NamUs #MP11495 - Donella Jean Coultas

By: Shane Lambert

Donella Jean Coultas was last seen on December 18th, 1979. NamUs offers some details of her description but nothing for circumstances.

• 29 years old at the time of the disappearance
• White female
• 5'7"
• 157 lbs
• Alias: Donna Schuman
• Last known location: South Pasadena
• Brown hair, short
• Blue eyes
• Contact lenses
• Pidgeon toed
• C-section scar on abdomen
• Mole above navel
• Buck teeth
• She was last known to be wearing a green top under a light-blue sweater and dark-blue pants with white tennis shoes

I did not find much media coverage regarding Donella Jean Coultas. But I did find one article 11 months after her disappearance in The Desert Sun, a publication out of Palm Springs. Donna's mother was named "Mrs. Schuman" in the article which suggests the alias above is a maiden name. Donna's mother stated that she thought it was possible that Donna went to Palm Springs. But the big mystery with this missing person is why she would leave a 2-year old behind.

For those wondering about some circumstances with this case, the above blurb is all I found for you.

Kassandra Ramirez (NamUs #MP52542) - New to NamUs

Kassandra Ramirez is a missing person that is new to NamUs. She was last seen on September 19th, 2018 in the Bronx, New York at 683 Melrose Avenue at around 11:40pm. Her vitals as of the 19th were as follows:

• 25 years old
• Hispanic/Latino female
• 5'2" to 5'3"
• 100 to 130 pounds
• Brown hair
• Brown eyes

She was leaving her residence to meet with someone in front of her building. That individual says that Ramirez did not show up. She was last seen wearing the following:

• Blue jeans
• White blouse
• Grey hoodie
• Black sneakers

Facebook questions with Kassandra's mother

Kassandra's mother offered some information that wasn't on NamUs at time of writing. She said her daughter's middle name is Briana. Furthermore, Kassandra has tattoos and a birthmark (still trying to find locations of them). Additionally, she had a c-section and she has scars on her left pinky due to an injury.

I spoke with other people that knew Kassandra well and were involved in efforts to locate her. Tattoos may have the following: a Pisces symbol, the name "Jay'Den," and the dates "11/16/10 - 11/18/10." One tattoo may be on her wrist of the name and dates. She may also have a birthmark on her abdomen. 

Food For Thought: Similar disappearance

Kassandra Ramirez disappeared about one year to the hour after Corinna Slusser disappeared. Ramirez disappeared very close to midnight on September 19th, 2018 and Slusser disappeared in the wee hours of the morning on September 20th, 2017. Their last known locations are about 10 miles apart. They were both mid-week disappearances. Slusser's case has been associated with sex-trafficking rings.

NamUs #UP6040 - Notes for Websleuths

By: Shane Lambert

I was looking at NamUs #UP6040 today. She is an individual that was found dead on February 19th, 1971 in Lake Panasoffkee, Florida. Her NamUs vitals:

• Aged 17-24
• White female
• Estimated to have died in 1971 within weeks of her discovery
• 5'3"
• 110 pounds
• Brown hair
• Eyes are probably brown

She was found under the Lake Panasoffkee Bridge at Interstate 75.

NamUs mentioned her clothing, which included green plaid pants and a poncho. Some details that websleuths should be aware of that you don't get from NamUs comes from the newspaper reporting of the day (Orlando Sentinel/Feb 21 1971/Page 66 unless otherwise noted):

• This woman was definitely thought to be a murder victim who was strangled with a belt (one article from Feb 22 1971 said she was found "with a belt tied around her neck" Sentinel Page 5)
• She may have been pregnant
• She was referred to as the "hippie-type"
• She was believed to have been thrown over the side of the bridge
• She had a gold cap on a tooth
• The body was found by two young men hitchhikers who looked down from the bridge
• She was barefoot (Feb 22 Sentinel)
• She was dressed in "a Kelly green, long-sleeved blouse and green and cream plaid slacks" (Feb 22 Sentinel)
• Her location is described as between "Wildwood and Bushnell" (Tampa Tribune/Feb 27 1971)
• They were able to get a fingerprint
• They have her dentals

Commentary

When you are reading missing-person reports, the clothing is big in this case. But try to remember that she had a gold cap on a tooth. If you ever read of a report of a woman who was last heard from in February 1971 or prior with a gold cap on her tooth then cross reference her details against NamUs #UP6040 to see if anything lines up.

NamUs #MP8602 - Notes on Ashley Fuller Reed

By: Shane Lambert

The Original Time of Writing: October 1st, 2018
Updates: February 25th, 2025

On October 1st, 2018 I took a look at the missing person's case of Ashley Fuller Reed (NamUs #MP8602). I read over her case at NamUs and then used an online-newspaper database to look at the reporting from 1990 that covered her case. I feel that anyone websleuthing this case should know about details that I came across during this research. It's my opinion that NamUs doesn't provide enough information.

Furthermore, I took a look at the greater region and the large time frame associated with this case. I've noted numerous cases of white females going missing from Texas after experiencing car troubles between 1988 and 1994. These cases may or may not be related.

NamUs says that Reed was last heard from on January 15th, 1990, a Monday holiday (Martin Luther King Jr. Day). One newspaper article (El Paso Times/March 24th, 1990/page 13) contradicted that and said that she vanished on January 14th, which would have been a Sunday.

My guess from that is that she disappeared late on the 14th or early on the 15th. Since we're dealing with a Sunday night followed by a holiday Monday then certainly going out late wouldn't be unexpected from someone Reed's age.

Her vitals as per NamUs:

• 19 years old when she disappeared
• White female
• 5'2" to 5'3"
• 115 to 125 pounds
• Brown and curly hair
• Brown eyes
• Pierced ears
• Small brown mole on lower-left cheek
  
• Wearing a stone-washed blue denim shirt, a black long-sleeved top, a brown bomber jacket, a Guess brand watch, two gold rings, and gold hoop earrings.

She was last known to be in Garland, Texas. The night she was last heard from, according to NamUs, she was going to The International House of Pancakes with two unidentified men. Her car was then found on a freeway ramp leading to her neighbourhood. That is a factor that suggests that she was abducted from her vehicle or that someone abducted her elsewhere and chose to place her vehicle there.

Personally, what I can't ignore is that the vehicle was found en route to her home. To me, that suggests that she drove it there and was abducted from it. If someone abducted her beforehand then I don't think that person would drive toward her home in her vehicle because that would be a risky move.

It may be difficult to picture how someone could be abducted from a vehicle, especially one that is moving. However, on the matter of women being abducted from vehicles, please consider my article called "Women With Car Troubles Go Missing" from February 14th, 2018. The article shows, with reference to historical cases, how an abductor is able to sabotage a woman's vehicle, follow her, and then gain her trust as a Johnny-on-the-spot mechanic that can help her. What should be noted is that it's possible to convince someone to pull over even when no car trouble exists for that person.

In regard to the men that Reed was meeting at the pancake house, websleuths should be aware of the name "Robert." The following clip is taken from the El Paso Times (March 24th, 1990; page 13).

Furthermore, Reed's case was mentioned in a September 6th, 1992 article in The Post-Crescent (page 2), a newspaper in Appleton, Wisconsin. This article mentions that the other male's name that Ashley Fuller Reed was going to meet was "Dave." This article says that Reed, "Dave," and "Robert" were going to meet in Dallas International House of Pancakes at 6pm on Jan. 14th, 1990.

One detail that websleuths should be aware of from this article is that her car was found with a dead battery. Furthermore, the article says that when the battery was recharged, the hazard lights came on. Her purse and keys were missing from the car.

Ashley Fuller Reed made the news in recent times, as of February 25th, 2025. The Irving Journal reviewed her case in January 2025.

• Her car was a 1984 Chevrolet Citation.
• It was discovered on January 15th on the service road of Interstate 635 at Military Parkway in Mesquite.
• Two weeks after she disappeared, two fishermen found her purse at a gravel pit, however, somehow this purse "vanished" before police could look at it.

Subjective opinion - My Guess

My guess is that Reed left the International House of Pancakes on her own and started to drive home. While doing this, she either perceived car troubles or someone falsely alerted her to contrived troubles with the vehicle. Reacting to this, maybe she put her hazards on and pulled over. Then, she could have met with a 'Good Samaritan' who was a wolf in sheep's clothes.

Perhaps Reed turned the ignition off in her car with the hazard light button still depressed, perhaps believing that she would get help and return to the car soon. The person who offered to help her may have instead abducted her. Meanwhile, the hazard lights would have flickered all night until they killed the battery. With the hazard-light button still depressed, when the battery was recharged the lights lit up.

Similar case(s) involving Texas White Females with Abandoned cars around 1990

These cases are not necessarily connected. However, I feel that they are good "food for thought."

1988 Susan Renee Smalley and Stacie Madison

Susan Renee Smalley (NamUs #MP989) went missing in 1988 along with Stacie Madison (#MP1487) in Carrollton, Texas. They were white females aged 18 and 17 respectively. Madison's car was found abandoned. The excerpt below is from the May 8th, 1988 Odessa American newspaper (page 13).

1991 Kristen Smith

The case of Kristen Smith (NamUs #MP8669) involves the disappearance of a white female in 1991 who was a similar age to Ashley Reed. Smith went missing from Beaumont, Texas. A significant point of similarity is that Smith's car was also found abandoned.

1992 Kelly Dae Wilson

Kelly Dae Wilson (NamUs #MP6816) went missing from Gilmer, Texas in January of 1992. Wilson is a white female who was 17 at the time of her disappearance. Her car was found abandoned (with a flat tire which police believe was slashed) as well and her keys were missing.

1992 Tara Suzette Breckenridge

Tara Breckenridge

Tara Suzette Breckenridge (NamUs #MP914) went missing in August of 1992 from Houston, Texas. She was a white female, aged 23 years old. Her abandoned car was also found. I did find an individual named "Robert" associated with this case as a suspect but he would have been 15 at the time of Reed's disappearance (Del Rio News Herald/April 1st 1993/Page 1).

Please read the excerpt below, which was taken from the Del Rio News Herald (page 1) on August 15th, 1992.

The vehicle's alternator belt was missing according to NamUs. If it was broken down, then that would be one matter but the alternator belt to be missing means vehicle sabotage to me. That could mean that Tara excepted help from the Johnny-on-the-spot 'Good Samaritan' voluntarily, believing that he would help her.

1994 Jeanie Naomi Lofton

Jeanie Naomi Lofton (NamUs #MP8600) went missing in April of 1994 from Carthage, Texas (note: a newspaper article written in April 2002 called her "Jeanie Voiselle Lofton"). She was a 21-year old white female. The following excerpt is taken from the May 25th, 1994 article on Lofton in the Longview News-Journal. It states that her car was found abandoned.

In this case, Lofton left her home to run errands on April 2nd, 1994. One of her errands was to go to the Eckerd Drug Store in Carthage to get a prescription for her son's illness. She did complete this errand as his prescription was found in her car. The vehicle she drove was found parked and abandoned at a church (the Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church). An eyewitness said he saw a "white Isuzu pickup pull into the church parking lot behind Lofton" (Page 3, April 2nd 1995 Longview News-Journal).

Jeanette Kamahele (NamUs MP#8069) vs. NamUs UP#7765 (ATTEMPT TO MATCH -- FAIL)

By: Shane Lambert

Original time of writing: 2018

2025 Update: While Jeannette Kamahele remains missing, the unidentified person (UP #7765) discussed below has been identified as of June 2025. See the update at the end of this post for details.

Missing Person: Jeannette Kamahele

Last seen or contact date: April 25th, 1972 in the morning, around 930am

Where last seen: Cotati, California on the ramp of Highway 101

NamUs # and Link: #MP8069

Jeannette Kamahele missing report 2 Fri, Apr 28, 1972 – 2 · The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, California) · Newspapers.com

I had a look at Jeanette Kamahele's case tonight. This is a missing-person's case that will be fairly well known to websleuths and those familiar with unsolved mysteries in the United States. Kamahele has been included in the often-discussed Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murders from several decades ago.

A friend said she saw Jeannette enter a faded brown pickup
truck that had a driver with afro-styled hair. Picture is AI renditioned.

I won't review the details of her case too much because they have been covered. You can visit the following link to read about the murders that may have been the work of one serial killer if you wish:

http://www.santarosahitchhikermurders.com.

What I will do is look at Jeanette's case and compare it to an Unidentified Person's case (ie. UP), that being Namus UP#7765. There are three stark similarities between Jeanette and UP#7765 that indicate that the two separate profiles should be looked at as being the same person.

2025 update: this comparison, originally made in 2018, ended up being incorrect as per the paragraph at the end

Firstly, there is a modern reconstruction of the UP's face from early in 2018. NamUs has had a bust of the UP for years but now we can have a look at an artist's rendition of the deceased UP#7765 (left) and compare it to Kamahele's pictures below. When I do that I see similar features, including complexion, hair length, and hair-parting point. As far as facial matches between photos and reconstructions go, it's a very intriguing match-up.

Unidentified Person #7765 on the left. Jeanette Kamahele on the right side and middle.

Secondly, an important detail with this case is that the deceased on the left, UP#7765, was found with a sandal near her. Importantly, Jeanette Kamahele on the right, MP#8069, was last seen wearing sandals.

Thirdly, UP#7765 was found with Levi brand denim blue jeans near her body. Jeanette was last seen wearing the Levi's brand, according to her NamUs profile. It does not state that she was wearing Levi's jeans but that is that company's common product.

The time and space match reasonably well between these cases. The decedent was found July 24th, 1976 and was believed to have died between 1966 and 1976. Jeanette went missing in 1972 so the dates definitely match up.

In terms of proximity, we are talking about a difference of 572 miles between Colati, California and a point northward in Oregon. While that might seem like a great distance, it should not be too bothersome because Jeanette was believed to be hitchhiking when she disappeared. In fact, someone who knew her was going to stop and pick her up except someone else did first. That person that picked her up might have been heading a long way north.

There are some problems with these two cases as a potential match. I will note a 5" discrepancy in height between the missing person and the UP, a discrepancy in race, and that not all the clothes overlap between the two profiles. However, the deceased individual had her torso missing so how reliable a height estimation is without a spine is for all to guess. Additionally, when we take NamUs information with a grain of salt and instead look at the original reporting from 1976 we find that there IS NO HEIGHT DISCREPANCY at all.

August 1, 1976 Statesman Journal/Page 33/No author listed/"Linn DA seeking body's identity

The contradiction between races may not be that important. Kamahele was Hawaiian and the UP is described as caucasian. However, the sketch of the UP looks a little swarthy to me. I'm not convinced that a decedent's race can be pinpointed with bones, especially since so many people have mixed backgrounds.

The ages match-up between the profiles. NamUs lists a broad range of between 18-40 years old for the UP and Jeanette's age is within that range (she was 20). But I will note that when the Unidentified Person's bones were originally examined back in 1976 they had a much narrower range. See the clipped article excerpt below which is from the August 1, 1976 Statesman Journal in Salem, Oregon:

Technically, Jeanette's age was out of the 17-19-year-old range but that's not that important because these ranges have to be taken loosely.

The faces also match up in terms of likeness in my view. One detail that I especially like is where the hair parts.

One question that we should be asking is this: how many Unidentified Persons are there out there that look like Jeanette and that were found with the clothing she was last seen in? If you answer "none" then I think you agree with me that UP#7765 is a clear candidate for a rule out in the semi-famous case of Jeanette Kamahele's disappearance.

Another question you could ask is simply if matching the profile of Kamahele to UP#7765 is simply worth taking a shot at just due to how cold the case is. It has been 46 years since Kamahele went missing and if her case isn't solved soon then it stands to reason that many will soon just dismiss it as too archaic to bother with.

2025 Update: Jane Doe Identified

In news from 2025, the Oregon State Medical Examiner's Office, with assistance from Parabon NanoLabs and a 2020 NIJ grant, identified NamUs UP #7765 as Marion Vinetta Nagle McWhorter, a 21-year-old woman who went missing from Tigard, Oregon, in October 1974. While this resolves the identity of the remains found in Linn County, Oregon, in 1976, it rules out this Jane Doe as Jeannette Kamahele.

Jeannette's case (NamUs MP #8069) remains open and unsolved, with no new leads reported as of October 2025. The similarities noted in this post—clothing, facial reconstruction, and timeline—highlight that cases can look similar while being unrelated. When comparing Jane Does to missing people, remember to stress the need to pursue a rule-out more than overly optimistic statements about matches.

Shani Ann Estes (NamUs MP#1204) vs. UP#5963

By: Shane Lambert

Shani Ann Estes has been missing since 2005, that much is clear. However, there is some contradictory information out there from governmental sources as to the date she was last seen. NamUs (she's MP#1204) says she was last seen on November 24th, 2005. The State of California's Department of Justice's website says she was last seen on December 7th, 2005. Regardless, there's reason to consider her as a match to UP#5963.

Shani, according to CharleyProject's profile for her, had an argument with her husband on November 24th, 2005 and then disappeared. The suggestion at that website is that the husband is not a suspect and that Shani left on her own accord.

On the night of January 10th, 2006 a woman known as UP#5963 was found deceased in a burned-out apartment in San Francisco. The distance between where Shani was last seen and this apartment is about 290 miles in the same state of California. 

The time elapsed between the date of the fire and when Shani was last seen depends on what date we go by. We are looking at just over a month if we go by December 7th, 2005 or a month and a half if we go by November 24th, 2005. Regardless, there's no reason to rule one other out yet as possible matches.

UP#5963 is described as not recognizable because of burns suffered in the apartment fire. Accordingly, all physical descriptions have to be taken with a grain of salt.

But the dead individual is listed as a female that was white and that matches Shani. The heights between Shani and the decedent are just 1 inch off and that makes them a match from that point of view because heights are often estimated.

The age of the deceased UP could not really be estimated but she was considered to be an adult. The weight between Shani and the decedent appears to be well off, a full 40 pounds. Furthermore, the eye color is off between the two.

But what's interesting about UP#5963, someone who had brown eyes according to NamUs, was that she was ruled-out against MP#490, a person who had blue eyes. The basis for the rule out may have been a scar: UP#5963 had a scar on her lower-right abdomen and the MP had a scar as well.

That the Unidentified Person with brown eyes was compared to a missing person with blue eyes suggests that the authorities aren't confident in one of the two's eye colors. That may have something to do with the fact that the UP was burned to death. Can you accurately get eye color from charred remains?

MP#490, the rule-out of the UP, went missing in June of 1996 in Arizona. That's far away from San Francisco and the time factor is large, nearly a full decade. If MP#490 can be looked at as a possible match to UP#5963 then surely Shani can.

Shani was much closer to UP#5963 in terms of time and space. Furthermore, Shani may have had a scar right where the Unidentified Person had one. Shani is described as having a "surgical scar" from a c-section, a scar that would be on her abdomen and possibly her lower-right abdomen according to some pictures I googled of c-section scars. The UP had a scar on the lower-right abdomen -- perhaps from the same c-section?

These two are worth a look at despite the mismatching eye color in my opinion. If they aren't one and the same then at least they should be listed as rule outs of one another to prevent future work on the possible match.

NamUs UP#13280 and UP#13278

By: Shane Lambert

I spent some time reading about two cases of unidentified people tonight, cases from January of 2003. The cases may be related although NamUs does not connect them. They are NamUs UP#13280 and UP#13278.

The former was found in Imperial County on January 2nd, 2003 and believed to be dead for five months. The latter was found in the same county on January 7th, 2003 and also believed to be dead for five months. The zip codes associated with the deaths are about 9.4 miles apart according to Google Maps. Both decedents were described as being found in the "open desert."

UP#13280 was found near a jacket that had The Master Palette logo on it. Anyone working on this case may want to know that the logo is associated with Glidden Professional, a paint company. The first snippet below shows the logo on the decedent's jacket while the second snippet shows the logo inset into a website (webpage was active at time of writing). They are remarkably similar.

With UP#13278, I did some research on the most striking feature of this deceased person's remains. She had gold star inlays on her front dentures. In an article published on April 4th, 2007 at the Houston Press, author Olivia Flores Alvarez regales a story of an individual he met in March of that year who had gold star inlays on her front teeth. That person can't be UP#13278 because this UP died in 2002. However, according to Alvarez the gold star inlays are "a popular fashion in highland Guatemala." The title of the article is "Packing Meat" and the topic is illegal immigrant workers.

The relevance is that UP#13278 may have originated from highland Guatemala. This region is in southern Guatemala. It lays between the Sierra Madre de Chiapas to the south and the Petén lowlands to the north.

Anyone working on these cases should be aware of connections to Glidden Professional and to the highlands of Guatemala.