Composite sketch might shed some light

Standard-Speaker (Hazleton, PA) - November 20, 2007
Author: JILL WHALEN ; Staff Writer

A new composite sketch might shed some light on the identity of the murdered pregnant woman known only as “Beth Doe.”

While investigators have confidence in the forensic artist’s rendering, they’re not so sure another avenue to find who she is will pan out.

According to Cpl. Thomas C. McAndrew, who’s leading the investigation for the Pennsylvania State Police’s Troop N barracks in Hazleton, there’s a chance that no deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) will be extracted from samples taken from her remains last month.

“The samples are in Texas right now,” McAndrew said, referring to a crime laboratory there. “They don’t even know if they can extract DNA from them. They might be too old.”

Investigators had been hopeful that advanced forensic technology – like the use of DNA to identify a victim – could be applied to the almost 21-year-old cold case of the woman found dismembered under a Carbon County bridge. That’s why Beth Doe’s remains, along with those of her full-term female fetus, were exhumed Oct. 30 from their grave in the Potters’ Field Cemetery near White Haven.

A forensic pathologist, two forensic dentists and a forensic anthropologist examined the remains and harvested samples for possible DNA.

DNA is a material in cells that stores information about an individual’s genetic composition. To identify a victim, the DNA must be matched to the DNA of a family member.

McAndrew said that if any DNA is eventually recovered from the samples, it would be entered into the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Missing Person DNA Database.

As for the new sketch, it was prepared by Frank Bender, a forensic artist from Philadelphia. The drawing will supplement two forensic sculptures done years ago.

Bender’s black-and-white rendering shows Beth Doe with slightly fuller lips and a wider nose.

“The new sketch will be used in conjunction with the others,” McAndrew said. The additional drawing, he said, can only help.

After all, investigators aren’t sure what Beth Doe’s nose might have looked like, since it was removed before her remains were disposed of. The hairstyle she wore is also in question, and the depictions show different looks.

“It’s up to each person’s individual opinion as to how she might have looked,” McAndrew said.

The sketch has been distributed to The Doe Network , a volunteer organization that assists law enforcement in solving cold cases concerning unidentified victims, as well as the Pennsylvania Missing Persons group. Both organizations have posted it on their Web sites.

McAndrew expects the new sketch to be posted on the Pennsylvania State Police Web site soon.

And although the case has received much media attention recently, Williams said that no leads have been established.

“We have gotten telephone calls,” he said. “But nothing solid so far.”

There have been no leads since the woman’s remains were found in three suitcases beneath the Interstate 80 bridge near White Haven.

An autopsy completed then showed that the woman had been strangled and shot.

Beth Doe and the fetus were reburied Nov. 1.

jillwhalen@standardspeaker.com.