Weather February 22-28, 1983
Discovery Day Timeline:
Developed by Merry Weather
February 28, 1983, In St. Louis, Missouri (Monday)
On the day Precious Doe was discovered, the weather for the day was fair and mild, according to the reports in the local newspaper. The lows were in the ’30s, and the highs were 50’s. It was possible to have some rain as well. Detective Burgoon had said it was not cold for the usual weather. Most stories about this day will say that the day was very cold, but it seems that was an assumption or generalization.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/140744346
The discovery of Precious Doe’s body happens before noon. The simplified account was that two male rummagers found her body. They were in the dark basement, searching the abandoned property for a bit of metal or a pipe. There are various reasons why they needed that metal, but most accounts say it was to fix their car or prop up the hood. They first searched the upstairs and then went into the basement.
The actual version is more straightforward than this story. Two African-American teen boys who lived nearby at 5579 Clemmens discovered her body. They lived only one minute walk from their home to the backdoor of the abandoned apartments. The boys didn’t own a car but had a go-cart. Their names were Thompson and Harris, and on that day, because of the unusually warm weather, family and friends began to gather for a barbeque. The two left the gathering together and returned to their family to tell them all they had found a body.
According to a family member of Thompson who was describing the discovery on his behalf, a group of the gathering had seen the body. They did not believe the boys when they said they found a body. So, a group of six to ten people went to see it.
The family member of Thompson described how nobody realized the body was missing her head. They dusted off the body because it had been covered in leaves. The discovery frightened them, and they called the police. However, some group members separated and did not speak with the police.
Thompson has passed away, which is why this family member gave the account on their behalf for the documentary.
Sgt. Brian McGlynn St. Louis Police Department Sgt. Homicide Detective and a current officer investigating the case were interviewed in the “Our Precious Hope” Documentary in 2022. They had not heard this version of the story before but were not surprised.
According to McAllister, a child who was on scene that day while the crowds waited outside heard there was a body discovered. However, within minutes of the law enforcement investigation, they started to hear through the crowds that the body was a child.
Shortly Afternoon
Detective Joseph Burgoon (Homicide) gets a phone call at his office that the police needed them on the scene. Burgoon calls the police “uniformed officers.” Police worked from the 7th District Police Station. Detectives worked from Headquarters downtown at 1200 Clark Avenue.
1:30-2:00 PM
Every member of the homicide responds to the call of a suspicious death.
They arrive at the scene after the police/uniformed officers. Uniformed officers catch the homicide unit up on the information that they have.
The uniformed officers told Burgoon about the two men looking for a pipe/metal story. In Burgoon’s interview, he said he was told that their car broke down or stalled and that their timing chain broke. The men hoped to find a bar to prop open the hood of their car to work on it.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65855983/jane-doe-1983
3:30 PM
This was when most stories and newspapers reported that the two men had found the body. However, this is false. Though the account persists that this is the time and even Burgoon sometimes says 3:00 PM, it seems more likely that this was around when the newspapers started hearing about the story. The sheer amount of years between then and now only cement certain things like this as fact.
Burgoon mentions 3:00 PM in the TV show Sightings, but his account in “Our Precious Hope” makes this unlikely.
Evening (Estimated)
Burgoon describes the investigative process in a 2021 interview with the “Our Precious Hope” documentary. The first thing they did was interview people. This had to be done right away so that no detail was missed. The first to be interviewed were the two teen boys. They had remained on the scene.
Then they expanded the interviews to people in the surrounding occupied buildings. This happened on the same day that she was found. Police went up to Cabanne Courts (Expanded to Vernon and Maple) and talked with the people there. They went up to Goodfellow as well. They used legal pads to write notes as they talked with people.
Investigators called in help from the metropolitan sewer district to help look in the sewers.
Law enforcement canvassed the neighborhood to obtain the victim’s identity quickly. But, first, they had to set up floodlights to illuminate and work.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/562455577/?terms=decapitated&match=1
Hours after the discovery, law enforcement sent out all-points bulletins nationwide.
https://www.riverfronttimes.com/stlouis/the-case-that-haunts/Content?oid=2460475
Many of these happened by overlapping and going on at the same time. Teams would come in and do different parts of the investigation. For example, crime scene investigators would do all the measuring. The evidence technicians would photograph everything. Crime scene detectives would do their process and make necessary arrests, but open cases like this would mean day watch investigators would come the next day, and it would be their case. The other team would take the next call and move on. These were the ones who did the initial preliminary stuff, and then the Homicide Unit would do all the follow-up work. However, in this case, they had to all work in tandem because, according to Burgoon’s account, all members of homicide were called in, and uniformed police, medical examiner, and investigators for juvenile officers were there.Captain Bill Relling (In charge of Juvenile). Sgt. Brian McGlynn said there were at least 100 police, the residents from the nearby apartments and the media. Det. Burgoon explained that each team of detectives had different assignments; for example, the Juvenile department was working on the missings at the time.
Despite so many people, they seemed cautious not to disturb the scene. Burgoon tells us that he was not allowed in the room with the body. However, he did see her from farther away. “Pretty much” the only ones allowed in the room were retired homicide detective Stan Stokowski working at the medical examiner’s office, and detective Herb Riley. Burgoon went back to a different time to study the crime scene.
When the interviews and searches started, they went to the medical examiner’s office for more details about the body. That evening, they had a forensic anthropologist examine Our Precious Doe.
Adkins had at least 15 officers and detectives to work on the case when it was new.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98045435/the-kansas-city-star
One resident, a child at the time, said that the neighborhood kids did not know her; they had accounted for themselves.
March 01, 1983 (Tuesday) 8:30 AM
An autopsy is scheduled for this day by Dr. Mary E. Case. They hoped to find the cause of death and if any sexual assault had occurred. Burgoon tells us the autopsy had happened in the morning.
The local paper, “The Saint Louis Post-Dispatch,” runs the first story about Precious Doe. Unfortunately, it was not front-page news, but it does have some crime scene photographs. The writer was Bill McClellan. At the start, they thought the case would be easy to solve, and so professionals on the scene all gave their different opinions and thoughts on the case.
Sgt. Lloyd Huggans of the Juvenile Division remarks, “It’s strange, but we haven’t had a single phone call yet from anyone reporting a little girl missing.” Huggans explained that 20 children were missing from the St. Louis area, but none of them matched the description of the body.
The finding caused panic among the area residents, especially those with small children. The police attempted to calm people. “We want people to try to remain as calm as possible,” Sgt. Herb Riley said. Brenda Martin, 23, lived next to the abandoned building, said that nothing seemed wrong until LE arrived on the scene.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97329405/jane-doe-83-news
Captain Leroy Adkins from Homicide announces that law enforcement was unaware of any missing black children from the metropolitan area. https://www.newspapers.com/image/140740110
The professionals that worked the crime scene remarked on how horrible it was. “Just when you think you have seen about everything, you see something like this,” said Stanley Sztukowski, former homicide detective of 20 years and now medical examiner investigator.
The first newspaper story described Doe as ten years old, naked from the waist down, wearing a yellow V-neck sweater. Her hands were tied behind her back with a length of jump rope. *The paper says jump rope, but that is not what was used.
Before an autopsy, the detectives noted that her head appeared to have been cut off cleanly.*Additional and corrected information later
Officers also noted the lack of blood on the scene and quickly concluded that Doe was killed elsewhere and placed there. “It doesn’t look like she was there for long.” one detective said. “The body seems well preserved, but it was cold down there. It was too cold even for rats.” https://www.newspapers.com/clip/16262370/decapitated-body-of-girl-found-in/
However, in a story posted for the same day, they updated their description of Doe just a little. Doe was now believed to be between 8 and 11 years old. Police said she had been dead for at least two days. They also said that they thought her head was severed cleanly with a large knife.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97329405/jane-doe-83-news
Pictures in the paper indicate that canvassing the area around the crime scene continues today. Police Officers Jerry Thomas and Frank Booker are seen looking through a dumpster for clues in the paper.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/140739558
George Wayne Bender, homicide detective, and Burgoon were assigned the case. They had just solved another case, “The Decker Case,” that was complicated. Adkins wanted the case solved quickly. Bender and Burgoon were partners in the Homicide Unit. Sgt. Herb Riley, who had also worked on “The Decker Case,” was now working in the Medical Examiner’s Office and was a retired detective at the time.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/97633201/george-wayne-bender
Sgt. McGlylnn had told hundreds of officers were working this case on the day of discovery and the following days. This also included the entire Juvenile Division working on the case.
March 02, 1983
The paper runs another story; it is not on the front page.
Police are still trying to find the girl’s identity and missing head. They still searched the 16-block area around the abandoned building where her body was found. They reportedly even canvassed sewers and trash cans.
Police canvassed schools, vacant buildings, sewers, and trash cans for clues. Over 100 officers were out on the search.
Missing person reports in the St. Louis area were checked, and messages were wired to law enforcement departments throughout Missouri and Illinois.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97428276/doe-83
Missing children reports were reviewed from the area and Metro East. However, no reports of children from the age group had been reported missing. School attendance records were reviewed.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/309395105/?terms=decapitated&match=1
Twenty children were listed in St. Louis as missing, but none of them matched Doe’s description.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97330188/doe-83-mannequin-quote
Adkins, the first black man in his job position, appeals specifically to black parents. He was asking them to double-check their children’s whereabouts. Adkins contemplates why nobody has come forward yet and speculates with the press that maybe they did not realize she was missing yet. Adkins then appeals to the public to think about children they have not seen in about a week. Finally, anyone with info was asked to contact the homicide department directly.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/140740110
https://www.newspapers.com/image/140740110
The autopsy report is back, but the paper made no official announcement. However, the report showed that Doe had been a victim of sexual assault and had only been dead two to three days before being found. They also updated the rope used, height, weight, and age range.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/140740110
March 05, 1983 (Saturday) 4:00 PM
The Association Of Community Organizations For Reform Now (ACORN) protests outside the apartment building. They want safety from the abandoned buildings and want them torn down or boarded up. Grant Williams was on staff, and organizer for ACORN said 40 people showed up for the protest. The building was now boarded on the first floor, but access to the second was still available on the rear. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_Community_Organizations_for_Reform_No
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97931416/stl-jd-protests-against-building
March 06, 1983 (Sunday) (Afternoon)
Doe had a Memorial Service at New Mount Gideon West Baptist Church that 60 people attended. Rev.Tommie Ringo presided over the service. 725 Goodfellow Boulevard. According to Myrtle Hartfield of Skinker-Page-Union-Delmar (SPUD), this Memorial helped encourage those working on the vacant home problem.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/140744708/?terms=decapitated&match=1
Police said they had no leads, but tips were still being checked.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/140744708/?terms=decapitated&match=1
March 07, 1983 (Monday)
People protesting the safety issues of the abandoned homes in the area are reported in the news by the local paper. The paper reports that 5635 Clemens was not boarded up when Doe was found. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97931416/stl-jd-protests-against-building/
However, in a 2021 interview, Burgoon said the building had been boarded. Later, he clarified that the front door was boarded up, but the back entry was not.
Retired Gang Detective Tyrone Dennis of the Atlanta Police Department, who grew up in St. Louis, Mo, in the area of Hope’s body discovery, gives insight for the documentary. An informant wanted to provide information about the case, but law enforcement initially ignored him as non-relevant information. The informant then reached out to several jurisdictions until he connected with C.O.R.E.
Congress Of Racial Equality(CORE) meets with a mystery man who promised to lead investigators to the killing spot and where the head was. “He was a nut,” said Adkins. “We checked out the information, and it just was not any good,” Eugene Fowler, Director of CORE Missouri, promised to launch its investigation if the police did not use the information within thirty days. According to the press interviews with CORE leaders and Police Commissioner Robert Wintersmith, this is the complete account of the situation.
The man called the homicide division on Monday morning and said he had information. So Adkins met with the man in Clayton. Then the man demanded 900.00 immediately, but Adkins told him that even though there was a reward, he wanted information first. So then the man said he sent it to Adkins.
The man called CORE and promised photos and tapes of the killing. Detectives disguised as investigators for CORE lawyers joined the meeting with CORE and the man. The man again asked for 900.00, but as they prepared to let him leave, he accused the detectives of being police. They identified themselves and took the man in for an interview. The man had a prior conviction of stealing by deceit. Once the detectives were sure the man was a fraud, they released him.
The man spent Monday night with the CORE at Chase-Park Plaza Hotel. The CORE officials included Fowler, national director Roy Innis, and regional director Solomon Rooks. They had a “marathon interview” with the man. They gave him 600.00 and promised 300.00 more if the info was correct.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/140749640
https://www.newspapers.com/image/140749640
March 08, 1983 (Morning) (Tuesday)
The CORE officials contacted lawyer Christopher Smith who then directed them to Police Commissioner Wintersmith because the informant refused to talk with police but wanted someone in charge. Wintersmith interviewed the man for seven hours, and then Wintersmith contacted a high-rank police official at police headquarters.
11:00 PM Wintersmith went with Adkins and a second officer to Waterloo. There was supposed to be a hanging tree there. “Zlich,” said a homicide detective after returning at 3:00 AM on Wednesday. “All it was was cold.”
https://www.newspapers.com/image/140749640
March 09, 1983 (Wednesday) 7:30 PM
Skinker-Page-Union-Delmar (SPUD) organize at New Mount Gideon West Baptist Church of 725 Goodfellow Boulevard. to discuss the problem of vacant homes with access from the street with 30 attendees. According to Myrtle Hartfield of SPUD, Doe’s Memorial helped courage those working on the vacant home problem. SPUD worked on their project one year prior with the Land Reutilization Authority.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/140749628
https://www.newspapers.com/image/140744708/?terms=decapitated&match=1
Police searched the Waterloo tree location a second time, but there was nothing, and the informant took the story back. On tape, he said he swindled CORE. Later the man contacted CORE and told them he lied to the police about lying to CORE. Fowler said they believed him.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/140749640
March 11, 1983 (Friday)
Friday, the informant says he felt pressure from both sides. They said CORE, and the police thought he knew more than he did. He again hoped he could get the pictures they wanted.
Seven detectives work the case full-time. However, Akins promised the investigation would always continue.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/140749640
March 12, 1983
Captain Leroy Adkins admits there are no updates to the case. “This is a very frustrating case; we’re still at square one.” https://www.newspapers.com/image/140749610/?terms=decapitated&match=1
March 6th-12th 1983 (Estimated time)
City Officials promised to board up vacant buildings posing threats to kid safety. Carl E. Collins, property maintenance manager for Land Reutilization Authority, promised a northside group. The city takes title to the delinquent tax property, including the abandoned apartment building where Doe was found. (An offer on the property was made after Doe was found) Collins promised to make safety a priority by boarding up any buildings where kids might congregate in the area.
The Land Reutilization Authority owns 1,000 of the 3,000 vacant buildings in St. Louis. One hundred fifty are not boarded. The other 2,000 places are privately owned, and if not made safe, the Building Department can board or demolish them, according to building commissioner Kenneth W. Greene. Collins said the apartment was scheduled for boarding.
Keeping the buildings boarded is hard because squatters and thieves remove the boards. The building on Clemens had been boarded and then reopened three times.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/140749628
March 13, 1983,
The paper reports that psychics, a mystery informant, and a National Civil Rights Organization attempted to help the police with Doe’s case.
Adkins said the police had investigated a dozen or even 100 tips on the topic.
Some tips are more reasonable than others. One good tip was from a teacher who reported that their student had stopped attending school. This tip was investigated and cleared. The other tips were things like a woman who had gotten a flat tire on Poplar Street Bridge and then a vision of Doe’s skull hidden at the base of the bridge. Again, this tip was investigated and then ruled out.
Investigators have tried many things, including door-to-door interviews within the neighborhood where Doe was found, attendance records for schools throughout the area, foster homes, halfway houses, hospitals, and detention centers. Lastly, Teletype messages to all police departments.
Sgt. Herb Riley encourages the public to check on their neighbor’s children and see if anyone is missing. Detectives speculated that since a parent did not come forward to identify Doe or report a child like her missing, perhaps the parents were involved with the murder somehow.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/140749610/?terms=decapitated&match=1
*This information does not have anything to do with the case directly. It is included to show what the police were dealing with. Barretts Elementary School, 1780 Carman Road in west St. Louis County, begins fingerprinting kids based on law enforcement’s idea. Parents could give the prints later to the police if the kids go missing. 1.3 million kids vanish from homes annually, and 50,000 are abductions.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/140749640
March 25, 1983,
Adkins says hundreds of leads have been tracked at this point, but nothing pans out.
“The kids talk about it- everybody’s anxious for it to be solved.”
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97987257/jane-doe-1983-murder-decapitation
April 05, 1983
St. Louis Jaycee Women provides fingerprinting services for parents to put them in their kids’ records. It was Doe that inspired the project. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97439460/doe-83-fingerprinting/
May (Estimated)
An anonymous letter was sent to the police, naming a local man the killer. But unfortunately, law enforcement could not track him down at the time. It is unclear if this incident is the same as Feb. 26, 1986’s anonymous letter incident.
*Mentioned in Burgoon’s interview with “Our Precious Hope”
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110571666
August-September 1983 (Estimated)
Roughly seven months after Doe’s discovery, Detectives have now tracked down every black female between the ages of eight and eleven in St. Louis Schools and even neighboring districts. University City, Wellston, Ferguson-Florissant, and Normandy.
https://www.riverfronttimes.com/stlouis/the-case-that-haunts/Content?oid=2460475
February – December 1983 (Estimated)
Medical Examiner Mary Case attests that Burgoon kept in contact for the nine months that Doe lay in the cold room. Burgoon would follow any leads that he could.
https://www.riverfronttimes.com/stlouis/the-case-that-haunts/Content?oid=2460475
Akins continued to attend community meetings to get people to come forward with information and show support to the community. However, around the time Doe was buried, he had stopped.
Adkins had been keeping a large chart on the wall in his office. It showed what had been done and what needed to be done. Index cards with the names of people questioned were tacked to them. Unfortunately, around the time Doe was buried, Adkins removed the wall chart.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65794369/little-jane-doe-1983-unsolved-murder
December 01, 1983,
The paper runs an article about Doe and discusses her upcoming burial. David Hayes, the spokesperson for the medical examiner’s office, said the burial would be at 11:30 AM in Washington Park Cemetery, 5500 Brown road. The city was paying for the burial.
Lt. William Wilson, deputy commander of the homicide division, states the case is still under investigation. There are no new leads, but they check missing persons across the country. Detectives have held public meetings to help spur people into coming forward to identify the girl.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97382079/doe-83
December 02, 1983 (Friday)
Doe is buried in an unmarked pauper’s grave. Doe’s pallbearers are four men covered in mud as they carry her to rest in a small white coffin. It has been nine months since her body was found, and they delayed her burial. “Maybe I grew so attached to this kid I didn’t want to go through with it. I kept thinking she would get a burial by the family.” Sgt. Herb Riley said. Only four empty chairs were at the funeral, and only the media and the pallbearers were there. Riley hoped someone would arrive that knew her, but they did not.
The funeral was provided through Woodson Funeral Home.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97385852/doe-83
Rev. John W. Heyward Jr. of Union Memorial United Methodist Church committed her to the ground and God. Heyward’s church was only a few blocks from where she had been found.
“We are here to commit this body of a girl whose name we don’t know, but whose name is surely known to God.”
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97382586/doe-83
December 03, 1983,
A list was narrowed down of missing school 15-16 kids that matched Doe. The police were going through the list.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97439795/doe-83
December 05, 1983,
The paper reports that one of the first things the detectives had done was go to all the grammar schools in the area. The school records were not accurate and school systems at the time got money for each child enrolled. So, kids who were no longer in school were kept in the books.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97977563/jane-doe-1983
December 06, 1983 (Tuesday)
Mary Schaefer watched Doe’s burial on television and felt called to give the little girl a grave marker. Mary and Charles Schaefer are owners of Schaefer Monument Co. in Florissant. They hoped to have a marker ready for her by Christmas. They are leaving space on the marker in hopes her name is found. “The saddened hearts were healed in knowing the pain of life is over and the beauty of the soul revealed.” will be on her stone. However, the Schaefer’s were told they were not allowed to donate the marker by the cemetery who, said the St. Louis Medical examiners proclaimed the stone “inappropriate”
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97385852/doe-83/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99945893
December 19, 1983,
Brenda Schlegel works for the Board Of Education, became upset with Post-Dispatch writer Bill McClellan who had written an article that she did not like. Schlegel wanted the information corrected that some school districts had a problem with attendance records but not all of them. “We cooperated fully with the police. We keep our records up to date.”
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65794791/jane-doe-1983-murder-school-st
December – February 1984 (Estimated)
The English class taught by Mike Baumer saw the controversy about Doe’s marker and wrote letters to officials to fix the situation. They were successful, and the Schaefer’s were allowed to place the stone. It is unclear what the situation was about the stone and officials.
February 1st, 1984
Officials agree to let the donated stone be placed for Doe. Dr. George Gantner, Chief Medical Examiner, did think the stone was inappropriate, and even after the letter and agreement to place the stone said, “I think it still may be inappropriate to place a marker on the girl’s grave. but I have no objections to the stone being moved there.” Gantner also said, “really, the police and cemetery officials” should decide. Homicide Detective Sgt. Herb Riley said police had “no objections at all.”
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99949246/springfield-leader-and-press
May 10, 1984
The 15 members of Livingston ill., Community High School class taught by Mike Baumer held a small ceremony at Washington Park Cemetery for Doe. They decorated her grave, said prayers, and left.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99945592
1983-84 (Estimated)
Detectives reach out to serial killers Henry Lucas and Ottis Toole and ask about a possible connection to Doe. The men both denied any involvement.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97440448/doe83-they-did-talk-with-toolelucas
*Lucas and Toole were notoriously being questioned in many other cases around the country. The pair famously would agree to just about any case.
February 1984 (Estimated)
Burgoon teletyped a description of Doe’s body to every police department in the country.
Adkins would mail descriptions of missing children who matched Doe to Sgt. Joe Burgoon if he saw them in the magazines.
Investigators had put in thousands of hours on this case.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90896822/march-3-1994
February 28, 1984,
In an investigative article, Doe’s case is compared with another little girl kidnapped from the street and raped in nearby abandoned buildings. The article describes the violence surrounding the abandoned buildings in the area. Henry Autrey, assistant circuit attorney, said that about 90 percent of the sexual assaults on children that did not involve a relative involved assaults in vacant buildings. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97393629/jane-doe-83-and-how-vacanet-buildings/
February 29, 1984
Law enforcement and the news released a list of names they wanted the public to help locate by calling in tips. The names were twenty-two girls who had been withdrawn from either Saint Louis or Normandy School Districts in Saint Louis County. They did not have records of transfer to new schools. Law enforcement reminds everyone that this did not indicate foul play. Detectives had already traced at least one thousand other schoolchildren at this point.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97406344/83doe-lists-of-possible-names-but-they
March 04, 1984
The papers report that the police had narrowed the list down even more to only seven girls that they still needed help following up on. The others had been ruled out thanks to the flood of phone calls to the police.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97418091/22names-narrowed-to-7-doe-83
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97418228/7-narowed-doe-83
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97418318/narrowing-the-22-doe-83/
April 28, 1984
Detectives exhausted the list of possible victims in the metropolitan area. Det. Burgoon and Det. Bender spent the year tracking schoolgirls who transferred or dropped out of St. Louis area schools before the discovery of Hope’s body. They checked records for more than 1,000 children. The work is carefully organized in a file as big as a box.
“We have accounted for all but two girls, and one of them was in school when the body was found.”
They begin to check elementary schools in East St. Louis, Ill., and Det. Burgoon said that he and Det. Bender would be calling the schools in the area to create a list from which to trace and check.
Det. Burgoon said four checks of a national list of missing persons compiled by the FBI have not turned up any results of victims that fit Hope’s profile.
https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-american-republic-the-list-of-scho/128413214
June 10, 1984
“You reach a point when you’ve done practically everything you can do. So, unless something new comes in, the cases sit there. The real reason, I suppose, is the volume of work. You can’t devote the manpower.” “That’s why the headless girl is so frustrating there’s still work to be done.” Captain Leroy J. Adkins.
An article written about many unsolved crimes in the area explains some of the investigations done on Doe’s case. A pathologist’s examination of her bones determined Doe’s age. Doe was tall for her age, even without her head. She was 4 feet and 10 inches tall, weighing 70 lbs. 9-10 years old and in fourth or third grade. Pathologists removed a mold growth from her body and grew a similar fungus in a petri dish at the Missouri Botanical Garden. They estimated Doe had been dead for three to five days. Doe’s case had gotten national attention, and they received many calls from psychics, but they were all of no use.
Detective Riley, Detective Burgoon, and Detective Bender recently retraced all the investigation steps, including reinterviewing people. At the time, they were now rechecking the unaccounted school children lists.
They also bring in a second list provided by Aid to Dependent Children recipients; detectives traced the whereabouts of all 716 girls aged 7 -12 years old and were on welfare rolls living in the area where the body was found. https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-louis-post-dispatch-unsolved-murders/97441198/
They have given out 15,000 flyers about Doe. Two thousand letters were sent to schools in Missouri and Illinois to gather information about missing children. Letters were sent to state police and highway patrol commanders across the country. Immigration authorities aided in the investigation.
LE searched the sewer system from Hamilton Ave to Union Boulevard, from Delmar to St. Louis Ave to Hodiamont to Union, and Delmar to Natural Bridge. Rooftops were checked. A 10,000-dollar reward was offered. Adkins sent out letters to every black newspaper and radio station. The detectives said they still get calls, and some have made sense. The last tip from February was “another wild goose chase” https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97441198/unsolved-murdersjane-doe-83/.
July 22, 1984,
Alton Coleman is mentioned briefly as a possible case connection in the paper. Coleman was a murderer in the midwest area. Coleman had a history of violence against children. Coleman had a female partner Debra Brown. They both had many alias names.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97441371/alton-coleman
1986 (Estimated)
Sgt. Burgoon sent a report to the FBI Academy Quantico, VA, and asked them to find cases similar to Doe. They had a unique program that analyzed unsolved killings throughout the country. The results were that there were no other similar cases. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65856360/jane-doe-1983/
January 28, 1986, Child Find-Missouri tried to revive public interest in the case by putting up 1,000 for information that would help police identify the girl. “We want to keep her case alive before the public and, hopefully, someone somewhere will come forward,” Beverly Goodlin, Executive director of Child Find Of Missouri. They also planned on releasing 100,000 fliers across the country.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97468564/doe-83-reward
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97418857/anon-letter-83-jane-doe/.
Burgoon and Riley had spent the last three years sending letters to schools in nearby states, working with the immigration office, checking welfare rolls, printing flyers, and enlisting police help across the country.
“I’ve been accused of being possessed, and I’ll be the first to admit I am. It’s because I know that someplace out there there’s a mother, a family, that knows their child is
missing.” – Riley
https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/01/28/Case-of-headless-girl-stymies-police-veteran/2277250405082
February 14, 1986,
An anonymous letter was postmarked for this day and sent from Saint Louis to the Police Department commander. LE declined to let anyone know what the letter said.
*It is unclear if this is a separate incident that was mentioned by Burgoon in an interview with “Our Precious Hope” documentary. It’s possible this is another anonymous letter.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97418761/anon-letter-doe-83
February 25, 1986,
There was a news conference, and Captain Charles Alphin, commander of the homicide division, appeals to the letter writer via news to call him. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97418761/anon-letter-doe-83/
February 26, 1986,
Captain Charles Alphin, commander of the homicide division, appealed to the letter writer via a newspaper to call him and offered confidentiality and protection. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97418761/anon-letter-doe-83/
April 23, 1987,
St. Louis MO detectives attempted to talk with the murderer Vernon Brown to see a connection between Doe and him. “He has no comment about her,” was the reply. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97419484/brown-possible-killer-doe-83/
March 03, 1991,
Burgoon was looking into an abduction case from Chicago. A 7 1/2-year-old girl was abducted in 1980 but never recovered. Another detective suspected a killer on death row in Missouri and planned to speak with him.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98066151/st-louis-post-dispatch
May 04, 1991,
Sgt. Joe Burgoon was on Oprah Winfrey in the audience in Chicago studios “Unsolved Murders.” the episode was to be aired May 10, 1991. There he answered questions about Doe. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49192653/joe-burgoon-on-oprah/
May 10, 1991
“Unsolved Murders” aired by Oprah Winfrey
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49192653/joe-burgoon-on-oprah
March 1993
Storage Shed Skull was ruled out as too old to be Doe. Armed Forces Medical Examiner’s Office in Washington did the testing on a skull found in May in St. Louis County. Dr. William Rodriquez, a forensic anthropologist, was the one who ruled. A Charlack police officer got the skull from a man who was being questioned at his storage shed on St—Charles Rock Road, near Interstate 170. Danny L. Davis, 34, of Pagedale, was just a collector. The skull came from a souvenir shop on Lindbergh Boulevard near Northwest Plaza shops. Davis was told it was an Indian girl who died by tomahawk.
*Case cross over to Linda Sherman
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98065345/st-louis-post-dispatch
November 20, 1994,
Burgoon and Adkins agreed to appear on the “Sightings” TV show. In a 2021 interview, Burgoon said it was Adkins’s idea. They had mailed the psychic Noreen Renier the sweater and rope before the show. They never got them back. The evidence was lost in the mail. Burgoon said he called in 2020, and she said she had sent it via registered mail. It is unclear if Burgoon talked with Renier herself or the show producer. It is also unclear if there had been a follow-up to the mail loss.
Joe said the situation was embarrassing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Sightings_episodes
This is a link to a video clip from the show after the fox news report of Doe’s body being exhumed.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2909093859368408
Both Burgoon and Adkins appear in the show and talk about Doe, but they do not leave St. Louis, MO. They sit and connect with Renier by phone. Renier then touches the rope and sweater and talks with detectives as if she is Doe. The account is specific and implies that Doe’s mother was an addict, the killer Doe’s teacher with a dishonorable discharge, and even tells detectives she was killed by a river next to a bridge with a B name. Finally, they create a killer profile sketch from psychic visions.
*More on Renier later
*More on the lost evidence later
May 7, 1999,
Rachelle Rowe, a channel 2 reporter, covered Doe’s story on May 7th, 1999. Although Rowe covered the story well, the visuals received criticism for their tabloid style. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99039803/st-louis-post-dispatch/
2001 (Estimated)
Ron Henderson wanted to exhume Doe and try the mineral/isotope testing this year. Unfortunately, with the events of 9/11, the project was put on hold.
February 18, 2001,
An article in the paper muses a possible serial killer connection. A death row inmate in Texas named Lynn Sells. Lynn sells committed other murders but told LE he killed a black female in Missouri. Sells had a history of violence against children and lived in St.Louis Brecken-ridge Hills for most of 1983. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97422315/tommy-lynn-sells-confesses-to-stljd/
April 28, 2001,
Precious Doe from Kansas City, Missouri, was a similar case. The two cases brought up memories and emotions, and they were studied to see if there was a connection between them.
Erica Michelle Marie Green’s case was solved and ruled out as connected to Saint Louis 1983 Little Doe.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Erica_Green#Discovery
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98045435/the-kansas-city-star
Ruled out July 10, 2001, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98065926/rule-out-doe-83-to-precious-doe-kcmo/
May 29, 2001
Four detectives continue to work on the case, but newer murders get priority.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98045435/the-kansas-city-star
November 01, 2002
The strange story of a private investigator is published in the paper. An anonymous woman gave 3,000 in cash to test the DNA she collected. The woman claimed that Doe was “American Indian” from a group home in the upper mid-west and whose mother had been murdered. A drifter living in southern Texas allegedly killed her. Burgoon did promise to make sure the DNA would get tested. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97427314/weird-investigation-lady-doe-83/
December 25, 2002
The DNA test commissioned by the anonymous woman came back with negative results. The woman knew the identity allegedly through visions she received while practicing an indigenous religion. Doe allegedly came from a group home in Minnesota, and her mother was murdered. Though the tests failed to identify the girl, the woman refused to believe the results and vowed to continue her investigation.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97427747/more-weird-lady-83-doe
*The woman is Sharon Nolte, and she is discussed more in a later section.
August 25, 2003
Herb Humphries, a TV personality, said he covered Doe’s story. Humphries passed away on August 25, 2003, having been a 20-year reporter for KMOV (Channel 4) news. Humphries specifically covered Doe on Nightside.
https://news.stlpublicradio.org/delete1/2003-08-25/longtime-kmov-reporter-herb-humphries-dies
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98067158/st-louis-post-dispatch
(KMOV was contacted on 3/21/22 to see if there was old footage available. There is a price to search and a price to buy rights)
2001-2004 (Estimated)
The building has been removed, and it is only a grassy lot.
https://www.riverfronttimes.com/stlouis/the-case-that-haunts/Content?oid=2460475
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65856376/jane-doe-1983
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98045435/the-kansas-city-star
July 2004 (Estimated)
Detective Tom Carroll and Jeff Stone interview Tommy Lynn Sells on death row. “The interview was inconclusive.” Carroll thought Sells would claim anything. https://www.riverfronttimes.com/stlouis/the-case-that-haunts/Content?oid=2460475&fbclid=IwAR30beEUYLJYkqER6L8SNFUT12sCr0wKH0yenoH4nMs9TiM6NeAU-LoF25A
*Former Detective Tom Carroll
2004 (Estimated)
Tom Carroll would find possible matches for Doe via the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Then he’d contact the families to get DNA. Eleven out of twelve gave DNA freely, but the one family that didn’t, Carroll, had local police get a sample from their trash.
The white substance/semen found on Doe was tested around this time and had no DNA.
The pubic hair found on Doe did not have enough DNA in it to do anything with it.
Doe’s DNA is in CODIS by this timeframe but when it was put in exactly is unknown.
*More Information About Tom Carroll and this part of the investigation later
2005 (Estimated)
Missouri will now collect DNA from all convicted felons no matter the crime. https://www.riverfronttimes.com/stlouis/the-case-that-haunts/Content?oid=2460475&fbclid=IwAR30beEUYLJYkqER6L8SNFUT12sCr0wKH0yenoH4nMs9TiM6NeAU-LoF25A
May 19, 2005
Tom Carroll visits the killer Vernon Brown on his execution day, hoping that Brown might say if he killed Doe in 1983. Carroll was convinced that Brown did it, but Brown went to his execution without revealing anything.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97868467/vernon-brownhoping-for-a-death-bed
2009 (Estimated)
Doe’s body was attempted to be exhumed, but three other bodies were in her gravesite under her donated headstone. https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/child-killed-in-1983-laid-to-rest-in-garden-of-innocents/article_a1a32eb1-16e0-5c01-b520-85805989b01b.html
2011 (Estimated)
Dr. Michael Graham, St. Louis city medical examiner, approves to exhume of Doe’s remains for further testing. https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/experts-join-hunt-for-slain-childs-grave-in-berkeley-cemetery/article_a3208928-56ec-551e-b654-447a5b350ba1.html
March 21, 2013
The search was still ongoing for Doe’s lost gravesite at Washington Park Cemetery. St. Louis Cold case detective Dan Fox, Retired detective Joe Burgoon, Charley Fuchs Funeral Director Calvin Whitaker, and Washington University researcher Abby Stylianou joined in the search. In addition, they rely on help from Ed Sedej, an industrial photographer from Belleville who had covered the funeral as a photojournalist. https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/experts-join-hunt-for-slain-childs-grave-in-berkeley-cemetery/article_a3208928-56ec-551e-b654-447a5b350ba1.html
June 17, 2013
Doe’s body was exhumed after several months of searching for her lost gravesite. The body was transferred to the medical examiner’s office with the intent to do some testing. https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/slain-girls-remains-found-as-part-of-30-year-old-st-louis-murder-investigation/article_266e23ef-c09e-5d36-bdd4-db7090e4f461.html
January 21, 2014
Testing had been completed by this time, resulting in 10 southeastern states. Dan Fox, the detective, said he planned on making a media blitz for those regions.
February 08, 2014
Doe was buried at the Garden Of Innocents a second time and with a proper funeral. https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/child-killed-in-1983-laid-to-rest-in-garden-of-innocents/article_a1a32eb1-16e0-5c01-b520-85805989b01b.html
2016 (Estimated)
Burgoon asks the FBI to rerun the case through the databases.
2018-2019 (Estimated)
Saint Louis Metropolitan Police Department starts its cold case unit.
September 24, 2020
The cold case unit of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department has closed ten other cold cases. They start an investigation into Doe, and she has her room dedicated to her case. Lt. Scott Aubuchon, is headSt. Louis Metro Homicide Division currently. https://fox2now.com/news/metro-most-wanted/st-louis-cold-case-investigators-s
February 23, 2021
SLMPD Cold Case Files; using their youtube channel to plead to the public for help on this case. They report again that they could not find any relatives at this time through DNA. They report that they have enlisted outside agencies and have done everything possible with the DNA evidence found at the scene. At least “twenty other children” have been ruled out. They also have a substantial reward for the case available. https://youtu.be/Hk0QUamzBIw
In a news article about the Cold Case Unit, they allude to the possibility of private DNA data banks citing they are watching them to see how it solves other cases.
September 16, 2021
A news article gives updates about what has been done in the case. Volumes of Doe’s case file have been digitized and moved from the boxes to a computer. Investigators have not been able to find relatives through DNA.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98083028/st-louis-post-dispatch
Summer 2021
The “Our Precious Hope” Documentary was released for a time on youtube. It was later re-done and re-released with acclaim and even more information. https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/local/the-st-louis-american/our-precious-hope-st-louis-baby-jane-doe-documentary/63-49684372-e3d6-4b7e-9b98-77dad950338e
Summer 2022
The “Our Precious Hope Revisited” Documentary has been released. It has the best information and interviews with people involved in the case, past and present.
I helped work on this documentary. The information provided in the film is the most accurate and up-to-date. It clears up old misinformation and contains interviews with leading detectives in the case.
The documentary team members continue to help Hope’s case behind the scenes and are still working on projects to help solve her case while also looking forward to helping others.
The documentary inspires the Facebook group Saint Louis Missouri Jane Doe 1983 (Unsolved), Which posts articles about Hope and also discusses similar cases and crimes with the hopes of solving Doe’s case and spreading her story.
Edrar ‘Bird’ Sosa
Head Researcher,
Merry Weather
Researcher Contributor/
Timeline Creator
Helga Steiner
Architect
Ivan Lawrence
Project Manager
We’ve worked with and been featured by some Podcasters & Youtubers.