NamUs #UP84926 - Hillsboro Jane Doe Found in December 1961

By: Shane Lambert

The Hillsboro Jane Doe (NamUs #UP84926) is a young woman who was found dead in December 1961. I researched her case and below are the details that I think amateur investigators and writers should be aware of with this case.

NamUs description: "Remains found off the side of a rural highway in a ditch. Believed to have been dumped there late 12/15/61 or early 12/16/61. Multiple injuries consistent with being beaten noted."

Date body found: December 16th, 1961 (Saturday) at 3:48am in the morning. From the news articles I read from the journalism at about the time of her death, a "sex fiend" was thought to have killed her. However, in subsequent days she was thought to have not been sexually molested.

18 Dec 1961, Mon The Bee (Danville, Virginia) Newspapers.com

Location of the body: NamUs says she was found in a rural highway ditch. From what I gathered, she was found a mile south of Hillsboro in a honeysuckle thicket and was presumptively thrown there from a car. This discovery sounded like it resulted from a body dump.

18 Dec 1961, Mon The Bee (Danville, Virginia) Newspapers.com

Date/time of death: The Jane Doe was thought to be dead for two hours when discovered at 3:48am on the morning of December 16th, 1981. Thus, her estimated time of death would be 1:48am on the same date but could have been earlier.

Cause of death: NamUs said she had been beaten. According to The Bee out of Danville, Virginia, an autopsy revealed the cause of death to be "a subdural hematoma and a brain hemorrhage" (Dec 16, 1961; page 25).

18 Dec 1961, Mon The Bee (Danville, Virginia) Newspapers.com

Age: 15 to 18 years old as per both NamUs the journalism at the time of the body's discovery

Sex: Female

Race: White/Caucasian

Height and weight: 5'1" and 95 pounds, according to NamUs. 5'0" to 5'2" and 85 to 100 pounds is what I gathered as a range from other sources. Qualitatively, she was called "slender" or only slightly built.

Hair: Brown or dark brown, short, and slightly curly according to NamUS.

Eyes: Brown

Fingerprints: Sent to the FBI

Clothing and accessories: 

1. She was found wearing a pullover navy-blue cotton t-shirt type short sleeve shirt with elastic neck and sleeve ends. The label in the neckband said "Jamie." 
2. She wore a white-cloth brassiere with a safety pin on the posterior portion near the elastic hooks. The label said, "Habson Creation, 100% cotton, Sanforized, size 36-B" (Sanforized means preshrunk, meaning that it was shrunk before being sold). Size 36-B would not be very busty. 
3. She wore turquoise-blue corduroy pedal-pusher female pants (called "slacks" in the Bee Hive article) with a back zipper, a button, and a right-rear pocket; it had an imitation leopard-skin corduroy cloth black and white design running down the lateral seam margins as well as the cuffs. 
4. Other clothing that was associated with this Jane Doe was found near the body: a hip-length white coat with a back one-half belt with brass-type buttons; the material is herring-bone type weave. In the pockets of the coat: 2 white cotton socks. 
5. I also found a newspaper article that said she was wearing a light-color jacket.
6. A small and empty pocketbook was found near the body.

17 Dec 1961, Sun The Times Dispatch (Richmond, Virginia) Newspapers.com