Case File 486UFPA - Unidentified White Female - Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania - First Assumptions

Direct Link to Jane Doe: http://doenetwork.org/cases/486ufpa.html

Okay so, I am going to be working on this case starting today.

I find this one to be very interesting since there is such an obvious identifying item that was found with the victim but yet there is still no name to this woman.

The item is a key, it looks like it would go to a necklace or a bracelet, but they don't say in the report 'how' they found the item, but I assume that it is part of the 'Yellow Necklace' they mentioned.

The words "AZB", E. MATHIS, Life Member June 2, 1946, Alpha Delta." are inscribed onto the key charm according to the report... I would magnify it further but based on the already terrible quality they've put online, I would only distort it further and will probably never get a clear view of what I can make out...  Based on the fact that this woman hasn't been identified I think there's a small chance that the investigators who were examining the key may have mis-spelled what's actually on the key.

Assuming that they haven't misspelled it however, I've gone ahead and tried to do a little digging about Sororities that carry the same name that were open around that time frame.

Now the name is probably not going to match the person, it's probably going to be a relative of one them.

• I came to this conclusion because the necklace says 1946.  

• Assuming that's accurate, the woman would have had to be at least 19 when she joined the sorority (unless she was a genious and got into a college/university much sooner).

• This person's estimated date of death is sometime in 2001.

• The math works says that if it truly is the owner of the necklace that she would have been between 69 - 85 years old at the youngest in 2001.

• The person who was found is presumed to be anywhere between 34 to 65 years old and assuming the anthropologist was correct then this woman have been between 10 years old to not even born yet in 1946.

So given all that, I assume this person is most likely a daughter, granddaughter... basically a younger relative.

(Don't worry I'll list my assumptions at the bottom) ^_^


I've tried to find other examples of this Key charm but to no avail.  I tried eBay to see if someone was listing an item similar as an antique (given it's age) and I also tried to Google the phrases: 'AZB' Key', Alpha Key, Alpha Zeta Beta Key, Alpha Key Necklace.  I did this because I assumed that maybe for that year, 1942, the sorority gave this charm out to all it's sisters who became lifetime members.

Given that I found no other examples and was only led back to this original key on the Doe Network, I've now come to the conclusion that:

• Either there weren't that many members that year and the keys have either been lost, passed down or thrown away, 

or

• That this was a custom made piece, meaning it's one of a kind.  

Either possibility seems reasonable. ^_^


My next step was to try and locate all the Alpha Zeta Beta sororities that might have been opened around 1942 or earlier... 

Now when I first started to look up the information, I ended up in that Websluething forum... I know bad me. 

The forum is famous currently for its paranoid moderators who went into a 'Banning Spree' one day and took out most of it's members because it was afraid of a 'hacking conspiracy'.  Now this is what I was talking about when I was quoting Stabler from SVU: "Someone's hearing Zebras."  

Today, many members say that if don't believe what they believe, they'll ban you the first time you post.  No one's aggressive, they just state their opinions and end up being banned.  Example: my blog right here, if I'd of posted any of my theories, most would contradict their 'daytime television' theories and I would automatically be banned lol.

However, despite all this, it seems they may have gather a little useful information, however if the right steps were taken I think things would have been solved today and this unidentified person would have a name.  Given that hasn't happened, it seems things weren't directed or handled the right way.  From what I can gather, right after the group was able to find out the name of the original owner of the necklace, the conversation dropped into limbo.  Now the members are just shouting random questions without answers and trying to assume the woman was Edna and was dug out of her grave... again, very far fetch as a trained anthropologist (I would assume) would have been able to tell if the body was originally prepared for burial.

Website of information relating to it is found here:
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-50604.html

Okay so what they came up with was the originally owner of the necklace was:

• Edna Mathis of Collingswood, NJ 

• And it is believed she was part of the Philadelphia Chapter of Alpha Beta Zeta and became a lifetime member the exact date that was listed on the key.

Now, again, it's obvious that Edna Mathis is not the body that was found, she would have to be much younger which she was not.

Okay so next step (since these little sleuthers mentioned nothing about it) is to find out her middle name so we can identify WHICH Edna Mathis this is....

The letter says she 'lived in Collingswood, NJ'  but that doesn't mean that she was born or died there.
Given that the letter also says she is from the Philadelphia Chapter, I almost guarantee we're going to find something in connection there... also the fact that the remains were found in Philadelphia is a promising lead.

So, after researching a bit, I came across a Edna 'ELIZABETH' Mathis.
I found the information here:
http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/l/e/x/Wendy-M-Lex/GENE8-0077.html

It says

• She was born 1897 which means she would have been 46 years old when she received her 'Lifetime' key, (which seems appropriate).

• It is presumed she died before 1997, which means she would have been almost 100 years old!  But, my own grandmother was 103 when she passed and about the same year too, so it is not impossible!

• Edna Elizabeth and her husband Raymond Mathis were married in Philadelphia, PA so we are back to the common link of Philadelphia...

Given this information, I attempted to look up the Obtiturary to Edna Elizabeth Mathis... how ever I seem to have run into a dead end....  I'm actually really surprised I hit this dead end, I expected to find some information regarding this woman's death but there is nothing about her death.

Even more suspcious is the fact that the family tree only states her death is 'Before' 1997, where as other date of deaths are actual full dates.

I attempted to try and find the Husband, Raymond Mathis, but I didn't have any luck with him either.

Also, according to the family tree, it seems the couple didn't have any children.  So if it is a close relative then it would have to be like a niece or someone similiar.

Well, I'm going to wrap this up for today and pick up when I find some more information...



Okay so lets run down everything discovered as fact so far...

• Date of actual death is estimated 2001, body was discovered 2006
• The Original owner of the Key necklace is Edna Mathis
• Edna Mathis once lived in Collingswood, NJ
• Edna Mathis attended the Philadelphia Chapter of Alpha Zeta Beta
• Remains found cannot be Edna Mathis (they're too young)

I'll go through more obvious information already provided by the Doe Network in the next post, but I just wanted to try and clear up the name of original owner today.

As a reminder, if you have any idea of who this person might be, do not hold it in, let yourself be heard!  Any information you provide can ultimately help bring closure to the family of this loved one who still remains unidentified today.

- Please feel free to comment your thoughts on this case!