Doe ID: Peggy Joyce Shelton
DNA: ID
Episode 125 Doe ID: Peggy Joyce Shelton On July 19, 1972, the body of an unidentified woman was found by a young boy in Hernando County, Florida off of State Road 50 and High Corner Road in Brooksville. She had been dead for a few months. It was immediately clear to investigators that she was a murder victim who had been strangled to death. The victim was described as between 30 and 40 years old, approximately 5 feet tall, weighing between 125 and 145 pounds, with short brown hair, and they noted she had only six upper and six lower teeth. Police were searching for a mysterious White...
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Maria Honzell Part 2 of 2
DNA: ID
Episode 124 Maria Honzell Part 2 of 2 This is the conclusion of the Maria Honzell case. If you have not listened to part one now, please stop now and go back and listen to that part first. To listen to every episode of DNA: ID ad-free and get other benefits, simply on Apple Podcasts to get started with an AbJack Insider subscription. Of course, you can also support DNA: ID with a . For all things DNA: ID, visit the to buy DNA ID Merch
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Maria Honzell Part 1 of 2
DNA: ID
Episode 124 Maria Honzell Part 1 of 2 In February 1977, 14 year old Maria Honzell was babysitting for two little boys in her apartment complex. While everyone thought the boys were asleep, someone stabbed her to death and left he bloodied body in the bedroom. But the boys weren’t asleep – and one of them witnessed the crime. His description of the killer drove the investigation for years to come – but didn’t help solve the case. It took CeCe Moore and forensic genealogy to do that. When the police learned the name of the killer … it did not answer a...
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Doe ID: Melissa Highsmith
DNA: ID
Episode 123 Doe ID: Melissa Highsmith This Doe ID episode is a bit different from most other ones, because the victim in this case is alive and well. In August, 1971, when Melissa Highsmith was just 22 months old, her mother Alta; desperate for a babysitter, allowed a stranger she didn't know to watch over her little girl in Fort Worth, Texas. Alta was terrified when the woman never contacted her again, and took Melissa with her. The woman had provided Alta with fake information, and no real way to contact her. With not much to go on, police were not much help. Alta prayed and believed in her...
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Patricia Stichler Part 2 of 2
DNA: ID
Episode 122 Patricia Stichler Part 2 of 2 This is the conclusion of the Patricia Stichler case. If you have not listened to part 1 yet, please stop now and go back and listen to that part first. To listen to every episode of DNA: ID ad-free and get other benefits, simply on Apple Podcasts to get started with an AbJack Insider subscription. Of course, you can also support DNA: ID with a . For all things DNA: ID, visit the to buy DNA ID Merch
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Patricia Stichler Part 1 of 2
DNA: ID
Episode 122 Patricia Stichler Part 1 of 2 New Years’ Day 1985 should have rung in an exciting new year for Patti Stichler and her three young daughters. Instead, in the middle of the night on January 1-2, someone slashed and stabbed Patti to death in her bedroom. Her three girls, ages 11, 9 and 6, were in their bedrooms just feet away. The oldest, Andrea, was the one to find her mom, and also found the most significant clue the police had – the open window in the blood-stained bathroom, and the gaping curtains that had been cut away from it. A knife sheath was...
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Doe: ID 'Oscar Talley Road Jane Doe' Shawna Beth Garber
DNA: ID
Episode 121 Doe: ID 'Oscar Talley Road Jane Doe' Shawna Beth Garber In December, 1990, a couple discovered a human skull on an abandoned farm on Oscar Talley Road near Lanagan, Missouri. A search of the area by police revealed more bones, and clothing. The remains were determined to be that of a woman, but she carried no ID. A white towel had been wrapped around the woman's head, and she was tied with several types of bindings made up of ropes, cords, and coax cables. Due to the state of decomposition, the cause and manner of death could not be determined, but police were confident that...
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Melinda Salazar and Carrole Ann White
DNA: ID
Episode 120 Melinda Salazar and Carrole Ann White Starting in 2017, someone started killing women in southwest Detroit, MI. The killer struck at night, and always used the same weapon – his car. Detroit police realized that they had a serial killer on their hands. His MO was always the same – pick up a white, female sex worker; have a sexual encounter with her in his vehicle; and then, run her down with that vehicle and rob her. He was brazen, ruthless, and active, with at least five cases fitting his MO. Despite all the trappings of modern technology at...
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Doe: ID 'Chimney Doe' Ronnie Joe Kirk
DNA: ID
Episode 119 Doe: ID 'Chimney Doe' Ronnie Joe Kirk In 1989, a custodian in a music store in Madison, Wisconsin discovered human remains in the chimney. At first, it was not clear that the remains were of a male or female, and remnants on clothing though to be a dress fueled confusion. An expert told police that the remains certainly belonged to a man, but since there was no ID with the body, they had no idea who the person was, nor did they know how their body had managed to get down the very small opening of the chimney, or if he was a homicide victim. For years the case remained a...
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Donna Sue Hyatt
DNA: ID
Episode 118 Donna Sue Hyatt Donna Sue Hyatt was a loving daughter, sister, mother and grandmother who faced some challenges in life. She relied on her friends, family and faith to help her put a smile on her face every day, and she was always friendly, chatty and sunny – until someone murdered her on her living room floor. There were plenty of suspects both in Donna Sue’s life and in the larger Carlsbad, NM area she called home. But police could not pin the crime on any one of them, although they had their suspicions. Eventually the case went cold. DNA testing in 2010 revived the...
info_outlineEpisode 105 DOE: ID 'Mary Jane Doe' Tabetha Slain Murlin
In may, 1992, a construction worker renovating a home in Fort Wayne, Indiana made a gruesome discovery. In the flooded basement of the home, he discovered a woman's body wrapped in a blanket. Investigators were unable to determine an exact cause of death due to the condition of her remains, although they did make one important discovery; she was about 26 weeks pregnant when she died. Although police suspected foul play, they didn't have much in the way of leads to ID a suspect in her death, and they didn't even know who she was. Efforts to ID her came up empty, and she was laid to rest with the moniker 'Mary Jane Doe'.
Decades would pass before DNA & genealogy would finally provide some answers by late 2023; the dead woman was Tabetha Slain Murlin who was about 23 when she died. Her family had lost contact with her in the late 1980s, and although they tried to look for her over the next three decades, they had no luck, and presumed the worst. Now, police know who Tabetha is, but if she met with foul play, they don't know who it was at the hands of. They would also like to determine the identity of her baby's father, and perhaps genealogy will one day help them do that.
Anyone with information on what led to Tabetha Murlin's death should reach out to authorities at 260-427-1201 for the Fort Wayne Police Detective Bureau; Fort Wayne CrimeStoppers at 260-436-7867; or report an anonymous tip using the P3Tips mobile app.
After more than three decades, 'Mary Jane Doe' finally has her name back; it's Tabetha Slain Murlin, and this is her story.
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