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

Candi Gramajo -- Missing Since December 2001 From Oklahoma

Details from NamUs**: 

"GRAMAJO has not been seen since 2am on 12/26/2001 where she went missing from her home on the NW side of OKC. She is believed to be headed to Florida or Virginia."

Missing Person: Candi Gramajo

Last-contact date: December 26th, 2001 at about 2AM
The area where the MP was last seen: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Link to government source: NamUs #78741

VITAL DETAILS

Ethnicity: Hispanic
Sex: Female
Age at time of disappearance: 14 years old

• This person was born between December 27th, 1986, and December 26th, 1987
• When the birthdate isn't known, I calculate a range using the age at the date of the missing person's disappearance.

Hair: Black, shoulder-lengthed
Eyes: Brown
Scar: None listed at NamUs
Height/weight: 5-foot-0 and 95 pounds (maybe taller now given her age)
BMI*: Candi Gramajo was in the normal range for BMI (no way to know what her BMI would be in the years that followed)

• BMI is body mass index. It relates to an individual's height and weight. I include it believing it can help picture a missing person or describe one.

No photo: When a photo isn't found for a missing person, you can try to get an idea of what someone looked like by focusing on BMI, height, weight, ethnicity, and other physical features.

Candi Gramajo has not been seen since December 26th, 2001, when she was 14 years old. Technically, that was Boxing Day, however, it was late Christmas night. This individual has now been missing for 20 years as of the original publication date of this blog post.

If you are working on this case, then one of the early goals should be to get a photo up of this missing person. Ancestry might be a good place to look for one online. If you find one, please remark at the end of this blog post.

What stands out with this case, is that her NamUs profile includes a vehicle description. That is a little odd given that the age of the missing person is 14 years old. I don't picture her having a driver's license. Did she leave alone or with someone that could drive?

The description also says that she was headed to Florida or Virginia. That, in itself, makes it sound like a voluntary disappearance but it would still have been the disappearance of a minor.

The way the profile reads, it's as though she was driving a 1986 Red Honda 2-door car to Florida or Virginia from Oklahoma. That's a little bit difficult to accept as accurate given the age of the missing person so there is probably more to this missing person case than meets the eye. I wouldn't be surprised if the age is wrong or if the details are not correct or not comprehensive.

If she was 14 years old and if she was a runaway, then it creates a stronger possibility that she was alive in the aftermath of her last-known sighting. However, her name did not appear in my searches for Newspaper.com archives or Ancestry. That made it hard to elaborate on the details of her case. Furthermore, an Internet search for "Candi Gramajo" + "missing" did not produce anything. These search results should be duplicated after some time so you, the reader, could take a moment to do that.

Databases are updated from time to time. If looking at Ancestry, then a marriage certificate would be an interesting find for someone with the same name and a birthdate that's likely to be in 1987 but might be in late 1986 given her age when she disappeared. An association to Oklahoma, Florida, or Virginia would also be interesting in a potential marriage certificate. Be aware that if she did end up getting married then her last name may have changed.

If you are looking at the Jane Doe databases, then Candi Gramajo may have had the following articles when she disappeared: tan pants, a red shirt, and a black jacket. Jane Doe profiles often include articles of clothing that the decedent was found in close proximity to.

If you know where this person might be or have any information on this case, then please contact the authorities. In Canada, look for Canada's Missing website with the Federal government. In the USA, you can look for the NamUs profile. Conversely, you can post a remark to this article.

Author: Shane Lambert (UncoolNegated on Websleuths)

All articles are subject to editing after the original posting.

Shane Lambert (UncoolNegated on Websleuths) is not a Private Investigator, however, he is currently studying to be one as of March 2021.

Website hashtag: #MPCSL

*For BMI values, I use the UPPER or HIGHER ranges that are given for height and weight.

**Text might be paraphrased. If taken verbatim, then grammar or spelling errors are not necessarily corrected from original sources.

Disclaimer: Information posted is thought to be correct as of the time posting. If a missing person is found, then this article might stay posted until that is noticed. I try to stay on top of the news but it's not possible to follow all cases. Articles will be edited or deleted when credible news of the missing person is authenticated.

Joseph Slaughter -- Missing From Richmond Since 2005

Details from NamUs**: "He was last seen visiting family on Bland St in June 2005. Slaughter did not have a regular routine."

Missing Person: Joseph Elsworth Slaughter
Last-contact date: June 1, 2005 (note, when NamUs uses the first of the month, sometimes it means at any point in the month; the last-seen date appears to be uncertain in this case as the "Details from NamUs" above suggest the entire time period is in play).
The area where the MP was last seen: Richmond, Virginia near Bland Street

Link to government source: NamUs #MP9961

Ethnicity: Black
Sex: Male
Age at time of disappearance: 66
Hair details: Black
Eye details: Brown
Scars: None known 
Height/weight: 5-foot-9 and 195 pounds
BMI*: The missing person was overweight by BMI at the time of the last contact. The picture above does not appear to depict an overweight individual. This could be due to many different factors, however, I think Websleuths or amateur investigators should keep an open mind when comparing this individual to John Does and pay more attention to Joseph's other characteristics.

Joseph Slaughter was primarily associated with the area around Richmond, Virginia. He was last heard from on June 1, 2005, when he was 66.

At the time of writing, he was missing for over 15 years. When people are missing for this length of time or longer some of their distinctive characteristics may no longer be relevant as identifiers.

What stands out with this case, is that there are not a lot of details. Nor was there much media coverage that I could find.

CharleyProject had the missing person's middle name as "Elsworth." Furthermore, at that site, he was described as homeless at the time of his disappearance.

Tags that I've associated with this blog post are below. It's interesting to see what can connect unrelated cases. Click one of the tags to go to an article that is related to this one in some way, shape, or form.

*For BMI values, I use the UPPER or HIGHER ranges that are given for height and weight.
Please, Google BMI if you aren't familiar with the phrase.

**Text might be paraphrased. Grammar or spelling errors are not necessarily corrected from original sources.