UPDATE: Woodlawn Jane Doe has been identified as Margaret Fetterolf
Margaret Fetterolf was born in Japan to Sgt. John Edward Fetterholf and Nobuko Yoshida Fetterolf. She had two brothers, Leo and Edward. She was a habitual runaway, and went missing from Baltimore, Maryland in the late summer of 1975. Her body was found in 1976, but was not identified through DNA until 2023. Her father died in 2018, and she is survived by her mother, her brother Leo and wife, Kimberly; her brother, Edward and wife, Lorraine; her niece and nephew, Savannah and Jonathan; her great nephew, Bjorn; and numerous cousins.
Murder victim. Woodlawn Jane Doe was a young woman who was discovered murdered on September 12, 1976, in Woodlawn, Baltimore County, Maryland. The victim has been linked to regions in Massachusetts and New York. Various investigations have been conducted in the case. Recent developments have indicated she was possibly a teenage immigrant from Central or South America who had lived in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, although the family of the individual has yet to be located. In 2016, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children released the detail that she may have used the names "Jasmine" or "Jassy" when alive.
Despite extensive efforts, her body has never been identified. The murderer, or murderers, have never been apprehended.
On September 12, 1976, at 10:20 a.m., the body of a 15- to 30-year-old woman was found partially wrapped in a white sheet. She had been beaten, strangled, and raped. The rape had been severe, as it caused bleeding that had seeped into her clothing. She likely died at stomarent location and had been transported to the side of Dogwood Road near the back gate of a cemetery.
It is possible that a Ford Econoline van may be linked to the case, as one was seen near the location of the body an hour before it was found.
The victim wore a turquoise-colored stone bead tied to a rawhide string as a necklace. Also in her possession were two brass keys (one believed to be for a house and the other for a "night latch") that were found attached to a safety pin in one of the pockets of a pair of tan-yellow jeans. She wore a white and tan shirt, a white bra, and distinctive knee-high socks with multi-colored stripes. A single, light tan moccasin with twine laces and a rubber sole was found near the body; it is believed to have been worn by the victim. Other pieces of cloth were also found on the body.
Two bandannas and a bag for grass seeds were found over her face. These had been fastened behind her neck in a square knot. One bandanna was blue and white, and the other was orange and white. The orange-and-white bandanna was found to have holes cut in it to fit the locations of her eyes and nose. Besides the bag over her face, a piece of the grass seed bag was found in her throat. This was determined to have been the cause of her death, along with ligature strangulation. The bag read "Farm Bureau Association Grass Seed, Lexington, Mass." Additionally, the hands had been bound behind her back with some sort of "bandage" in noticeably high-quality knots.
An extremely large amount of a sedative drug, chlorpromazine, was found in the victim's stomach. Chlorpromazine is used to treat schizophrenia, which led to a theory linking the victim, or those responsible for her murder, to a mental institution. Additionally, the sheet that was wrapped around her body was consistent with those provided at inpatient institutions∼Known as the Woodlawn Jane Doe to cold case detectives for nearly five decades, Baltimore County police, using sophisticated DNA analysis that connected her body to relatives, identified a long-unknown woman as Margaret Fetterolf of Alexandria, Va.
Fetterolf, described by a family member as a habitual runaway, went missing in the late summer of 1975. Her body, badly beaten with her hands bound, was found wrapped in a white sheet near a cemetery on Dogwood Road on Sept. 12, 1976.
Fetterolf's identity and the circumstances of her murder had for decades confounded detectives, who even used pollen analysis for leads that took them as far away as Boston looking for clues.
Then they apparently turned to a new but controversial law enforcement technique — looking for potential relatives using DNA information uploaded to genealogy sites, including Ancestry.com. The technique went mainstream following its use in identifying the Golden State Killer in 2018.
Authorities would not disclose precisely how DNA was used in Fetterolf's case, except to say that they received help from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and Bode Technology, a Lorton, Va., company that uses DNA to identify crime suspects and unidentified victims.
Margaret Fetterolf was born in Japan to Sgt. John Edward Fetterholf and Nobuko Yoshida Fetterolf. She had two brothers, Leo and Edward. She was a habitual runaway, and went missing from Baltimore, Maryland in the late summer of 1975. Her body was found in 1976, but was not identified through DNA until 2023. Her father died in 2018, and she is survived by her mother, her brother Leo and wife, Kimberly; her brother, Edward and wife, Lorraine; her niece and nephew, Savannah and Jonathan; her great nephew, Bjorn; and numerous cousins.
Murder victim. Woodlawn Jane Doe was a young woman who was discovered murdered on September 12, 1976, in Woodlawn, Baltimore County, Maryland. The victim has been linked to regions in Massachusetts and New York. Various investigations have been conducted in the case. Recent developments have indicated she was possibly a teenage immigrant from Central or South America who had lived in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, although the family of the individual has yet to be located. In 2016, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children released the detail that she may have used the names "Jasmine" or "Jassy" when alive.
Despite extensive efforts, her body has never been identified. The murderer, or murderers, have never been apprehended.
On September 12, 1976, at 10:20 a.m., the body of a 15- to 30-year-old woman was found partially wrapped in a white sheet. She had been beaten, strangled, and raped. The rape had been severe, as it caused bleeding that had seeped into her clothing. She likely died at stomarent location and had been transported to the side of Dogwood Road near the back gate of a cemetery.
It is possible that a Ford Econoline van may be linked to the case, as one was seen near the location of the body an hour before it was found.
The victim wore a turquoise-colored stone bead tied to a rawhide string as a necklace. Also in her possession were two brass keys (one believed to be for a house and the other for a "night latch") that were found attached to a safety pin in one of the pockets of a pair of tan-yellow jeans. She wore a white and tan shirt, a white bra, and distinctive knee-high socks with multi-colored stripes. A single, light tan moccasin with twine laces and a rubber sole was found near the body; it is believed to have been worn by the victim. Other pieces of cloth were also found on the body.
Two bandannas and a bag for grass seeds were found over her face. These had been fastened behind her neck in a square knot. One bandanna was blue and white, and the other was orange and white. The orange-and-white bandanna was found to have holes cut in it to fit the locations of her eyes and nose. Besides the bag over her face, a piece of the grass seed bag was found in her throat. This was determined to have been the cause of her death, along with ligature strangulation. The bag read "Farm Bureau Association Grass Seed, Lexington, Mass." Additionally, the hands had been bound behind her back with some sort of "bandage" in noticeably high-quality knots.
An extremely large amount of a sedative drug, chlorpromazine, was found in the victim's stomach. Chlorpromazine is used to treat schizophrenia, which led to a theory linking the victim, or those responsible for her murder, to a mental institution. Additionally, the sheet that was wrapped around her body was consistent with those provided at inpatient institutions∼Known as the Woodlawn Jane Doe to cold case detectives for nearly five decades, Baltimore County police, using sophisticated DNA analysis that connected her body to relatives, identified a long-unknown woman as Margaret Fetterolf of Alexandria, Va.
Fetterolf, described by a family member as a habitual runaway, went missing in the late summer of 1975. Her body, badly beaten with her hands bound, was found wrapped in a white sheet near a cemetery on Dogwood Road on Sept. 12, 1976.
Fetterolf's identity and the circumstances of her murder had for decades confounded detectives, who even used pollen analysis for leads that took them as far away as Boston looking for clues.
Then they apparently turned to a new but controversial law enforcement technique — looking for potential relatives using DNA information uploaded to genealogy sites, including Ancestry.com. The technique went mainstream following its use in identifying the Golden State Killer in 2018.
Authorities would not disclose precisely how DNA was used in Fetterolf's case, except to say that they received help from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and Bode Technology, a Lorton, Va., company that uses DNA to identify crime suspects and unidentified victims.
UPDATE: Woodlawn Jane Doe has been identified as Margaret Fetterolf
Margaret Fetterolf was born in Japan to Sgt. John Edward Fetterholf and Nobuko Yoshida Fetterolf. She had two brothers, Leo and Edward. She was a habitual runaway, and went missing from Baltimore, Maryland in the late summer of 1975. Her body was found in 1976, but was not identified through DNA until 2023. Her father died in 2018, and she is survived by her mother, her brother Leo and wife, Kimberly; her brother, Edward and wife, Lorraine; her niece and nephew, Savannah and Jonathan; her great nephew, Bjorn; and numerous cousins.
Murder victim. Woodlawn Jane Doe was a young woman who was discovered murdered on September 12, 1976, in Woodlawn, Baltimore County, Maryland. The victim has been linked to regions in Massachusetts and New York. Various investigations have been conducted in the case. Recent developments have indicated she was possibly a teenage immigrant from Central or South America who had lived in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, although the family of the individual has yet to be located. In 2016, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children released the detail that she may have used the names "Jasmine" or "Jassy" when alive.
Despite extensive efforts, her body has never been identified. The murderer, or murderers, have never been apprehended.
On September 12, 1976, at 10:20 a.m., the body of a 15- to 30-year-old woman was found partially wrapped in a white sheet. She had been beaten, strangled, and raped. The rape had been severe, as it caused bleeding that had seeped into her clothing. She likely died at stomarent location and had been transported to the side of Dogwood Road near the back gate of a cemetery.
It is possible that a Ford Econoline van may be linked to the case, as one was seen near the location of the body an hour before it was found.
The victim wore a turquoise-colored stone bead tied to a rawhide string as a necklace. Also in her possession were two brass keys (one believed to be for a house and the other for a "night latch") that were found attached to a safety pin in one of the pockets of a pair of tan-yellow jeans. She wore a white and tan shirt, a white bra, and distinctive knee-high socks with multi-colored stripes. A single, light tan moccasin with twine laces and a rubber sole was found near the body; it is believed to have been worn by the victim. Other pieces of cloth were also found on the body.
Two bandannas and a bag for grass seeds were found over her face. These had been fastened behind her neck in a square knot. One bandanna was blue and white, and the other was orange and white. The orange-and-white bandanna was found to have holes cut in it to fit the locations of her eyes and nose. Besides the bag over her face, a piece of the grass seed bag was found in her throat. This was determined to have been the cause of her death, along with ligature strangulation. The bag read "Farm Bureau Association Grass Seed, Lexington, Mass." Additionally, the hands had been bound behind her back with some sort of "bandage" in noticeably high-quality knots.
An extremely large amount of a sedative drug, chlorpromazine, was found in the victim's stomach. Chlorpromazine is used to treat schizophrenia, which led to a theory linking the victim, or those responsible for her murder, to a mental institution. Additionally, the sheet that was wrapped around her body was consistent with those provided at inpatient institutions∼Known as the Woodlawn Jane Doe to cold case detectives for nearly five decades, Baltimore County police, using sophisticated DNA analysis that connected her body to relatives, identified a long-unknown woman as Margaret Fetterolf of Alexandria, Va.
Fetterolf, described by a family member as a habitual runaway, went missing in the late summer of 1975. Her body, badly beaten with her hands bound, was found wrapped in a white sheet near a cemetery on Dogwood Road on Sept. 12, 1976.
Fetterolf's identity and the circumstances of her murder had for decades confounded detectives, who even used pollen analysis for leads that took them as far away as Boston looking for clues.
Then they apparently turned to a new but controversial law enforcement technique — looking for potential relatives using DNA information uploaded to genealogy sites, including Ancestry.com. The technique went mainstream following its use in identifying the Golden State Killer in 2018.
Authorities would not disclose precisely how DNA was used in Fetterolf's case, except to say that they received help from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and Bode Technology, a Lorton, Va., company that uses DNA to identify crime suspects and unidentified victims.
Margaret Fetterolf was born in Japan to Sgt. John Edward Fetterholf and Nobuko Yoshida Fetterolf. She had two brothers, Leo and Edward. She was a habitual runaway, and went missing from Baltimore, Maryland in the late summer of 1975. Her body was found in 1976, but was not identified through DNA until 2023. Her father died in 2018, and she is survived by her mother, her brother Leo and wife, Kimberly; her brother, Edward and wife, Lorraine; her niece and nephew, Savannah and Jonathan; her great nephew, Bjorn; and numerous cousins.
Murder victim. Woodlawn Jane Doe was a young woman who was discovered murdered on September 12, 1976, in Woodlawn, Baltimore County, Maryland. The victim has been linked to regions in Massachusetts and New York. Various investigations have been conducted in the case. Recent developments have indicated she was possibly a teenage immigrant from Central or South America who had lived in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, although the family of the individual has yet to be located. In 2016, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children released the detail that she may have used the names "Jasmine" or "Jassy" when alive.
Despite extensive efforts, her body has never been identified. The murderer, or murderers, have never been apprehended.
On September 12, 1976, at 10:20 a.m., the body of a 15- to 30-year-old woman was found partially wrapped in a white sheet. She had been beaten, strangled, and raped. The rape had been severe, as it caused bleeding that had seeped into her clothing. She likely died at stomarent location and had been transported to the side of Dogwood Road near the back gate of a cemetery.
It is possible that a Ford Econoline van may be linked to the case, as one was seen near the location of the body an hour before it was found.
The victim wore a turquoise-colored stone bead tied to a rawhide string as a necklace. Also in her possession were two brass keys (one believed to be for a house and the other for a "night latch") that were found attached to a safety pin in one of the pockets of a pair of tan-yellow jeans. She wore a white and tan shirt, a white bra, and distinctive knee-high socks with multi-colored stripes. A single, light tan moccasin with twine laces and a rubber sole was found near the body; it is believed to have been worn by the victim. Other pieces of cloth were also found on the body.
Two bandannas and a bag for grass seeds were found over her face. These had been fastened behind her neck in a square knot. One bandanna was blue and white, and the other was orange and white. The orange-and-white bandanna was found to have holes cut in it to fit the locations of her eyes and nose. Besides the bag over her face, a piece of the grass seed bag was found in her throat. This was determined to have been the cause of her death, along with ligature strangulation. The bag read "Farm Bureau Association Grass Seed, Lexington, Mass." Additionally, the hands had been bound behind her back with some sort of "bandage" in noticeably high-quality knots.
An extremely large amount of a sedative drug, chlorpromazine, was found in the victim's stomach. Chlorpromazine is used to treat schizophrenia, which led to a theory linking the victim, or those responsible for her murder, to a mental institution. Additionally, the sheet that was wrapped around her body was consistent with those provided at inpatient institutions∼Known as the Woodlawn Jane Doe to cold case detectives for nearly five decades, Baltimore County police, using sophisticated DNA analysis that connected her body to relatives, identified a long-unknown woman as Margaret Fetterolf of Alexandria, Va.
Fetterolf, described by a family member as a habitual runaway, went missing in the late summer of 1975. Her body, badly beaten with her hands bound, was found wrapped in a white sheet near a cemetery on Dogwood Road on Sept. 12, 1976.
Fetterolf's identity and the circumstances of her murder had for decades confounded detectives, who even used pollen analysis for leads that took them as far away as Boston looking for clues.
Then they apparently turned to a new but controversial law enforcement technique — looking for potential relatives using DNA information uploaded to genealogy sites, including Ancestry.com. The technique went mainstream following its use in identifying the Golden State Killer in 2018.
Authorities would not disclose precisely how DNA was used in Fetterolf's case, except to say that they received help from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and Bode Technology, a Lorton, Va., company that uses DNA to identify crime suspects and unidentified victims.
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement
