Illinois police hope technology helps identify head found in state park in 1993
MOUNT VERNON, Ind. - Southern Illinois police are hoping technologies not available three decades ago can help them identify a woman whose head was found in 1993 in a state park.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department is working with researchers who have performed an anthropological re-analysis, forensic genealogy and DNA analysis on the remains of the woman, who is known only as "Ina Jane Doe."
Police said last week that new forensic art has also been prepared by a sketch artist to reflect the updated findings. One image is without eye makeup and the other is with eye makeup, The Southern Illinoisan reported.
The presumed white female’s decapitated head was found by two girls on Jan. 27, 1993, along a wooded roadway within Wayne Fitzgerrell State Park.
Ina Jane Doe | Jefferson County Sheriff's Office
She was estimated to have been between 30 and 50 years of age at the time of her death, had long reddish hair and a pin-shaped mole in her left ear. The woman had extensive dental work and had possibly worn braces at some point, police said.
The victim also had skeletal asymmetry that, in life, may have been visible in her facial features, and she may have experienced issues with her neck, police said.
Anyone with information about the investigation into the unidentified woman can contact Detective Captain Bobby Wallace at the Sheriff’s Office (618)244-8004 or Crimestoppers at (618)242-TIPS (8477).