Two decades after a woman’s body parts were discovered scattered nearly 50 miles apart across two suburban Philadelphia communities, her identity and her killer remain mysteries.
A fisherman found the woman’s head and torso stuffed into a maroon leather suitcase near the Valley Creek in East Caln Township, Chester County on July 11, 1995, said Pennsylvania State Police. Several months later, the victim’s legs turned up about 50 miles away in Middletown Township, Bucks County.
Investigators released reconstructive sketches Tuesday of the homicide victim -- believed to have been between 18 to 40 years old at the time of her death, that show a woman with brown hair and brown eyes who stood about 5-foot, 3-inches tall and weighed around 125 pounds at the time of her death -- in hopes of finally solving the case. She only had worn a bra at the time but there was a light-blue denim shirt with a collar, long sleeves, copper-colored buttons, light colored bands across the chest and back, bed sheets and a denim skirt also in the case, said police.
The woman's face had already started to decompose by the time she was found and the body had sat in excessive heat and water making it more difficult to identify her. She had no tattoos and had little visible trauma besides an eye injury.
Despite a reconstruction from notable forensics sculptor Frank Bender, who is now deceased, and other sketches the woman remains a Jane Doe.
Anyone with information on the killing or identity of the victim is asked to contact state police Embreeville Station, Trooper 1st Class Chad Roberts at (717)299-7650 or Trooper Daniel Covert at (610)486-6214.
