grave
• Beth Doe's daughter at Find a Grave