This body has been unidentified since 2002. Can you help find her family?
On March 28, 2002, the skeletal remains of a black woman were found in Columbia, on Illinois 3 near Gall Road.
Officials estimated her body had been in the creek bed near Illinois 3 for six months to a year, based on the decomposition.
Now, 15 years later, Columbia Police are working to figure out who this mystery woman is. Her body is the only one in Monroe County that has never been identified, officials believe.
The Monroe County forensic medical investigator estimated the woman to be short, about 4-foot-10 to 5-foot-4, and somewhere in the range of 30-50 years old. She was wearing an extra-large black T-shirt with the word “Mavericks” written above a large “M” and a pair of khaki size 3 Chazz Credentials shorts.
Police are unsure of how the woman died, said Columbia Police Chief Jerry Paul. They do believe the woman was the victim of a homicide, however. Missing-person databases and DNA comparisons with families with missing people have not led to an identification so far, Paul said.
“We think the key is, if we can identify this Maverick ... it could help us identify this person,” Paul said.
When the “who” in a case is missing, it’s nearly impossible to investigate and figure out what led to their death, Paul said.
Deputy Chief Jason Donjon said the identity of the victim is usually the starting point for the investigation.
“Without having the victim identified, that’s what makes this such a hard case to investigate,” Donjon said. “One of the first steps with any investigation ... is finding the identity and then you kind of back track from there to move your investigation forward.”
Anyone with information about the woman can call the Columbia Police Department at 618-281-6616.
There are four other unidentified bodies found in the metro-east area from 1990 through 2003.
▪ A white female was found dead in a bean field near Lebanon Road in Collinsville on July 20, 1990. Her age was estimated to be anywhere from 25-40, and she was about 5-foot-4 to 5-foot-6 and 120-130 pounds.
She died from multiple stab wounds and cuts to her neck and torso. Her fallopian tubes, uterus and ovaries were missing. Evidence of surgical removal could not be determined. Her body appeared to have been in the field for two to three days before it was found. She was wearing a heart-shaped turquoise ring.
Anyone with information about the woman can call the Madison County Sheriff’s Department at 618-692-0871.
▪ A 20- to 30-year-old black woman was found dead near mile marker 22 on Interstate 64 on Jan. 30, 2002. Illinois Department of Transportation workers discovered her skeletal remains in rural Mascoutah.
Officials could not determine a cause of death. The woman had two rings on her left hand. One was a small 14-karat gold band and the other was a costume-style ring with a light blue tear-shaped stone. She was wearing a black, sleeveless Jason Matthews-brand jumpsuit.
Anyone with information about the woman can call Illinois State Police Zone 6 Investigations at 618-346-3782.
▪ The body of a black woman was found on Interstate 70 near mile marker 23 on June 18, 2002. An autopsy did not reveal a cause of death, but officials believe the woman had been dead for several months. The woman was between the ages of 24 and 30, and was about 5-foot-3.
The woman was wearing a medium-size pair of gray Second Skins-brand shorts with rhinestones and an extra large red and white checked men’s-style Tommy Hilfiger button-down flannel. A gold nugget-style costume ring was also found. She was wearing two bracelets: a metal hoop that was smooth on one side with a channel on the other, with a ring of black onyx beads on an elastic string and a triple-strand bracelet with yellow, green, black, mauve and brown plastic beads strung onto it.
Anyone with information about the woman can call Illinois State Police Zone 6 Investigations at 618-346-3782.
▪ An 18- to 25-year-old Hispanic male was found dead in a car in Brooklyn on May 30, 2003. Officials estimate he was about 6 feet tall, and weighed 200-230 pounds. He was wearing a light blue or light green and white striped button-up shirt, black jeans, black cowboy boots and a black belt with silver attachments that looked like Southwestern Indian-style jewelry.
The man was wearing a gold bracelet with the letters “ONO” studded in diamonds, with a flower on each side of the letters, a gold ring with a cluster of six diamonds surrounding a center diamond and a silver Casio watch with digital numbers. He also had a tattoo on the back of his right shoulder of a mustached man wearing sunglasses and a fedora. He was found in the trunk of a red 1988 Dodge Dynasty with a Kansas temporary license plate.
Anyone with information about the man can call Illinois State Police Zone 6 Investigations at 618-346-3782.
Kara Berg: 618-239-2626, @karaberg95
This story was originally published September 25, 2017 at 9:03 AM with the headline "This body has been unidentified since 2002. Can you help find her family?."