By Patricia Bogumil
Her name in death is Jane, but that is not the name she knew in life.
An unidentified young woman has been referred to as “Jane Doe” since being found dead in a Raymond township cornfield in 1999.
Last week, her body was disinterred and sent for forensic analysis, in the hope of finding information that leads to Jane’s identification – as well as to the identity of the person or persons who brutalized and killed her.
The Racine County Sheriff’s Office has been consulting with the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, the National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NAMUS) regarding an exhumation of her body, accoirding to a release from the Sheriff’s Office.
There has been much advancement in scientific testing since Jane’s death in 1999, it explains. New technology may be able to provide investigators with information about Jane’s life in the weeks, months and even years prior to her death, the release notes.
This information could then help identify Jane and lead investigators to the people responsible for her death.
Exhuming Jane’s body was not a decision that was entered into lightly, the release adds. The body was exhumed Oct. 16 under the direction of Dr. Rick Snow, a forensic anthropologist with NCMEC.
Draeger-Langendorf Funeral Home in Racine donated their services for the exhumation process. The body has been transported to the Milwaukee County Medical Examiners Office for addi-tional analysis.
Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling is determined to identify the young woman, arrest the persons responsible for the brutal crime and bring closure to Jane’s family, according to the release.
The facts known so far
Here’s what police already know about Jane Doe from aggressively investigating her death since 1999.
• She was 5-feet 8-inches tall, weighed 120 pounds, with short brown hair. Her ears were double-pierced and her left ear had a deformation consistent with “cauliflower ear.” Her teeth were in poor condition, with her front teeth slightly protruding.
• Jane was found clothed in black sweatpants and a man’s gray country western-style shirt. The shirt had pearlized snap buttons and a red floral pattern.
• Jane suffered severe abuse prior to her death – a crime that authorities describe as ghastly and horrific.
She had reportedly been tortured for days, burned, cut, battered, starved, beaten perhaps for weeks, and then killed and her body dumped.
• It appears her murder had occurred elsewhere, authorities say, and the body dumped at the cornfield, maybe because the rural area is near to I-94.
In 2012, a facial reconstruction artist from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children updated and prepared a new facial reconstruction photo of Jane, which authorities say suggests what the victim may have looked like, but is not an exact depiction.
An online page about the case can be found at www.facebook.com by searching for “Jane Doe Racine County, Wisconsin.”
Last year, authorities noted that the page includes a “vidi-mentary,” or video documentary, about the case and Jane Doe’s last days, in which the victim is described as dying a long horrific death
over a period of two to three weeks.
“There is a very sick person out there, and we have got to find out who that is,” said Bill McReynolds, the county’s former executive, in the online video.
“I’d like to put closure to this. I’d like to see it solved,” adds county Investigator Jim Dehne, who worked with Investigator Eileen Reilly for years on the case, exhausting thousands of leads.
Anyone with information is now asked to call Racine County investigator Tracy Hintz at (262) 636-3190. She can also be reached on Facebook at Jane Doe Racine County, Wisconsin.
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