Racine County Jane Doe

The Racine County Jane Doe (informally known as Crystal Rae) is an unidentified body of a young woman discovered in 1999 in the town of Raymond, Racine County, Wisconsin, in the United States. The victim was aged eighteen to thirty years at the time of her death, which had occurred after weeks of neglect and torture. New developments in the case have since emerged after the female's recent exhumation, although it is unknown how successfully such leads have been followed. Discovery: The body of a white female was found near a field on July 21, 1999 within a day after being disposed. An autopsy indicated that she had died from multiple injuries, such as burning and beating and had endured several weeks of neglect and abuse, which had increased in the previous few days before she died. She was also apparently sexually abused. It is believed that such a characteristic like the cauliflower ear deformity may have occurred due to the abusive conditions in which she lived. Because it had rained the night the body was dumped, little evidence of the perpetrators was found. One of the two who discovered the body stated that the arm appeared to be broken, being in an unnatural position. Over fifty people attended the woman's funeral after the autopsy was completed. She was buried in a grave reading "Jane Doe", which also stated the dates she was found and buried at the edge of Racine, Wisconsin. Physical description: The malnourished woman may have been mentally disabled and had a "cauliflower ear" deformity, which likely resulted from abuse. The victim had visible bruises and cuts across her body as well as a fractured nose. It is believed that she was eighteen to thirty-years-old, although some speculate she could have been in her mid-teens up to thirty-five. The teeth were not well cared for; her front incisors protruded from the mouth and decay was present on many of her teeth; some of which were missing. The curly hair was observed to have been reddish-brown, "collar length" and appeared to have blond highlights. The eyes were either brown, green or hazel; the ears contained two earrings, each. As for clothing, the victim wore a gray man's shirt with flower design on the front. After contacting the manufacturer, it was learned that the product was released in 1984. The body was also found wearing black sweatpants and no shoes. Investigation: Multiple reconstructions were made of the victim's face in efforts to solve the case.[4] In 2012, an additional reconstruction was created by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Another version of the composite exists displaying a different facial expression. The girl had previously been thought to be one particular runaway girl, but DNA comparison demonstrated that they were not the same person. Missing persons such as Tina D'Ambrosio, Aundria Bowman and Karen Wells have since been ruled out. Other hypotheses include the idea that she could have been an unreported missing person. A detective that has since retired from the Racine County Sheriff Department has hypothesized that the Jane Doe may have been an immigrant from Eastern Europe and may have been hired to work in a home as a maid or housekeeper. As the victim had been buried before such an idea came to mind, the victim would have to have been exhumed in order to obtain isotopes in the bones to indicate where the victim may have spent time during her life. Although the murder remains unsolved, investigators hope that the case will eventually come to a close. A press conference in 2013 was reported to have uncovered more clues. Some believed that this case could be linked to the murder of Mary Kate Sunderlin, a previously unidentified victim who was discovered in Lake County, Illinois. Sunderlin was also found malnourished, had poor dentition and had been beaten to death. Three were arrested for Mary Sunderlin's murder; one was convicted. The remains were exhumed on October 16, 2013 for further study and transported to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where the body was previously examined in 1999, although investigators were hesitant due to personal and emotional reasons. Authorities hoped that by studying the bones, they would be able to tell where the woman had lived prior to her death. It was announced on July 19, 2015 that the examination of the victim had been completed and she would be reburied on the sixteenth anniversary of her discovery, on July 21. Authorities stated they had indeed uncovered new leads with the exhumation, yet they declined to explain the details.