On Sept. 9, 2010, a sheepherder found the remains of an unidentified woman just a few miles off campus near Roger Canyon Road.
The Jane Doe 2010 Case, as it has been known, is ongoing.
The Albany County Police have done a full autopsy report indicating that the victim was a female anywhere from age 30 to 50 years old, between 5-foot-2 and 5-foot-4, and weighing 105 to 120 pounds. The autopsy also suggests that the body could have been near Roger Canyon as early as fall of 2009.
Aside from these reports, dental X-rays, fingerprints, and a full DNA profile is available for Jane Doe. This information was entered in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System database, an online system used nationally as a resource center for missing people and unidentified remains.
Across the nation, coroners, doctors and police officers can view Jane Doe’s information 24/7 to compare any of their evidence to her profile. While this is a great resource on the national level, the public is another powerful resource for remains identification.
The public is just now being approached because it was not appropriate to reach out to the public sooner.
“This is when we’ve started to really get our information together. Before we didn’t have a whole lot to go on that would be valuable to release to the public,” Albany County Coroner Kathleen Vernon said.
According to Albany Police, Jane Doe is believed to have died under “suspicious circumstances.” Her body was found with very little clothing, which leads police to believe she was dumped at the scene.
“The fact that she was really far away from the road and there was no car nearby made it seem like it would be difficult for her to actually walk out there,” Vernon said.“There was nothing found in the autopsy that would indicate how she died.”
One of the major investigators working on the scene besides Vernon, Det. William Meyer, has done more than 100 comparisons of Jane Doe’s DNA profile with other law enforcement records. Meyer and Vernon have both worked diligently on the case.
If anyone has any information about the unidentified remains, contact Detective Meyer at 721-5536 or wmeyer@co.albany.wy.us. Coroner Vernon can also be reached at 760-4590 or kvernon@co.albany.wy.us.
