Unidentified White Female
Found October 24, 1977 near Bethany, Wayne County
Vital Statistics
State of Remains: skeletal
Estimated Height: 5'6"-5'7"
Estimated Weight: 175 lbs
Estimated Age: 65
Hair Color: unknown
Eye Color: unknown
Clothing: none
Other: markings on the bones suggested that she may have been bedridden.
Dentals: Available, extensive & expensive dental work including gold fillings and overlays.
DNA: Available
Case Details
On Monday, October 24, 1977, a turkey hunter stumbled upon human skeletal remains about 20 feet off of a dirt road in a wooded, uninhabited area between Bethany and Honesdale. Early reports stated that the remains had been stuffed into two plastic bags. Some reported that they were hidden in thick underbrush, another stated that they were found in a bunch of rhododendrons. Either way, the hunter could not have foreseen the headlines generated by his discovery.
The unidentified remains garnered national attention. They were described as a heavy-set, muscular, white male, around 5'6", with extensive gold dental work, age estimated around 60 years old. It was speculated that they may be the remains of union leader Jimmy Hoffa, who disappeared July 30, 1975 at the age of 62.
The remains were sent to the New York City Medical Examiner's Office, who had the equipment and expertise to conduct a dental comparison between the unidentified person and Hoffa.
The remains were not Hoffa and, as quickly as the headlines had appeared, the unknown skeleton faded from the news.
Three years later, an examination by a forensic anthropology consultant in Oklahoma determined that the remains were not those of a male, but a white female.
Little is known about how she died. Animals had apparently torn the bags from the body and they, and nature, had left only the bones, with no apparent evidence of foul play.
In May 2008, the Bethany Bones, as she had become known, were sent to the Center for Human Identification at the University of North Texas. UNT confirmed that the remains were of a white, 'older' woman. DNA was also extracted from the bones, but no match was produced when the DNA was run through the national missing persons databases.
On September 3, 2011, almost 34 years after she was found, this unknown lady was laid to rest in an old cemetery near Dyberry Creek, not far from where she was found. Her headstone is marked simply "Jane Doe 1977".
If you have any information about this case, please contact:
Wayne County District Attorney's Office
570-253-4912
or
Wayne County Coroner's Office
570- 253-4952
Sources
The Times-Tribune
The Daily Sentinel (Ohio)
The Toledo Blade (Ohio)
Beaver County Times
Simpson's Leader Times
The Daily Intelligencer
NewspaperArchive.com
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