1977 Snohomish County Washington, Jane Doe

Who I'd like to meet:

..Jane Doe's Story:..

Jane Doe’s badly decomposed body was discovered in August 1977 by blackberry pickers in the south Everett area off 112th St. SW and 4th Ave. W. (which was called Emander Road at that time).

She had been strangled and shot several times in the head. Officials weren’t able to identify her or give her age. At the time (and even years later) officials reported she could be anywhere from 17 to 37 years old (that has since changed to 15 to 21 years old).

In 1979 David Roth; about 20 years old at the time of the murder, was convicted of Jane Doe’s murder and sentenced to prison. He has since served his time and been released. He has been cooperative with cold case detectives, but he hasn’t been able to help them much since he did not know the victim or even her first name.

Roth had picked up Jane Doe, who was hitchhiking near Silver Lake, where he had gone to swim. From there, they went to an area (near where her body was later found) and drank some beer. When she refused his sexual advances he strangled her and then shot her.

In 1992, Sheriff’s Det. John Hinds (now retired) used a plaster cast of Jane Doe’s skull to create a facial reconstruction, which was shown to media in hopes of identifying her. Despite his efforts, no one was able to identify her.

On April 1, 2008, cold case detectives James Scharf and David Heitzman along with the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office, had Jane Doe’s remains exhumed from her unmarked grave at Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Everett in order to get DNA samples extracted from her bones. King County anthropologist Dr. Kathy Taylor examined the bones and determined that Jane Doe was likely much younger than earlier reported.

Although the case has been solved for nearly 30 years, detectives want to identify the young woman so they can return her remains to her family. It’s quite possible she was from out of state since no one has come forward all these years to identify her.

The facial reconstruction is no longer available. However, retired Det. John Hinds (who now lives out of county) has completed a new sketch of her based on photos of his reconstruction (along with the new information regarding her age) in hopes of providing a picture of her that reflects her between the ages of 15 and 21.

The goal, of course, is that a relative of hers will recognize her from the updated sketch and provide a sample of their DNA to confirm Jane Doe’s identity.




Authorities are asking anyone who reported a girl missing in the late 1970s (who fits the description of this Jane Doe or somewhat close to it) to contact them, so they can verify that the girl’s name is still in state and national databases for missing persons.

*Please be sure to include: First name, Middle name or initial, Last name and Date of birth and if at all possible any agency case number you may have available to reference case.