In 2014, a teenager discovered the professionally severed, embalmed head of an older woman in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. While evidence shown she was dismembered at the hands of someone who knew what they were doing, two red, rubber bouncy balls replaced her eyes; a practice unheard of.
On December 14, 2014, a teenage boy discovered a woman’s embalmed severed head lay in the woods, 30 feet off a rural road in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. The road itself is located in a residential area with only about a dozen homes and minimal traffic where it’s mainly used by locals as a shortcut to and from route 989.
Her eyes were shut, and her mouth was agape. Investigators scoured the surrounding area where the head was discovered, but there weren’t any other remains to be found. The woman’s face was still recognizable, but a facial reconstruction turned up no information on the woman’s identity. It was estimated that the head had been there between one and four weeks.
Judging by her short gray, or partially gray hair and older appearance, Jane Doe is approximately between the ages of 50-80 years old. The woman’s head was examined by forensic artist and anatomy professor Michelle Vitali, who determined Jane Doe’s head was severed by someone with anatomical skill. She says, “When we lifted the flap at the back of the neck, we could see that the whole purpose of that was to access the key joint that would preserve both the head and the vertebral column. This is not anybody going with a kitchen knife or anything remotely like that. It was well done, and it was placed perfectly. She was dismembered professionally.”
Aside from this, it was also found that Jane Doe’s eyes were closed shut with the use of “eye caps,” a commonly used mortician’s tool. When the eye caps were removed, the examiners discovered that Jane Doe’s eyeballs had been removed, and were replaced with two red, rubber bouncy balls. While eye caps are commonly used in the mortician trade, there was no such practice that involved the use of what is essentially a children’s toy.
Salt Lake City-based IsoForensics Inc. completed isotope testing on Jane Doe’s head. For those unfamiliar with the procedure, isotopes are elements in the body that come from drinking water that can be unique to particular geographical areas. As a result, it was determined that Jane Doe spent the last seven months living in several locations in areas ranging from Ohio's easternmost counties, southwestern Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia and western Maryland to central and northeastern Pennsylvania and eastern New York. The test results predicted that in Jane Doe’s last seven months, she had moved three to four times. However, there was no evidence that she lived in Beaver County in the months prior to her death. Due to the embalming fluid, the time of death could not be determined. According to investigators, the embalming process also compromised DNA. The little DNA that was salvaged led to no matches in the national database. It’s important to note that the Reuters article makes a different claim, stating, “the remains held no DNA; it had been destroyed by the embalming chemicals.” The Reuters article is the most recent article, but other articles contradict this statement. It seems as if that the DNA was compromised, but that they were still able to obtain a usable sample. I can’t find any other sources that claim it was completely destroyed and ultimately unusable.
Foul play is not suspected in Jane Doe’s death, but it hasn’t been entirely ruled out, either. The autopsy revealed that Jane Doe likely passed away due to cardiac distress. This was determined as toxicology exams revealed traces Lidocaine and Atropine in her system, two medications used to treat irregular heart issues. However, one investigator said, “Prove to me it’s not a homicide – that she was alive and someone killed her and played with that body, including putting the red eyeballs in there.”
Beaver County Coroner, Teri Tatalovich-Rossi, says, “Could it have been someone with a great deal of anatomical knowledge? Yes. Could it have been someone who is just peculiar or bizarre? The answer to that question is also yes. We just don't know at this point.”
Borough Police Chief Michael O'Brien said the head was found too far off the road to have landed in its location accidentally. Animals moving the head had also been ruled out because the embalming fluid would have made it unappealing.
Investigators contacted funeral homes that are apart of the Pennsylvania Directors Association, and details about the case were presented at a National Funeral Directors Association conference. Police have all but eliminated grave robbery. The current lead that is being followed is that Jane Doe may have been involved in a black market trade that harvests remains. Beaver County District Attorney Anthony said, “There’s a black market on body parts and that market is pretty extensive.” Investigators believe that the head may have been severed by a body broker, an individual or firm who purchases and sells cadavers or remains. One reason that this lead is being investigated is because the industry has been linked to similar abuses in the past. Due to a plethora of firms where you can purchase human remains, to discover where Jane Doe’s head came from is, according to Vitali, “hard to track.”
If Jane Doe is to ever be identified, it would require the assistance of a dentist. It was discovered that Jane Doe has had work done on every single tooth, one of them as many as seven times. On one of three teeth that had been pulled, forensic dentists discovered a filling compound that wasn’t available to dentists before 2004, indicating that Jane Doe passed thereafter. So far, analysis of Jane Doe’s dental work has produced no leads.
With a forensic facial reconstruction, investigators still hope that someone, one day, will be identify the woman and give her name back. Nearly 4 years later, the woman remains unidentified, and her case unsolved.
Links:
http://crimefeed.com/.../pennsylvania-cops-baffled-by.../
https://triblive.com/.../9614512-74/beaver-woman-county
https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-head-with-no-bodyand-no...
http://theballreport.com/red-rubber-balls-found-in.../
https://www.reuters.com/.../special-report-a-womans...
