Do You Recognize Her? Police Believe Cold Case Could Have Boston Connection

• By Elizabeth Janney (Patch Staff)

Forty years after finding the body of "Woodlawn Jane Doe" dumped outside a Maryland cemetery, police have released a new facial reconstruction in hopes of identifying a woman they believe could be from Jamaica Plain.

Authorities have been unable to identify the woman, whose body was found Sept. 12, 1976, dumped near the Lorraine Park Cemetery in Woodlawn, MD, between 9:20 and 10:20 a.m.

The woman, dubbed "Woodlawn Jane Doe" by local investigators, died by asphyxiation, according to police. Detectives thought she may have been drugged, because the sedative Chlorpromazine was in her system.

She had been beaten, sexually assaulted and strangled, according to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, which reported: “Her body was wrapped in a white sheet, her hands tied behind her back. A handkerchief with holes cut out for her eyes and nose covered her face, and a bag had been placed over her head."

The center released a new facial reconstruction of Jane Doe on Monday (above) showing what she may have looked like.

"With the assistance of Boston Police Department, the Baltimore County Police Department is running down leads on the case," the center reported exactly 40 years after her body was found. "One lead suggests she may have been named Jasmine, gone by the nickname, 'Jassy,' and may have lived with her family on Forbes Street in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, in the early 1970s. Investigators are looking for anyone that remembers this young female. She may have relatives by the name of Blanca, Tito and Santana."

Woodlawn Jane Doe was between 15 and 20 years old when she was killed, officials said.

Tips received in the years since have led investigators to believe she may have been from Puerto Rico and moved with her family, including two sisters and three brothers, to the unit block of Forbes Street in Jamaica Plain when she was 5 or 6 years old; she disappeared at age 15, police said.

Several items on her person have provided clues indicating she may have been from the Boston area.

She had what looked like a crude tattoo "JP" on her body, which investigators said may have been a reference to Jamaica Plain.

In 2015, a scientist working for the U.S. Border Patrol tested her clothes, which revealed two types of pollen that are found together in only two places in the U.S.; one is a Boston arboretum, police said.

Police also found two keys in her right front pocket, traced to a manufacturer in Fitchburg, MA. One of the keys appeared to be a house key, the other a night latch key, according to the Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Two seed bags only available in Massachusetts were found at the crime scene, police said.

A cloth bag covering her head and a piece of cloth used to gag her were both from lawn seed bags from the Farm Bureau Association in Massachusetts, officials reported. The bags, which were discontinued in 1974, were sold in five cities: Waltham, Greenfield, Lowell, Rochdale and South Weymouth.

A leather cord with turquoise stone and brown leather shoes with twine laces were also on her person.

Other details provided about Woodlawn Jane Doe:

• The victim was between 15-20 years old.
• She was about 5'8" tall with dark brown or black hair.
• She had a 1.5" scar on her right thigh.
• Her ears were pierced.
• She was found wearing a white short-sleeved sweater, yellowish-beige Levi jeans, a white bra and multicolored striped knee high socks.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Baltimore County Police Department at 410-887-6162.

Photos courtesy of the Baltimore County Police Department and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Top image provided by National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

Alison Bauter, Patch staff, contributed to this report.