Pennsylvania Suitcase Jane Doe

GHOSTLY LEGENDS & MYSTERIES

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On July 11, 1995, a fisherman found the dismembered body of woman described to have been between the ages of 25 and 30 stuffed in a suitcase in a remote area of Chester County, Pennsylvania, along the bank of the Brandywine Creek. Inside the maroon suitcase, was a garment bag, which contained a trash bag sealed with plastic packing tape. The trash bag contained the woman’s head and torso but did not contain her legs. An immediate alert went out in the area and 20 to 30 troopers were assigned to search for the woman’s killer and her identity. But, no one claimed to have known her.

Forensic experts described her to have been between 4-foot-11 and 5-foot-4 and weighing between 125 and 140 pounds. Believing that she was most likely to have been of European/Caucasian or Hispanic descent, she had fair skin, with short brown hair and brown eyes.

At the time of her death she was wearing a light blue denim shirt with thin blue vertical stripes and copper-colored buttons. Discovered within three to seven days of her death, her fingerprints did not yield a match, so she was obviously never arrested in the United States.

Pennsylvania Suitcase Victim

Computer Enhanced Photo of unidentified

woman, courtesy Pennsylvania State Police

A little more than six months later, in late January of 1996, a hiker found two leg bones and another green plastic trash bag containing items of clothing in a remote area of Bucks County, a site roughly 50 miles away. Although mutilation and decomposition made it impossible to get a conclusive DNA match, other evidence convinced investigators that both sets of remains were those of the same woman - and that her legs had been amputated after death. This new development added new information for the investigators, but they were still unable to find her identity or her killer.

In 1997, police commissioned Frank Bender, a top forensic artist, to reconstruct a replica of the woman's head from the facial bones found in the suitcase. The woman’s facial bust was then broadcasted throughout the local and national media, but still no avail.

Since the body was found in 1995, the details of the case have been shown on America's Most Wanted through two broadcasts: one in June of 2001 and one in March of 2002, dubbing the case the "Pennsylvania Suitcase Jane Doe." Over the years, there have been hundreds of tips - including the "vision" of a psychic on The Montel Williams Show

All these years later, despite an intensive and continuing investigation and the publicity, her identity and her killer remain undiscovered.

If you have information about this case, please contact the Pennsylvania State Police at 717-783-5524 or their website at http://www.psp.state.pa.us/

Call Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers Toll Free at 1-800-4PA-TIPS. Callers could be eligible for cash rewards up to $ 1,000.00 and you may remain anonymous. Website: http://www.pacrimestoppers.org/index.htm

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