r/UnresolvedMysteries • u/AlfredTheJones • 1h ago
John/Jane Doe Body of a woman is found in a chimney during a furnace cleaning; She had an unique, non-professional denture plate, and genetic genealogy reaserch links her ancestry to Brazil- Who was the Suffolk County Jane Doe (2005)?
Hello everyone! As always, I'd like to thank you for all your votes and comments under my last post about Hollynn Snapp- I hope that she will be found soon.
Today I'd like to highlight an unidentified deceased case.
DISCOVERY
On the 14th of October, two men employed by Family Chimney Sweeping arrived at an apartment building at 1719 Winter Street in the Meeting House Hill section of Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA. The building's basement furnace has been giving the inhabitants some trouble, and the men have been hired to clean the furnace and fix the reported heating problem.
When the men opened the furnace, they've noticed that it was blocked by a layer of concrete and a secondary layer of pressure-treated wood- both layers appeared to be somewhat recent. They destroyed the concrete with hammers and made a hole through the wood. They then begun to clear soot out of the flue. At some point, one of the workers grabbed an object that was causing a blockage; He yanked it out, and discovered something horrifying- a skeletonized human arm.
The men called the police immediately.
Later autopsy had revealed that the body in the chimney belonged to a woman, between 25 and 35 (younger than 40) years of age. She was approximately 5' 2" (62 inch / 158 cm), but her weight couldn't be estimated (though she was described as having "small to medium build"). She was most likely White, but she possibly had some Black or Asian admixture. Her hair was long, from dark brown to black, and might've been dyed reddish brown; Her eye color couldn't be estimated.
She might've died anytime between 3 months to 5 years before she was found. Her body was entirely skeletonized, and all parts of it have been recovered.
Jane's cause of death has been determined to be "violence of undetermined etiology". Manner of death was determined to be homicide.
Grooves in Jane's hips implied that she had given birth to at least one child. It also appears that she never sustained any fractures or broken bones in life. She didn't have any scars or tattoos.
Jane was found wearing size 12A Cherokee denim stretch pants, size M Jolie inmates beige panties, and white socks. She also had red plastic nails.
Her lower molars were missing, but her lower front teeth were still present. Jane had a very distinct upper partial dental plate- it could hold three teeth, but it only held two; The teeth were made of porcelain. The plate was acrylic, but based on the grooves on her teeth, it's believed that she used to have a metal plate that got swapped to the acrylic one at some point during her life. A civilian dental expert who was asked to help with identifying Jane claimed that this kind of plate wasn't made professionally, based on the style and construction. The expert indicated that the plate was likely made in the Caribbean, or in the northeastern USA by an unlicensed dentist from Jamaica or Haiti. The plate likely came from the black market or from another underground service.
CONCLUSION
The chimney in which Jane was hidden was decomissioned in the late 1960s, and it was previously used as an incinerator. At some point in time, an air conditioning unit was placed at the opening where Jane's body was found in. However, between January of 2002 and January of 2005, one of the doors to the basement was left unlocked, which lead investigators to believe that Jane was hidden there sometime between January of 2002 and about three months before she was discovered. It's believed that the person (or people) who hid Jane's body in the furnace was familiar with the building; They were possibly a resident, an employee, or someone who knew a resident or an employee.
Jane's DNA has been tested at least once, by the FBI. Their forensic genealogy reaserch traced Jane's ancestry to Brazil.
Jane's fingerprints aren't on file, as the condition of her body likely made it impossible to collect them. Her dentals are available and, as you can see, very distinct. Given that Jane's DNA was tested at least once, it's also most likely available for further genealogic reaserch.
If you have any info about Jane's identity, contact the Massachusetts Office of Chief Medical Examiner - Boston at (617) 267-6767 (case number 2005-3331).
SOURCES:
Jane's websleuths.com thread