East Haven Jane Doe's Remains Missing Following Burial in State Street Cemetery
Police Unable to Locate Remains of Unidentified Murder Victim Discovered Near Frontage Road in the Summer of 1975
By Shawn R. Dagle
The remains of an unidentified woman – found murdered in a drainage ditch near Frontage Road in East Haven in the summer of 1975 – are missing.
East Haven police recently exhumed the remains of an individual they believed to be the victim from the State Street Cemetery only to discover the remains were not the victim’s.
According to reports police decided to exhume the remains of the unidentified woman – who had been buried in an unmarked grave in the cemetery – in an attempt to obtain a better DNA sample in an effort to identify her.
Investigators poured over burial records in an attempt to find the woman’s unmarked grave and believed they had located the spot.
During exhumation authorities found a casket in the exact spot they believed the woman to be buried only to discover the body inside was that of a man.
The exact location of the victim still remains a mystery though it is believed she is buried somewhere in the cemetery.
According to reports the cemetery association has been criticized in the past for its poor burial records.
The unidentified murder victim’s case dates back more than four decades ago.
At approximately 10 a.m. the morning of August 16, 1975 a truck driver making a delivery to the Bradlees on Frontage Road noticed a body in the drainage ditch near the store.
The entire length of the woman’s body had been wrapped in a tarp and bound with antenna wire. The victim was believed to have been dead for approximately a week. Her death was ruled a homicide; the cause of death asphyxiation by smothering.
Police theorized that the woman’s body had been stuffed inside a 30-inch drainage pipe nearby and washed out by heavy rains.
In 2020 authorities decided to exhume the victim’s body after failed attempts to use existing DNA samples - presumably collected around the time of her death.
The victim still remains unidentified. She was estimated to be in her twenties and was white.
According to reports police have indicated that they intend to return to the cemetery with sonar equipment in an attempt to locate the missing body.
-June 22, 2022-
Sources:
NBC Connecticut “East Haven Police Exhume Wrong Body In Connection to 1975 Cold Case Murder” Angela Fortuna June 9, 2022
The Independent “Police Dig Up Wrong Body In Effort to Solve Decades Old Cold Case” Graeme Massie June 11, 2022
Hartford Courant “Body in Ditch Identified” August 18, 1975
Hartford Courant “Body Found in Ditch in East Haven” August 17, 1975
Hartford Courant “Cause of Death of Woman is Asphyxiation” August 18, 1975