"Oh what a tangled
web we weave, when first we practice to deceive."
Sir Walter Scott
Winter 2003
Volume I,
issue 3
|
"Oh what a tangled
web we weave, when first we practice to deceive." |
Winter 2003 |
|
Unsolved-Crimes International is an offshoot of the Unsolved-Crimes discussion group on Yahoo started by Ronnie D. in January, after her life was touched by the brutal and senseless unsolved murder of Jennifer Whipkey. Media Director David Webb wrote the article. Direct correspondence to Ronnie D. or to editor@lifeloom.com. |
For the Children
'Tis the season. A season full of expensive decorating, gift buying, card writing, present wrapping, special meal preparing and so many other things that have to be done before the unforgiving December 25th deadline that we often forget to be jolly. In fact, sometimes those final weeks before Christmas, we're downright grumpy. There's really only one thing that gets most of us through the admittedly nerve wracking holiday preparations and that's final reward we know we'll receive on the year's most special of mornings: smiles and the laughter. We've done it for the children.
This holiday season law enforcement officers throughout the midwest are working long, hard hours in an attempt to bring two unfortunate children some very special gifts: justice and a name.
Precious Doe
April 28, 2001. While searching for an elderly man that has gone missing, Kansas City police make a grisly discovery that will mobilize the community. In a wooded area near 59th Street and Lexington Avenue they discover the naked body of a little girl. She's been decapitated, her head is missing. Three days later one of many volunteers that come forward to help search the area around the body finds a plastic bag thrown between a rock and an old tire. The girl's head is inside the bag.
An intensive investigation is launched but there is very little to go on. The girl is African-American and there is a moon shaped birthmark on her left shoulder that investigators try to match to local missing child reports. Schools and day care centers are contacted to see if children are missing and police release a computerized sketch of the girl asking the help of anyone who might recognize her. Two weeks after the body is discovered police have followed up a hundred leads and come up with nothing.
Meanwhile an outraged community offers its help. Volunteers from both the white and African-American communities print and distribute 40,000 fliers with the computerized sketch in an effort to identify the victim and neighborhood activists offer a reward for information leading to the identity of the little girl and her killer. Because "Jane Doe" seems cold and generic another name is selected by the community to express its feelings towards the small victim: Precious Doe.
The investigation widened in scope. America's Most Wanted profiled the case and received nearly sixty calls. None of them were any help. Fingerprints and DNA of girls missing from as far away as Miami and Washington state were checked but didn't match. A Canadian laboratory offered its services to use a special process to examine the plastic bag for fingerprints but turned up nothing. FBI agents flew to Jamaica after a pharmacist found an unclaimed roll of film with photos of a child that resembled the victim but found nothing. In all, investigators have distributed posters in 172 countries to no avail.
Even with all the disappointments during the two and a half year investigation, those involved will tell you there is still hope the crime can be solved IF, and it's a big if, someone comes forward with the identity of the child., otherwise normal investigative techniques won't work. DNA, for example, is an excellent tool for identification, but there has to be something to match the DNA to. As of this writing the DNA of almost 30 people related to missing children has been compared to Precious' DNA with negative results. Obviously, someone has to provide a tip that will lead to DNA that can be matched to the girl's.
A positive identification would also lead to suspects. It is an unfortunate but true fact that the younger a homicide victim, the more likely it is that the murderer is a close family member. An identification would also provide a locale in which to look for killer.
Investigators are determined to continue the search for Precious Doe's identity. Four images; a sketch, a computer-generated picture and two busts have been created to distribute to the public and investigators are waiting for that one call that will crack the case.
Beloved Doe
A similar but even more disturbing case is being investigated by police in Houston, Texas. On March 13th of this year a maintenance man working at the Willow Creek Apartments in Houston found a plaid laundry bag that had been thrown in a trash dumpster. Inside the bag was a blue and gray blanket. The blanket was wrapped around the corpse of a child.
At first, investigators believed that the victim had been a two to three year old boy. That's because the cause of death had disfigured the body. He had been starved to death.
The autopsy revealed that Beloved Doe, a name also chosen to avoid the coldness of the normal "John Doe" designation, was four to five years old, yet he weighed only 21 pounds. The paleness of the skin suggested to police that he had not been exposed to sunlight for quite a while, perhaps kept in a closet for months. There are few facts for police to work with. The victim was white or Hispanic with black hair, large dark eyes and very long eyelashes. The person who dumped the body might live in or near the apartment complex and certainly watched the child die slowly.
Again, investigators say a solution will only come with identification of the child, made more difficult in this case by the fact that the child might have been kept hidden from neighbors, landlords, etc. for a very long time.
These cases certainly don't contribute to the festive air of the holidays, but these children and others like them must not, and will not, be forgotten. Kansas City and Houston police vow to never forget and to do everything possible to give the victims something all children should have: a name. They are, perhaps, spurred on by a sound all of us, with a conscience, can hear.
The sound of angels weeping.
For the children.
Information about these and other cases (with information about how to contact law enforcement if you have information) can be found on our website: http://www.unsolved-crimes.com
Unsolved-Crimes International is dedicated to publicizing these and other unsolved cases on the Internet permanently. Victims' photos and their case details will remain for public view as long as the case is unsolved.
Copyright 2003 by Unsolved-Crimes International
The Web Mystery Magazine is an on-line quarterly journal dedicated to investigating the mysterious genre in print, in film, and in real-life. The Web welcomes well-researched, well-written articles and reviews. Writers are invited to send letters and inquiries to editor@lifeloom.com.
|
"Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive." |