The Doe Network

Last updated
The Doe Network
Formation1999
FounderJennifer Marra (Web Site Founder); Helene Wahlstrom and Todd Matthews (Volunteer Group Co-Founders) [1]
Purpose Body identification
Headquarters Livingston, Tennessee [2]
Location
Volunteers
600+
Website www.doenetwork.org

The Doe Network is a non-profit organization of volunteers who work with law enforcement to connect missing persons cases with John/Jane Doe cases. [3] [4] [5] They maintain a website about cold cases and unidentified persons, and work to match these with missing persons.

Contents

Purpose

The organization's website features cold case disappearances and unidentified decedents, to create awareness for such cases and to generate potential leads. [6] Case files are created for both unidentified and missing persons, detailing physical estimations of the subjects as well as circumstances of the disappearance, sightings, and recovery of the unidentified subjects. [7] [8]

Images of the missing and unidentified, including forensic facial reconstructions, tattoos, and age progressions are also posted when available for cases. [3] [9] [10] Cases of murder conviction without a body are also listed, although their cases have been solved. In some instances, the victim could possibly remain unidentified. [11]

The website provides an online form so that visitors can submit potential matches between missing and unidentified persons, which are subsequently reviewed by volunteers prior to submission to authorities. [2] [12] After the form is completed by a reader, 16 members of the Doe Network's administrative panel evaluate the importance of the possible match and whether or not to submit it to investigators handling the case. [13] This organization also works alongside other databases, such as the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System and the NCIC. [2] [3] [14]

The Doe Network features worldwide cases and is presented in various languages. [4] [15]

Since the launch of the Doe Network, more than 600 people have volunteered to take part in case reviews. [2] Members are selected after review of their applications and confirmation of their background information. A core team organizes information that is published on the Web site, compiling approved information received from other members. [6]

History

The Doe Network website was created in 1999 by Jennifer Marra of Michigan [16] [17] as a website database for international long-term missing persons and unidentified victims. Marra turned control of the site over to Helene Wahlstrom of Sweden in 2001. [17]

Helene Wahlstrom joined forces with the Cold Cases Yahoo! group headed by Todd Matthews of Tennessee, and they recruited a wider volunteer group to assist the Doe Network to find potential matches between missing persons and unidentified victims. [13] Matthews had assisted in the 1998 identification of Barbara Ann Hackmann Taylor, who was previously nicknamed "Tent Girl" in her cold case. This success inspired him to create a website to help solve similar cases. [2] [18] [19]

Over the years, the Doe Network has been recognized for its work as one of a number of amateur groups who use the Internet to assist families and law enforcement with trying to identify missing persons and unidentified victims. [9] [20] [21] [22] [23]

Matthews founded a different organization, known as Project EDAN (Everyone Deserves a Name). This is a group of forensic artists who create images of unidentified victims for posting on the Internet in an effort to reach people who know them. [24]

The Doe Network has members worldwide, including volunteers from all 50 US states. [13]

According to the Doe Network, they have solved and assisted in closing 113 missing and unidentified cases; 36 were completed within its first five years of operation. [25] The list of solved cases also includes submitted matches which were not used or confirmed by law enforcement. [2] [18] Resolved cases include those of Deanna Criswell, found in 1987 and identified in 2015; Samantha Bonnell, found and identified in 2005; and Dorothy Gay Howard, found in 1954 and identified in 2009. [26] [27]

Criswell, who had been missing from Spokane, Washington, was identified after family members saw the case file on the Doe Network of an unidentified teen found in Arizona. They submitted information about a possible link between her and their relative. [28] Samantha Bonnell's mother recognized a facial reconstruction created by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, usually for the use of law enforcement, which the Doe Network posted in its Internet file of the young woman. [13]

Other cases have been solved in a similar way. Loved ones or police investigators may see a case file on the website that details a case similar to a missing person or unidentified victim of a homicide. [7] [29] [30] [31] Several other cases have been solved through the potential match submissions. [32]

The Doe Network has been criticized for forwarding too much unrelated data to law enforcement officials, according to a 2008 interview with Matthews by National Public Radio. [6] [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbara Ann Hackmann Taylor</span> American murder victim

Barbara Ann "Bobbie" Hackmann Taylor, also known as the "Tent Girl", was notable as an unidentified homicide victim for nearly 30 years after her body was found on May 17, 1968, near Georgetown, Kentucky. She was referred to as "Tent Girl" because of the material wrapped around her. On April 23, 1998, the Scott County Sheriff's Office announced that this victim had been identified. Hackmann Taylor, born in Illinois, was married and had an eight-month-old daughter when she went missing from her home in Lexington, Kentucky.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruth Marie Terry</span> Murder victim

Ruth Marie Terry, also known as Lady of the Dunes, was a formerly unidentified decedent found on July 26, 1974, in the Race Point Dunes in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Her body was exhumed in 1980, 2000, and 2013 in efforts to identify her killer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little Miss Lake Panasoffkee</span> Unidentified American female murder victim (Florida 1971)

Little Miss Lake Panasoffkee, or Little Miss Panasoffkee, is the name given to an unidentified young woman found murdered on February 19, 1971, in Lake Panasoffkee, Florida, United States. She has remained unidentified for 51 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Marcia King</span> Formerly unidentified murder victim

Marcia Lenore Sossoman (King) was a 21-year-old Arkansas woman who was murdered in April 1981 and whose body was discovered in Troy, Ohio approximately 48 hours after her murder. Her body remained unidentified for 36 years before being identified via DNA analysis and genetic genealogy in April 2018. King was one of the first unidentified decedents to be identified via this method of forensic investigation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Killing of Evelyn Colon</span>

Evelyn Colon was a formerly unidentified American teenager from New Jersey who was found murdered and dismembered in three suitcases along with her unborn daughter on December 20, 1976, in White Haven, Pennsylvania. The brutality of the crime, the fact that she was pregnant when she was killed and the length of time that she remained unidentified created national attention. After isotope analysis was conducted in 2007, it was believed she had been an immigrant from a Central European country. In 2019, it was announced police were considering the possibility that this victim had been a runaway foster child who was last known to be in New York, but investigators subsequently located the girl and confirmed that she was alive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Sherri Jarvis</span> Unsolved murder in Huntsville, Texas, US

Sherri Ann Jarvis was an American murder victim from Forest Lake, Minnesota whose body was discovered in Huntsville, Texas on November 1, 1980. Her body was discovered within hours of her sexual assault and murder, and remained unidentified for 41 years before investigators announced her identification via forensic genealogy in November 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Tammy Terrell</span> Formerly unidentified American murder victim

Tammy Corrine Terrell was an American murder victim from Roswell, New Mexico. Her body was discovered on October 5, 1980, in Henderson, Nevada, and remained unidentified until December 2021. Her case has been the subject of extensive efforts by investigators and has been highlighted as inspiring other work to solve cold cases of unidentified murder victims.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Dana Dodd</span> American murder victim (1985–2006)

Dana Lynn Dodd was a formerly unidentified American murder victim whose body was found in 2006 in Kilgore, Texas. In 2013, investigators had hoped that a new reconstruction of the victim might uncover more leads. In August 2018, Joseph Wayne Burnette was indicted for her murder, following a confession, stating her name may have been "Ashley." The victim's case was later submitted to the DNA Doe Project, who made an identification in January 2019, 12 years later. While she remained unidentified, she was known by the nickname "Lavender Doe".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Killing of Marilee Bruszer</span> American murder victim identified after 37 years

Marilee Lee Bruszer, previously known as Juab County Jane Doe, was a formerly unidentified American murder victim who was found on September 3, 1978. Bruszer's body was not identified for 37 years due to an inaccurate physical description generated by the original investigators and the great distance she was found from where she had resided prior to her disappearance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tempe Girl</span> Unidentified decedent (discovered 2002)

Tempe Girl is the name given to an unidentified decedent whose body was discovered on April 27, 2002 in Tempe, Arizona. She had died of cocaine intoxication—ruled to be neither an accident nor a homicide—one day before the discovery of her body. This decedent is believed to have been of either Hispanic or Native American ethnicity and was allegedly picked up while hitchhiking, claiming she had been effectively disowned by her own mother for her frequent recreational drug use.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unidentified decedent</span> Term used to describe a corpse of a person whose identity cannot be established

Unidentified decedent or unidentified person is a term in American English used to describe a corpse of a person whose identity cannot be established by police and medical examiners. In many cases, it is several years before the identities of some UIDs are found, while in some cases, they are never identified. A UID may remain unidentified due to lack of evidence as well as absence of personal identification such as a driver's license. Where the remains have deteriorated or been mutilated to the point that the body is not easily recognized, a UID's face may be reconstructed to show what they had looked like before death. UIDs are often referred to by the placeholder names "John Doe" or "Jane Doe".

<i>The Skeleton Crew</i> (book)

The Skeleton Crew: How Amateur Sleuths Are Solving America's Coldest Cases is a 2014 non-fiction work that was written by Deborah Halber. It was first published on 1 July 2014 by Simon & Schuster and details the phenomenon of citizens creating and using Internet resources to identify unidentified human remains.

The Redhead murders is the media epithet used to refer to a series of unsolved homicides of redheaded females in the United States between October 1978 and 1992, believed to have been committed by an unidentified male serial killer. The murders believed to be related have occurred in states including Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. The murders may have continued until 1992. The victims, many remaining unidentified for years, were usually women with reddish hair, whose bodies were abandoned along major highways in the United States. Officials believe that the women were likely hitchhiking or may have engaged in sex work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Alisha Heinrich</span> Formerly unidentified American decedent

Alisha Ann Heinrich, previously known as "Baby Jane" and "Delta Dawn", was a formerly unidentified American child murder victim whose body was found in Moss Point, Mississippi, in December 1982. The child — aged approximately 18 months — was partially smothered before she was thrown alive from the eastbound Interstate 10 bridge into the Escatawpa River, where she ultimately drowned. Her body was recovered between 36 and 48 hours after her death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of April Lacy</span> American homicide victim

April Dawn Lacy was a previously unidentified American homicide victim who was discovered in 1996 in Decatur, Texas. She was identified in 1998 after her face was reconstructed and dental information was compared between both subjects. Although her body was identified, her murder remains unsolved. The circumstances surrounding April's murder are unknown, although she is believed by police to have run away from home and may have engaged in prostitution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Deanna Criswell</span> Homicide of American girl previously unidentified for 27 years

Deanna Lee Criswell was an American girl from Washington state who was murdered by firearm at age 16 and remained unidentified for 27 years. Criswell's body was found on November 25, 1987 in Marana, Arizona, near Tucson. The Marana Police Department announced her identification on February 11, 2015, aided by the sophisticated technology of forensic facial reconstruction and DNA analysis, and by websites set up by amateurs to help identify missing and unidentified persons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of David Stack</span> Formerly unidentified American murder victim

David Arthur Stack was an American man who was murdered while hitchhiking from his home in Broomfield, Colorado to California. Stack was murdered by an unknown assailant or assailants in Wendover, Utah. His body was found approximately one day after his murder in a landfill in rural Tooele County, although he remained an unidentified decedent for 39 years until 2015 when his body was identified via a comparison of both dental records and genetic testing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DNA Doe Project</span> American organization formed to identify deceased persons using forensic genealogy

DNA Doe Project is an American non-profit volunteer organization formed to identify unidentified deceased persons using forensic genealogy. Volunteers identify victims of automobile accidents, homicide, and unusual circumstances, and persons who committed suicide under an alias. The group was founded in 2017 by Colleen Fitzpatrick and Margaret Press.

References

  1. ↑ Deborah Halber (1 July 2014). The Skeleton Crew: How Amateur Sleuths Are Solving America's Coldest Cases. Simon and Schuster. ISBN   978-1-4516-5760-9.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Alligood, Leon (6 March 2006). "Volunteers match found bodies, missing persons". USA Today. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 "About Us". The Doe Network. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  4. 1 2 George, Cindy (25 April 2010). "ID of missing Houston woman's remains renews hunt for killer". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  5. ↑ Friess, Steve (25 January 2004). "To identify 'John Doe' victims, investigators turn to the Web". Boston Globe. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 "Amateur Detectives Help ID John and John Doe". National Public Radio. 3 April 2008. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  7. 1 2 Sullivan, Dan (26 September 2011). "Brandon man wonders if slain Mississippi woman is his missing sister". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  8. ↑ "Criteria For Case Files". The Doe Network. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  9. 1 2 Griffin, Drew (7 June 2005). "Security Watch'; The Doe Network". CNN News. CNN. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  10. ↑ Martinez, Diana (19 November 2010). "Remains in Arizona that of man who vanished in 1995". AZ Central. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  11. ↑ Bixler, Liz (7 July 2011). "Still on the case". Half Moon Bay Review. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  12. ↑ Sullivan, Ted (25 April 2010). "John Doe cold case shrouded in mystery". Gazette Xtra. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 O'Neil, Helen (30 March 2008). "Amateur sleuths restore identity to the dead". Seattle Post Intelligencer. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  14. ↑ O'Neill, Helen (30 March 2008). "Volunteers use computers to name the dead". USA Today. Associated Press. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  15. ↑ "Doe Network Teams". The Doe Network. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  16. ↑ Good, Meaghan. "Credits". The Charley Project. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  17. 1 2 Matt Birkbeck (2005). A Beautiful Child: A True Story of Hope, Horror, and an Enduring Human Spirit. Berkley Books. ISBN   978-0-425-20440-5.
  18. 1 2 "Doe Network Assisted Solves". The Doe Network. 12 February 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  19. ↑ Walton, Pamela (February 2013). "Lost and Found in the Cumberland". Celebrations Magazine.
  20. ↑ Schachtman, Noah (1 January 2004). "Face on a Milk Carton? Amateur Sleuths Dig Deeper". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  21. ↑ Clayton, Robin (September 2010). "Cold cases remembered". ACO News.
  22. ↑ Singleton, David (14 April 2010). "Grim discovery of bones cause for hope, despair". The Times Tribune. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  23. ↑ Melvin, Joshua (26 June 2011). "The John Doe files: San Mateo County coroner tries to name unidentified bodies". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  24. ↑ Smith, Carol (5 October 2005). "'Tent Girl' and the start of the Doe Network". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Seattle PI. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  25. ↑ "Located & Identified Persons". www.doenetwork.org. Retrieved 2021-09-04.
  26. ↑ Jones, Janie (August 2011). "Murder Mystery: Lives Lost and Found". AY Magazine. Rivista. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  27. ↑ Shields, Pierrette J. (20 May 2010). "To say bye: Family, friends to hold memorial for one-time Jane Doe". Longmont Times-Call.
  28. ↑ LeFriec, Alex (12 February 2015). "Missing Spokane teen identified as Arizona cold case victim" (PDF). KXLY News. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  29. ↑ Morales, Ileana; Valentine, Danny (15 February 2011). "Ohio dispatcher helps solve mystery of man killed in Tampa in 1998". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 23 July 2015.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  30. ↑ Harthorn, Jessica (28 July 2011). "Flint family finds closure in missing mother's cold case". MI NBC News. NBC. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  31. ↑ Bursch, Kathryn (22 July 2011). "Pasco murder victim ID'd after 29 years". 10 News. CBS. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  32. ↑ "Located & Identified Persons". www.doenetwork.org. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  33. ↑ Deborah Halber, The Skeleton Crew, Simon and Schuster
  34. ↑ “About Face.” Dowling, Paul, director. Forensic Files , season 12, episode 26, TruTV, 18 July 2008.
  35. ↑ Hendin, Linda. “The Disappearing Doe.” Who Killed Jane Doe? , season 2, episode 2, Investigation Discovery, 20 Feb. 2018.
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