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WYF99083 Aug. 3, 1999; Fox Park Laramie
Topic Started: Sep 29 2012, 06:17 PM (440 Views)
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Det. Cpl. William Meyer uses latest technology to reopen Jane Doe cold case
BY AARON LeCLAIR / lbedit7@laramieboomerang.com • Saturday, September 29, 2012


Investigators found jewelry with the skeletal remains of a woman, “Jane Doe 1999” that they hope will help identify here. This ring has two zirconias in an unusuall pattern on the top. Courtesy photos

If she could speak, Jane Doe 1999 might tell you her hopes and dreams.

She might share the excitement she felt when her first-born child said “Mommy,” or she might talk about landing her first job after school.

She might also tell you what happened when, more than 20 years ago, someone took her life and dumped and scattered her body in a mountainous area west of Laramie.

The remains of Jane Doe 1999, which a hiker found, belong to this woman.

And Det. Cpl. William Meyer of the Albany County Sheriff’s Office is trying to figure out who she is.

Meyer was able to reopen the case recently because of advances in technology that are helping law enforcement across the country open and close cases that would have remained unsolvable without them.

DNA helps reopen case

Last year, Meyer reopened the Jane Doe 1999 case in which a woman’s skeletal remains were found in a remote, mountainous area near Fox Park on Aug. 3, 1999.

Back then, an autopsy had determined that Jane Doe 1999 was a white female between 24 and 58 years of age.

“Because it was skeletal remains, there’s only so much you can get from an autopsy, so there’s some broad range for ages and so forth,” Meyer said.

Evidence at the scene also suggested that Jane Doe 1999 was about 5-feet, 2-inches tall and had a larger-than-average build.

Because the remains were bones, determining the time of death was difficult, Meyer said.

“The time of death could have been a period of one and a half to two years prior to ’99 upwards to eight to 10 years prior to that,” he said.

The case went cold in 1999 because the sheriff’s office had no leads or avenues to explore with the scant autopsy and site investigation evidence, Meyer said.

Now, however, with recent advances in technology, especially when it comes to DNA profiling, Meyer said he had enough tools at his disposal to reopen the case last year.

“Just yesterday, I got a DNA profile back for her,” he said. “I sent a femur and rib bone down to (the University of North) Texas (Center for Human Identification). They do DNA withdrawal.”

The DNA of DNA

The Center for Human Identification contains a genetics lab — staffed with forensic anthropologists, a fingerprint examiner and an odontologist — that generates DNA profiles and other evidence.

“It’s a complete genetic lab to where DNA profiles can be obtained on buccal swabs that are taken from family members,” said Janet Franson, a Laramie native who lives near Roundup, Mont., but works for the Center for Human Identification. “You get half of your DNA from your mother and half of it from your father.”

With unidentified remains, DNA profiles are also generated from some type of biological evidence, such as human bones.

Once obtained, DNA profiles are entered into the Combined DNA Index System — which is the FBI’s program for support of criminal justice DNA databases — and compared to reference profiles.

The law enforcement agency that sent evidence into the Center for Human Identification is also notified of the results, Franson said.

DNA profiles have been a huge step in investigating unidentified remains. Law enforcement only had dental records to identify remains before DNA technology got up to speed in the 2000s.

“For years, that’s all we had,” Franson, a former police officer in Lakeland, Fla., said of dental records. “It’s taken a long time for DNA to really catch on and for law enforcement agencies and labs to be able to use it.”

Franson said DNA profiling brought a homicide case to trial in 2006 that she had worked on as a police officer in 1984.

“Cases are being cleared — some cases 40 years old. There’s a lot of missing people out there,” she said. “I’m just really happy the technology, especially the DNA technology, has come so far that it really is helping.”

The Internet’s role in investigations

The Internet helped Meyer reopen the Jane Doe 1999 case.

“One of the large tools I’ve been using is a website called NamUs (National Missing and Unidentified Persons System),” he said. “It’s a website where individuals can enter both missing people and unidentified people.”

A national, centralized repository and resource center for missing persons, NamUs’s missing persons database contains information about missing people that can be entered by anyone.

NamUs provides users with a variety of resources, including the ability to print missing person posters and to receive biometric collection and testing assistance.

Other resources include links to state clearinghouses, medical examiner and coroner offices, law enforcement agencies, victim-assistance groups and pertinent legislation.

The website’s unidentified persons database contains information entered by medical examiners and coroners. Anyone can search this database using characteristics such as sex, race, distinct body features and dental records.

Lastly, NamUs’s newly added unclaimed-persons database contains information about deceased people who have been identified by name, but for whom no next of kin or family member has been identified or located to claim the body for burial or other disposition.

Only medical examiners and coroners can enter information into the unclaimed persons database; however, the database is searchable by the public using a missing person’s name and birth year.

Franson, in working for the Center for Human Identification, is the regional system administrator of NamUs.

“NamUs started back in 2007,” she said. “NamUs is kind of like one-stop shopping to put in information not only on missing persons, but also on unidentified remains.”

The NamUs computer makes matches every day, identifying remains and bringing closure to one family after another’s search for their missing loved ones, Franson said.

“We’re making more and more every day,” she said. “The computer, once we get the information, searches 24/7/365.”

Meyer said he periodically checks NamUs for possible matches to the information he has on Jane Doe 1999.

“It will give me … thousands of matches to where I can contact other agencies across the country,” he said. “That’s stuff that just wasn’t there in 1999.”

By uploading the Jane Doe 1999 evidence on NamUs, Meyer said he has received phone calls from people who ask if the remains belong to their missing wife, daughter or sister.

“I get phone calls from individuals from other states who say, ‘I have a missing loved one; can you tell me if this gal you guys found in ’99 is my loved one,’” he said.

The investigation continues

Two weeks ago, Meyer said he took a cadaver dog up to the spot near Fox Park where the remains of Jane Doe 1999 were found.

“The cadaver dog hit on a couple more spots,” he said. “We plan on going up before the snow flies this year and try to do some digging and sifting to see if we find some more stuff.”

Based on the evidence and circumstances at the scene, Meyer said Jane Doe 1999 died in a “suspicious nature.”

In addition to skeletal remains, the sheriff’s office has found jewelry — a silver band with the initials M.S.S. on the outside and teardrop cubic zirconia ring — at the scene that belonged to Jane Doe 1999.

While he might not be able to solve what happened to Jane Doe 1999, Meyer said he hopes he can at least identify her.

“Whether or not a crime is solved, because of the time period and lack of evidence, is one thing,” he said. “My goal is just to get them identified.”

Editor’s note: Sunday’s edition of the Laramie Boomerang will have a story of another Jane Doe being investigated by the Albany County Sheriff’s Office. A woman’s body was discovered in the area of the Dry Gulch Fire on land owned by the Bureau of Land Management in October 2010.
http://www.laramieboomerang.com/articles/2...b2809098775.txt
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http://z10.invisionfree.com/usedtobedoe/in...showtopic=71985
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photo of shoes and ring
http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/vicap/unidentifi...ox-park-wyoming
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http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/vicap/unidentifi...f9-9d6d0c018125


On August 1, 1999, the Albany County Sheriff's Office recovered skeletal remains in a wooded area near Fox Park, Wyoming. It is estimated the remains were present at the site for 2 to 10 years before being discovered. The following items were found with the skeletal remains: a ring with clear tear-drop inserts; a ring with the initials "MSS" engraved on; and a white Reebok shoe, women's size 7.

Victim had a gold filling; may have worn braces. Regarding clothing, the victim wore a size 16 Bill Blass denim jeans, a brown belt, and white Reebok court shoes (estimated women's size 7).

Age: 28 to 58 years old Hair: Blonde, brown
Height: 5'2" to 5'4"
Sex: Female
Race: White
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http://www.laramieboomerang.com/articles/2...31947418803.txt

Detective’s probe into unidentified women means putting ‘puzzle pieces’ together
By JOSHUA ROBERTS
Monday, December 24, 2012

It’s August 1999 and a Cheyenne man is hiking the area around Fox Park, a small mountain town southwest of Laramie.

His walk unearths a startling discovery — a human skull.

It’s September 2010, near Roger Canyon Road, when a sheepherder working for an area livestock company stumbles upon the remains of a woman’s body.

Neither of the investigations yield much information.

A search of the scene for more about Jane Doe 1999 produces additional skeletal remains, two rings, Reebok tennis shoes and stray bits of clothing.

She’s believed to be 5’2-5’4 inches tall, with a 36-38-inch waist and anywhere from 24-58 years old.

Investigators believe she could have died as many as 10 years before.

Jane Doe 2010 was believed to be smaller, 5’2-5’4, 105-120 pounds and between 30 and 50 years old. She could have died as early as fall 2009.

Information dries up.

Time moves on.

The cases go cold, the women remain unidentified.

It’s unlikely Bill Meyer, a detective corporal with the Albany County Sheriff’s Office, ever met either of the women, but it’s his job to learn everything he can about them.

He reopened the probes in March 2011, shortly after being promoted to detective, looking for ways to fill downtime between current cases.

Through his efforts, with assists from numerous other sources, he said, he was able to identify Jane Doe 2010 as Rosella Lovell, a former Laramie resident and University of Wyoming janitorial staffer, earlier this year.

Jane Doe 1999’s real identity remains unknown. Untangling who she was presents more challenges than Lovell’s case, the detective said.

“I have no idea how to gauge it,” he said. “You look at the Lovell case. I had done so much on that for over a year and that doesn’t include what took place with her in 2010. All it took was a couple of tips.

“I think this one’s going to be a little bit harder because of the timeframe. With this woman, we just don’t know. She could be from anywhere in the world.”

But, challenging doesn’t equal impossible.

“When I reopened both of these cases, I came to the realism, because of the time frame, the conditions of the bodies when they were discovered and the lack of evidence, that I may not solve a crime, but I might be able to at least identify them,” Meyer said.

“If I had a loved one that was one of these women, I would want to know.”

Meyer, 31, a Laramie native, is a detective corporal with the Sheriff’s Office, a veteran of the agency since 2002 and its sole investigator.

His career arc entails a two-year stint as a deputy at the Albany County Detention Center, five years in patrol, a brief period with a regional task force, back to patrol and eventually to a landing spot as detective.

He’s perhaps found his niche with investigations.

“Immensely,” he said when asked whether he enjoys his work. “I like the fact that with any case the whole goal is to take all the puzzle pieces and make one big picture.

“When you’re doing the legwork and you’re starting to get all those pieces and you’re forming the case and what took place, it’s rewarding and enjoyable to try and put all that together.”

Meyer, a 1999 Laramie High School graduate, didn’t initially earmark law enforcement as a career, though the profession is in his DNA, like a family trait.

As a high schooler prepping for college, he thought he’d become a welder. A serious injury his senior year, however, made long hours in a shop impractical.

He then turned to law enforcement.

His father, Bill, Sr., began his law enforcement career with the Sheriff’s Office before transitioning to the Laramie Police Department. He retired in 2005.

The younger Meyer enrolled at Eastern Wyoming College in Torrington and earned an associate’s degree in criminal justice.

He has family members currently working for the Sheriff’s Office and LPD.

“I fell into criminal justice, but I enjoyed all those aspects,” he said. “It appealed to me and it’s kind of been a way of life for us.”

A turning point in his career with the Sheriff’s Office came in May 2008, when he was detailed to the regional task force, primarily working felony drug cases.

“It gave me the ability to sharpen my skills with search warrants, affidavits of probable cause, district court stuff, federal court stuff,” he said. “It was in the realm of everything.

“As soon as this investigator’s position opened, I determined that I enjoyed the stuff I did as a task force officer, I had a lot of the skills, so I thought this was something I would enjoy.”

A Laramie product born and bred, Meyer said he’s likely to stick with the Sheriff’s Office for the long haul, growing within the department in whatever role he’s most useful.

For now, investigations are a good fit, he said, offering a variety of cases.

Outside of the Jane Doe probes, his current caseload includes check fraud, suspicious death, sexual assault, felony animal cruelty and digging into a recent marijuana seizure at Laramie Regional Airport.

“I don’t know what’s going to come down the road, but I’ve been here (as a detective) for two years now and I am still enjoying it,” he said.

Inevitably, Meyer’s work brings him back to the Jane Does.

The Sheriff’s Office, like any law enforcement agency, has an assortment of unsolved crimes, mostly in the way of larcenies or burglaries, but Meyer describes the 1999 and 2010 women as the most substantial.

There are investigative advantages this time around, he said, edges that weren’t available when they were originally probed.

“I think a reason that these sat cold for a long time was because all the resources were expended back then,” Meyer said. “I realized, and this was all new to me, I was new to even being a detective at the time, that things like (the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System) were available and databases and I was going to get DNA information.”

Meyer, an avid outdoorsman, compares his investigative approach on the Jane Doe cases to fishing.

The more bait dangled, the better the likelihood of getting a nibble.

“I realized all of it was a long shot, but the more things I had that were reaching out, looking for other avenues, the higher probability I had to identifying them,” he said. “Now it’s kind of a waiting game to see if what I threw out there in the world is going to come back to me and give me a good lead or not.”

Though Jane Doe 2010 has been identified as Lovell — a memorial service took place this fall in Laramie for her friends and family to pay respect — there remain unanswered questions about the circumstances of her death.

Jane Doe 1999 is a complete mystery.

Meyer has the rings: they appear to be unique and one of them includes the engraved initials, M.S.S. He has the tennis shoes: the crime lab was able to determine the year they were manufactured and sold.

He has a potential lead: a missing woman from Tennessee. She fits the age range, shares the same initials on the ring and the detective has asked for a DNA comparison.

The woman, her husband and their vehicle vanished in 1972, Meyer said, and they were never heard from again.

And, he has technology, bait dangled into the far reaches of cyberspace, a wide net waiting for the nibble that can make the difference between Jane Doe and case closed.

“We’ve done what we could with every little thing we have,” he said. “With every little piece of evidence, we try to look at all the avenues.”

The Lovell case loosened when community members identified her through a facial reconstruction published in the newspaper.

A small break is sometimes all it takes, Meyer said.

“The day I got the tip on Ms. Lovell, I spent the next two days and into the afternoons and nights following leads because they felt like fresh leads,” he said. “You do an interview, you get a lead. You do another interview, you get one more lead.

“Within 24 hours, I learned it could be a woman named Rose. I was able to build a victimology on her, I was able to get to know her and what her life was. That’s what I enjoy — taking those pieces and running with them.”
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http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/al...6fef663e31.html

Albany detective seeks ID of remains found in 1999
17 hours ago • Associated Press

LARAMIE — An Albany County sheriff's detective whose investigation identified a woman found dead in 2010 is trying to do the same for another woman whose remains were found in 1999.

The 2010 victim was identified this year as Rosella Lovell, a former Laramie resident, in part through a facial reconstruction. The circumstances of her death remain a mystery.

Sheriff's Cpl. Bill Meyer said identifying the 1999 victim has been more difficult.

Skeletal remains, two rings, athletic shoes and bits of clothing were found southwest of Laramie.

One of the rings is engraved with "M.S.S," the initials of a woman from Tennessee who has been missing since 1972. Meyer asked for a DNA comparison.

Meyer said the woman, her husband and their vehicle vanished in 1972.
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