WEBVTT 1 00:00:29.800 --> 00:00:33.240 So welcome back to the Path Went Chili. I'm Robin. Unfortunately, 2 00:00:33.320 --> 00:00:35.799 Ashley is quite busy tonight, so she is unable to 3 00:00:35.880 --> 00:00:37.960 join us for this series of episodes. It'll just be 4 00:00:38.079 --> 00:00:40.439 Jewels and I. So what I'll be doing is I'll 5 00:00:40.479 --> 00:00:43.520 be sharing the details from original script about the case, 6 00:00:43.560 --> 00:00:46.640 and then Jewels will give off her reactions. So I 7 00:00:46.679 --> 00:00:48.600 guess take it away with the intro Jules. 8 00:00:49.960 --> 00:00:55.320 February twenty eighth, nineteen eighty three, Saint Louis, Missouri, the 9 00:00:55.320 --> 00:00:57.880 body of an African American girl is found in the 10 00:00:57.920 --> 00:01:01.600 basement of an abandoned apartment building. She's believed to be 11 00:01:01.600 --> 00:01:04.599 between eight and eleven years old and has her hands 12 00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:06.959 tied behind her back, and it turns out she was 13 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:10.680 sexually assaulted and strangled to death before she was beheaded. 14 00:01:11.359 --> 00:01:14.439 Since the victim's head is never recovered and she cannot 15 00:01:14.439 --> 00:01:19.079 be identified, she becomes known as the Saint Louis Jane Doe. 16 00:01:19.159 --> 00:01:22.480 Over the years, investigators explore a number of different leads, 17 00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:25.400 but they are unable to figure out the girl's identity 18 00:01:25.760 --> 00:01:27.599 or who was responsible for killing her. 19 00:01:28.959 --> 00:01:32.680 After that, the Path went chilly, So today we're going 20 00:01:32.719 --> 00:01:35.239 to be covering the unsolved nineteen eighty three murder of 21 00:01:35.280 --> 00:01:38.159 a young girl who has never been identified, the Saint 22 00:01:38.280 --> 00:01:41.719 Louis Jane Doe. There are so many tragic cases out 23 00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:44.599 there involving John or Jane does, but this might be 24 00:01:44.640 --> 00:01:47.400 the most horrifying because of the circumstances of how the 25 00:01:47.480 --> 00:01:50.519 victim was murdered. The Saint Louis Jane Doe is an 26 00:01:50.560 --> 00:01:53.680 African American girl estimated to be between eight and eleven 27 00:01:53.760 --> 00:01:56.599 years old, who was discovered inside the dark basement of 28 00:01:56.599 --> 00:01:59.959 a vacant apartment building. Not only was the victim's sexual 29 00:02:00.120 --> 00:02:02.680 assaulted and strangled to death, but the killer went to 30 00:02:02.719 --> 00:02:05.680 the trouble of decapitating her and disposing of her head. 31 00:02:06.400 --> 00:02:09.280 As a result, there have been no facial reconstructions or 32 00:02:09.280 --> 00:02:12.599 composite sketches created for this girl in order to showcase 33 00:02:12.639 --> 00:02:15.400 what she may have looked like. Even though the story 34 00:02:15.400 --> 00:02:18.240 has gotten extensive publicity over the years, no one has 35 00:02:18.280 --> 00:02:21.240 ever come forward to claim or identify the Saint Louis 36 00:02:21.319 --> 00:02:24.159 Jane Doe, which has led to speculation that a killer 37 00:02:24.159 --> 00:02:27.280 may have been a parent or a caregiver. I covered 38 00:02:27.280 --> 00:02:29.240 this case on the Trail Went Cold just over two 39 00:02:29.319 --> 00:02:32.680 years ago shortly after the release of a documentary titled 40 00:02:33.000 --> 00:02:37.680 Our Precious Hope Revisited Saint Louis's Little Jane Doe, directed 41 00:02:37.719 --> 00:02:41.120 by Edrar byrd Sosa. The film is currently available for 42 00:02:41.159 --> 00:02:43.759 streaming on a number of platforms, and not only does 43 00:02:43.800 --> 00:02:46.520 it reveal new details about the case which many people 44 00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:49.199 did not know before, but it has also offered some 45 00:02:49.240 --> 00:02:53.520 clarification on misinformation which has spread over the years. The 46 00:02:53.599 --> 00:02:57.000 documentary did confirm that an active effort is underway to 47 00:02:57.120 --> 00:03:01.360 identify this victim by DNA profiling and Janet genealogy, but 48 00:03:01.400 --> 00:03:03.639 it looks like it's going to be a challenging task, 49 00:03:04.319 --> 00:03:06.639 and following the release of My Trail and Cold episode, 50 00:03:06.719 --> 00:03:10.560 I actually received a complimentary email from ed Rar Bird Sosa, 51 00:03:10.599 --> 00:03:14.000 who is a very nice guy and genuinely passionate about 52 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:16.960 giving this girl her name back. I should also mention 53 00:03:17.039 --> 00:03:19.240 that the Saint Louis Jane Doe has been referred to 54 00:03:19.280 --> 00:03:21.800 by a number of different names over the years, including 55 00:03:21.840 --> 00:03:25.319 Little Jane Doe, Hope, and Precious Hope, and for the 56 00:03:25.319 --> 00:03:28.360 purpose of humanizing the victim, we're going to be referring 57 00:03:28.400 --> 00:03:31.759 to her as Hope throughout this episode, So Jules were 58 00:03:31.800 --> 00:03:34.319 you familiar with this case before we sat down to 59 00:03:34.360 --> 00:03:35.479 record this episode. 60 00:03:35.919 --> 00:03:39.120 No, I wasn't familiar with the case, And what really 61 00:03:39.159 --> 00:03:44.080 got me is her age. There's something so heartbreaking about 62 00:03:44.120 --> 00:03:46.560 this tiny little girl who's went between the ages of 63 00:03:46.599 --> 00:03:50.159 like eight and eleven, and there's nobody there to claim her. 64 00:03:50.360 --> 00:03:53.039 Surely somebody has to be missing her, So I can 65 00:03:53.159 --> 00:03:56.800 understand why the authorities were leaning towards this has to 66 00:03:56.800 --> 00:03:59.680 be a caregiver, because how does a child go missing 67 00:04:00.120 --> 00:04:03.919 and not get reported to authorities? And the manner in 68 00:04:03.960 --> 00:04:08.080 which this person chose to kill her is horrendous. And 69 00:04:08.120 --> 00:04:11.520 maybe it was because they wanted to avoid identification by 70 00:04:11.560 --> 00:04:14.759 beheading her, but it is so horrific, and I can 71 00:04:14.960 --> 00:04:20.040 understand Sosa's need or birds need to give her back 72 00:04:20.079 --> 00:04:24.240 her identity and give her that dignity and potentially some 73 00:04:24.519 --> 00:04:25.480 justice in the process. 74 00:04:26.519 --> 00:04:28.839 Yeah. Out of all the cases involving John or Jane, 75 00:04:28.839 --> 00:04:31.680 does that have been heavily discussed over the years on 76 00:04:31.720 --> 00:04:33.800 the internet, I'd say this is definitely one of the 77 00:04:33.839 --> 00:04:36.720 top ones. And we've seen so many of them get 78 00:04:36.759 --> 00:04:39.439 identified to get their names back these past several years. 79 00:04:39.480 --> 00:04:43.040 But somehow the Saint Louis Jane Doe is still unidentified, 80 00:04:43.399 --> 00:04:45.160 even though there is an effort to try to use 81 00:04:45.199 --> 00:04:47.639 genetic genealogy to figure out who she came from. And 82 00:04:47.720 --> 00:04:50.879 of course what's heartbreaking is because they never found her head. 83 00:04:51.199 --> 00:04:54.000 They've never even been able to create a composite sketch 84 00:04:54.079 --> 00:04:56.199 or a face to show what she might have looked like. 85 00:04:56.600 --> 00:04:59.199 So she's pretty much just this nameless girl, and that's 86 00:04:59.279 --> 00:05:03.079 just a horrible way to remember her. So our story 87 00:05:03.120 --> 00:05:06.600 begins in Saint Louis, Missouri, in nineteen eighty three, at 88 00:05:06.600 --> 00:05:09.120 around noon on February the twenty eighth, two men in 89 00:05:09.120 --> 00:05:12.160 their late teens from the neighborhood broke into a boarded up, 90 00:05:12.199 --> 00:05:16.199 three story Victorian apartment building located at fifty six thirty 91 00:05:16.199 --> 00:05:19.120 five Clemens Avenue, which had been vacant for just under 92 00:05:19.160 --> 00:05:22.040 five years. When they went into a dark furnace room 93 00:05:22.040 --> 00:05:24.720 in the basement and lit up a cigarette, the illumination 94 00:05:24.800 --> 00:05:26.920 from their lighter caused them to notice the body of 95 00:05:27.199 --> 00:05:30.399 a young African American girl on the floor. Now, the 96 00:05:30.439 --> 00:05:32.720 official story, which has been spread over the years, is 97 00:05:32.720 --> 00:05:34.920 that these two teens broke into the building in order 98 00:05:34.959 --> 00:05:37.120 to search for a metal pipe to fix their broken 99 00:05:37.160 --> 00:05:41.040 down car, but according to the afore mentioned Our Precious 100 00:05:41.040 --> 00:05:45.839 Hope Revisited documentary, this account is probably inaccurate, as neither 101 00:05:45.839 --> 00:05:47.920 of them owned a car, and they may have actually 102 00:05:47.959 --> 00:05:51.160 been looking for copper and scrap metal. One part of 103 00:05:51.160 --> 00:05:53.439 the story which doesn't often get shared, is that these 104 00:05:53.480 --> 00:05:56.319 two teens lived nearby in the same neighborhood, and a 105 00:05:56.360 --> 00:05:58.759 barbecue is being held at one of the residences that 106 00:05:58.879 --> 00:06:02.079 day with friends and family. The teens did not immediately 107 00:06:02.160 --> 00:06:05.199 report their discovery to police, and actually went back to 108 00:06:05.240 --> 00:06:07.839 the barbecue and told some other kids there about what 109 00:06:07.920 --> 00:06:10.600 they had found. This prompted the kids to head to 110 00:06:10.639 --> 00:06:13.279 the building to take a closer look at the girl's body, 111 00:06:13.519 --> 00:06:15.839 and that's when they discovered that she was missing her head. 112 00:06:16.639 --> 00:06:18.959 Even though some of these kids didn't want to get involved, 113 00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:21.279 at least one of them felt compelled to contact the 114 00:06:21.319 --> 00:06:26.839 Saint Louis Metropolitan Police Department aka the SLMPD. When the 115 00:06:26.879 --> 00:06:29.600 authorities arrived at the scene, they discovered that the victim 116 00:06:29.680 --> 00:06:31.920 was lying on her stomach with her hands bound behind 117 00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:35.040 her back with a red and white nylon rope. She 118 00:06:35.160 --> 00:06:37.439 was nude from the waist down and the only item 119 00:06:37.480 --> 00:06:40.000 of clothing that she was wearing was a yellow, long 120 00:06:40.040 --> 00:06:43.319 sleeved V neck sweater which appeared to be newly purchased. 121 00:06:44.040 --> 00:06:46.079 The sweater had blood on it, and the tag had 122 00:06:46.079 --> 00:06:49.560 also been removed. Since the area was rampant with drugs 123 00:06:49.560 --> 00:06:52.879 and prostitution at that time, the police were initially under 124 00:06:52.920 --> 00:06:55.800 the impression that the victim might be an adult sex worker, 125 00:06:56.519 --> 00:06:58.600 but when they turned the body over and noticed that 126 00:06:58.639 --> 00:07:01.199 she did not have breasts, they realized that she was 127 00:07:01.240 --> 00:07:04.040 a pre pubescent girl. It was believed that she was 128 00:07:04.040 --> 00:07:06.680 between eight to eleven years old, and even though her 129 00:07:06.720 --> 00:07:09.399 head was missing, the initial estimates of her height were 130 00:07:09.480 --> 00:07:11.600 between four foot ten and five foot four. 131 00:07:12.360 --> 00:07:15.639 She was just a baby like that is so young. 132 00:07:16.120 --> 00:07:18.720 To think of what this little girl had to endure 133 00:07:18.759 --> 00:07:22.639 at the hands of somebody who is clearly some type 134 00:07:22.639 --> 00:07:25.480 of predator or if it's a family member. To do 135 00:07:25.560 --> 00:07:30.120 this to a young child, you're a monster. It's absolutely 136 00:07:30.199 --> 00:07:35.000 egregious and disgusting. I can't imagine to steal someone's innocence 137 00:07:35.120 --> 00:07:38.079 like that and to just dump them like their trash 138 00:07:38.240 --> 00:07:41.839 in this abandoned building, which I would assume would be 139 00:07:41.839 --> 00:07:45.199 in an economically depressed area. Given the fact that these 140 00:07:45.240 --> 00:07:48.519 teenagers were trying to break in looking for like copper 141 00:07:48.560 --> 00:07:50.680 wire or whatever it was. 142 00:07:50.839 --> 00:07:54.000 Yeah, it was not the best neighborhood, and it's actually 143 00:07:54.079 --> 00:07:55.920 kind of blind luck that they were able to find 144 00:07:55.920 --> 00:07:59.160 her body when they did, because this door was like locked, 145 00:07:59.160 --> 00:08:01.480 this building was locked from the front, and it was 146 00:08:01.639 --> 00:08:03.920 very dark inside, so it was ordinarily not the type 147 00:08:03.959 --> 00:08:06.560 of place where people broke into. So for all we know, 148 00:08:06.639 --> 00:08:09.040 it could have been a long time, perhaps even years 149 00:08:09.399 --> 00:08:12.639 before someone found her body potentially, and by then it 150 00:08:12.680 --> 00:08:15.000 could have been heavily deposed. It would have been even 151 00:08:15.079 --> 00:08:17.879 more difficult to identify her. But I think it was 152 00:08:17.959 --> 00:08:20.079 just luck that these two teens happened to go in there. 153 00:08:20.079 --> 00:08:21.800 But I guess it gives you an impression about what 154 00:08:21.879 --> 00:08:25.480 a bad neighborhood it was that they find a beheaded 155 00:08:25.480 --> 00:08:27.759 body in there, and their initial impression was, we're not 156 00:08:27.800 --> 00:08:29.439 going to tell the police. We're just going to tell 157 00:08:29.439 --> 00:08:31.199 our friends about it because we don't want to get 158 00:08:31.199 --> 00:08:31.800 them involved. 159 00:08:32.480 --> 00:08:35.679 And this is Baltimore that I'm thinking of. But it 160 00:08:35.759 --> 00:08:38.120 reminds me of The Wire. Do you remember that season 161 00:08:38.559 --> 00:08:41.240 where there was all those bodies in those row houses 162 00:08:41.799 --> 00:08:44.759 and the one cop was like, oh, no, we're not 163 00:08:44.879 --> 00:08:46.720 going to We don't want the stats on this, We 164 00:08:46.759 --> 00:08:48.799 don't want all these murders. Close them back up. 165 00:08:49.159 --> 00:08:49.759 Do you remember that? 166 00:08:50.159 --> 00:08:52.399 Oh yeah, there was an entire season about that. It 167 00:08:52.440 --> 00:08:55.720 was such a dilapidated neighborhood that the drug dealers realized, 168 00:08:55.759 --> 00:08:58.159 if we kill our victims and put them inside this house, 169 00:08:58.200 --> 00:09:00.600 then they will remain there forever because no one wants 170 00:09:00.639 --> 00:09:03.960 to take the responsibility and nobody's going to go looking 171 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:05.600 for them. And I think there was even a scene 172 00:09:05.639 --> 00:09:08.799 later on where these neighborhood kids like went in there 173 00:09:09.120 --> 00:09:10.840 on a dare and said, there's a rumor there's a 174 00:09:10.840 --> 00:09:12.799 body in there, let's go look at it. Because it 175 00:09:12.879 --> 00:09:14.559 was just a way of life for them, and it 176 00:09:14.639 --> 00:09:17.600 sounds like this was kind of a similar neighborhood. So 177 00:09:17.679 --> 00:09:20.200 the autopsy would reveal that the victim had likely been 178 00:09:20.240 --> 00:09:23.679 sexually assaulted and her exact cause of death was strangulation. 179 00:09:24.200 --> 00:09:26.759 Her head had been removed with a large blade, possibly 180 00:09:26.759 --> 00:09:29.360 a serrated knife, and green paint was found on the 181 00:09:29.360 --> 00:09:32.279 cop marks on her neck. It was suspected that the 182 00:09:32.360 --> 00:09:35.919 killer had decapitated the girl at another location before placing 183 00:09:35.919 --> 00:09:38.840 her body in the basement. As very little blood was 184 00:09:38.879 --> 00:09:41.799 found at the scene. In fact, there were little streaks 185 00:09:41.799 --> 00:09:44.200 of blood on the wall, which were likely left there 186 00:09:44.240 --> 00:09:47.000 when the perpetrator brushed the body against it while walking 187 00:09:47.039 --> 00:09:50.600 through the basement. Even though the police performed an extensive 188 00:09:50.639 --> 00:09:53.120 search for the girl's head, which included checking through the 189 00:09:53.159 --> 00:09:57.159 local sewer system, it was never recovered. When the Missouri 190 00:09:57.200 --> 00:10:00.320 Botanical Garden performed mold tests on the girl's out daman 191 00:10:00.480 --> 00:10:03.480 and neck and thigh, the estimated that she was killed 192 00:10:03.519 --> 00:10:07.600 approximately forty five days before she was discovered. In spite 193 00:10:07.600 --> 00:10:09.559 of the brutal nature of her murder, there were no 194 00:10:09.639 --> 00:10:12.919 distinct marks or deformities on her body to indicate that 195 00:10:13.000 --> 00:10:15.759 she had suffered long term abuse, and she also had 196 00:10:15.799 --> 00:10:18.480 two coats of crimson red nail polish on each of 197 00:10:18.519 --> 00:10:22.399 her fingers. A pubic hair belonging to a Caucasian male 198 00:10:22.559 --> 00:10:24.639 was found on the victim's right thigh, but it did 199 00:10:24.679 --> 00:10:29.120 not contain enough useful DNA to have evidentiary value. Investigators 200 00:10:29.120 --> 00:10:31.559 have theorized that the hair may not have actually belonged 201 00:10:31.559 --> 00:10:34.320 to the killer, but rather one of the police officers 202 00:10:34.320 --> 00:10:36.279 of the scene, and it wound up on the girl's 203 00:10:36.279 --> 00:10:40.080 body by a cross contamination. Even though we've pointed out 204 00:10:40.120 --> 00:10:43.240 some inconsistencies in the official story about the discovery of 205 00:10:43.240 --> 00:10:45.879 the body, the two teens who found the girl were 206 00:10:45.919 --> 00:10:49.519 extensively questioned and investigated by the authorities and were never 207 00:10:49.559 --> 00:10:52.679 considered to be suspects in her murder. At the time, 208 00:10:53.080 --> 00:10:57.200 the slnpd's homicide unit was led by Captain Leroy Adkins, 209 00:10:57.399 --> 00:11:00.000 who was the first African American head of that unit 210 00:11:00.080 --> 00:11:02.360 in the history of the city, so he took a 211 00:11:02.399 --> 00:11:05.320 special interest in identifying the girl and solving the case. 212 00:11:06.360 --> 00:11:09.600 Okay, let me ask you a question. How likely is 213 00:11:09.639 --> 00:11:12.559 it that the pubicare of one of the police officers 214 00:11:12.559 --> 00:11:14.960 on the scene is just going to randomly appear on 215 00:11:15.039 --> 00:11:17.279 the body through cross contamination. 216 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:20.159 Yeah, we'll talk more about that later on. But one 217 00:11:20.200 --> 00:11:22.559 theory is that it's not like the guy took his 218 00:11:22.679 --> 00:11:24.600 pants off at the scene or something like that and 219 00:11:24.639 --> 00:11:27.279 the hair came off. It's a possible. An alternate explanation 220 00:11:27.399 --> 00:11:29.759 is that he could have gone to the bathroom a 221 00:11:29.799 --> 00:11:32.200 short time before he arrived and a pubic care just 222 00:11:32.279 --> 00:11:34.799 happened to go on the outside of his pants and 223 00:11:34.840 --> 00:11:37.440 then fell off onto the body or something like that. 224 00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:39.919 That's an explanation I've seen pushed forward. I mean, I 225 00:11:39.919 --> 00:11:42.840 don't know how likely it is, but I guess that 226 00:11:42.919 --> 00:11:46.200 could be. And there's also another one about it possibly 227 00:11:46.200 --> 00:11:48.879 coming off a body bag from a previous descendant or 228 00:11:48.919 --> 00:11:52.399 something like that. So there are some alternate explanations for 229 00:11:52.440 --> 00:11:54.799 a pubic haare winding up there that didn't belong to 230 00:11:54.840 --> 00:11:55.279 the killer. 231 00:11:55.960 --> 00:11:58.559 I suppose that could be true if one doesn't wash 232 00:11:58.600 --> 00:12:02.600 one's hands after using it restroom. But still to think that, like, 233 00:12:03.279 --> 00:12:06.720 you're at this abandoned building, so unless you're peeing outside, 234 00:12:06.799 --> 00:12:09.279 you likely use some type of facility and then got 235 00:12:09.320 --> 00:12:12.200 in your car and drove there. What are the chances 236 00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:14.399 that that puba care is going to linger on your 237 00:12:14.440 --> 00:12:17.200 hand for all of that time and not get deposited 238 00:12:17.279 --> 00:12:20.919 somewhere along the way and then just somehow miraculously make 239 00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:23.960 it onto the victim's body. It just seems like the 240 00:12:24.039 --> 00:12:25.480 probability is so low. 241 00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:28.759 Yeah, I mean, I don't know why they're so like 242 00:12:28.919 --> 00:12:32.039 willing to discount the possibility that it belongs to the killer. 243 00:12:32.120 --> 00:12:34.679 I mean, even if it does, it might not matter because, 244 00:12:34.720 --> 00:12:37.120 like I said, there isn't enough DNA on it, so 245 00:12:37.159 --> 00:12:40.679 it's never had much evideniry value, but it just seems 246 00:12:40.679 --> 00:12:42.720 weird that they're just willing to discount it and come 247 00:12:42.799 --> 00:12:45.440 up with this alternate explanation about it belonging to a 248 00:12:45.440 --> 00:12:46.279 police officer. 249 00:12:46.759 --> 00:12:50.120 They don't have any evidence to dismiss it or to 250 00:12:50.279 --> 00:12:53.240 include it, but I would think that until you had 251 00:12:53.320 --> 00:12:55.480 something that would be like, Okay, we know for a 252 00:12:55.519 --> 00:12:58.559 fact that this is the killer and this pubacare. Now 253 00:12:58.600 --> 00:13:01.039 that we've tested the DNA and twenty twenty five say 254 00:13:01.080 --> 00:13:03.679 that they did, we know that it doesn't match the killer, 255 00:13:04.200 --> 00:13:07.519 so it likely got there through cross contamination. I understand 256 00:13:07.559 --> 00:13:10.480 eliminating it at that point, but at this point we 257 00:13:10.679 --> 00:13:14.759 just don't know what we don't know about that Pubicare exactly. 258 00:13:14.840 --> 00:13:16.799 I mean, I think the odds are low because she 259 00:13:16.919 --> 00:13:19.840 was already dead beforehand that I don't think anyone sexually 260 00:13:19.840 --> 00:13:22.960 assaulted her inside the building unless they were in a 261 00:13:23.039 --> 00:13:26.320 necrophilia or something like that. But I guess they have 262 00:13:26.480 --> 00:13:29.240 run every avenue they can, and I guess the Pubicare 263 00:13:29.279 --> 00:13:32.600 has just not led them to any promising leads. So 264 00:13:32.799 --> 00:13:35.960 even though the crime garnered extensive publicity, no one ever 265 00:13:36.039 --> 00:13:39.480 came forward to claim or identify the girl over the 266 00:13:39.519 --> 00:13:41.919 course of the next several months, ads about it were 267 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:45.639 run in every African American newspaper and magazine in the country, 268 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:48.799 such as the Saint Louis American, as well as Ebony 269 00:13:48.840 --> 00:13:53.279 and Jet magazines. Investigators checked school records for Saint Louis 270 00:13:53.320 --> 00:13:55.960 and the rest of Missouri, but all black girls between 271 00:13:55.960 --> 00:13:58.559 the ages of eight and eleven who fit the criteria 272 00:13:58.600 --> 00:14:01.720 of the victim could be account for. This led to 273 00:14:01.720 --> 00:14:04.120 speculation that the girl was from out of state, but 274 00:14:04.360 --> 00:14:08.600 even though the SLMPD corresponded with every state police agency, 275 00:14:08.960 --> 00:14:11.720 they did not uncover any missing persons reports for young 276 00:14:11.759 --> 00:14:15.399 girls who are promising match to the Jane Doe. However, 277 00:14:15.480 --> 00:14:18.519 even if the victim was not from Saint Louis, investigator 278 00:14:18.559 --> 00:14:21.519 suspected that a killer may have been familiar with the area, 279 00:14:21.639 --> 00:14:24.200 as the apartment building where her body was dumped was 280 00:14:24.240 --> 00:14:28.000 not close to any major road or thoroughfares. The building 281 00:14:28.080 --> 00:14:30.759 was also not easy to access, as the front entrance 282 00:14:30.840 --> 00:14:33.240 was boarded up, so the perpetrator would have needed to 283 00:14:33.320 --> 00:14:35.960 enter the basement through a door located at the back. 284 00:14:36.559 --> 00:14:39.039 The girl remained in the city Morgue for nine months, 285 00:14:39.080 --> 00:14:41.840 but on December the second a decision was made to 286 00:14:41.879 --> 00:14:45.480 Burrier in a pauper's grave at Washington Park Cemetery, an 287 00:14:45.600 --> 00:14:50.159 historic African American cemetery located in the Berkeley suburb. Since 288 00:14:50.159 --> 00:14:53.120 she could not be identified, the girl became known as 289 00:14:53.120 --> 00:14:56.000 the Saint Louis Jane Doe. She would later earn the 290 00:14:56.080 --> 00:14:59.000 nickname Precious Hope, and even though that's likely not her 291 00:14:59.000 --> 00:15:01.679 real name, we'll be referring to her as Hopes throughout 292 00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:04.240 the rest of this episode rather than Jane Doe, the 293 00:15:04.320 --> 00:15:08.200 girl or the victim. Shortly after hopes burial, a couple 294 00:15:08.240 --> 00:15:11.879 who owned a local business called Schaefer's Monument Company offered 295 00:15:11.919 --> 00:15:14.840 to donate a small headstone for Hope's grave, but the 296 00:15:14.919 --> 00:15:18.639 Saint Louis Medical Examiner's Office thought it might be inappropriate. 297 00:15:19.399 --> 00:15:22.600 When Livingston Community High School, located just over the state 298 00:15:22.639 --> 00:15:26.240 line in Livingston, Illinois, learned about this, they organized a 299 00:15:26.320 --> 00:15:30.240 letter writing campaign to city officials, so the Medical Examiner's 300 00:15:30.279 --> 00:15:33.399 Office finally relented and allowed the headstone to be placed 301 00:15:33.399 --> 00:15:36.720 in the cemetery. It featured the day when Hope's body 302 00:15:36.799 --> 00:15:40.000 was found, as well as the inscription quote the saddened 303 00:15:40.039 --> 00:15:42.399 hearts were healed. Knowing the pain of life is over 304 00:15:42.720 --> 00:15:45.159 and the beauty of the soul revealed. End quote. 305 00:15:46.320 --> 00:15:49.720 That's really sad, but it's also really beautiful. I love 306 00:15:49.879 --> 00:15:55.320 that she got that proper creditscend off and recognition that 307 00:15:55.840 --> 00:15:57.960 this is Hope buried here. She doesn't need to be 308 00:15:58.000 --> 00:16:01.720 buried in a pauper's grave. And what does the medical 309 00:16:01.759 --> 00:16:04.000 examiner care? Why did they think that it would be 310 00:16:04.039 --> 00:16:06.679 so inappropriate? And like why did it take high school 311 00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:08.679 students to change their minds? You know? 312 00:16:09.519 --> 00:16:12.200 Yeah, I never understand the logic in that. It does 313 00:16:12.480 --> 00:16:14.799 kind of sound like the Saint Louis police and law 314 00:16:14.879 --> 00:16:17.279 enforcement in general was kind of a mess at this time, 315 00:16:17.399 --> 00:16:19.759 and as we're going to talk about later on this episode, 316 00:16:19.799 --> 00:16:23.000 the cemetery where she was buried was also something of 317 00:16:23.039 --> 00:16:25.360 a mess as well, so recovering her body at a 318 00:16:25.440 --> 00:16:28.440 later time would be difficult. But like you said, it 319 00:16:28.519 --> 00:16:31.039 was really nice that she got the inscription on there. 320 00:16:31.120 --> 00:16:33.840 I have seen so many of these stories about unidentified 321 00:16:33.879 --> 00:16:37.639 decedents where the community rallies and like really cares about 322 00:16:37.639 --> 00:16:39.600 these victims and they go out of their way to 323 00:16:39.600 --> 00:16:42.679 give them a proper burial and a headstone, and feel well, 324 00:16:42.720 --> 00:16:44.840 if there's no one else out there who cares for them. 325 00:16:44.919 --> 00:16:46.600 We're going to care for them, and we're at least 326 00:16:46.600 --> 00:16:49.159 going to make sure that she gets the proper respect 327 00:16:49.200 --> 00:16:52.320 in death. And I've actually seen other cases where these 328 00:16:52.519 --> 00:16:55.679 John and Jane does are identified years later and their 329 00:16:55.720 --> 00:16:58.840 family members, once they find out, decide it's okay, we're 330 00:16:58.840 --> 00:17:00.840 not going to take them home where we're from to 331 00:17:00.879 --> 00:17:03.759 bury them. We're going to leave them buried here because 332 00:17:03.759 --> 00:17:06.000 this town or this city took good care of them 333 00:17:06.039 --> 00:17:08.319 and paid them the proper respect by giving them a 334 00:17:08.359 --> 00:17:10.599 grave and a headstone, that we're going to make this 335 00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:13.160 their home and allow them to continue to be buried there. 336 00:17:13.880 --> 00:17:16.920 I love that the community just embrace little Hope and 337 00:17:17.079 --> 00:17:21.079 wrapped their arms around her little soul and said, you 338 00:17:21.119 --> 00:17:24.079 know what, no one's coming forward, no parents, but this 339 00:17:24.119 --> 00:17:26.559 little girl won't be parentless like we will all be 340 00:17:26.680 --> 00:17:29.839 her parents. We will all step in, will be her siblings, 341 00:17:29.880 --> 00:17:32.079 will be her friends, will be all of those things 342 00:17:32.119 --> 00:17:36.160 that it clearly seems like she didn't have, or that 343 00:17:36.240 --> 00:17:38.880 they weren't permitted to come forward. Say, if it was 344 00:17:38.920 --> 00:17:42.240 siblings and it was a caregiver that did it, maybe 345 00:17:42.279 --> 00:17:44.599 they were told a story about what happened to their sister, 346 00:17:44.720 --> 00:17:47.920 if she was somebody's sister, and maybe if there was 347 00:17:47.960 --> 00:17:51.720 two parents and one did it, that one was able 348 00:17:51.759 --> 00:17:54.319 to silence the other and it was some kind of 349 00:17:54.359 --> 00:17:57.839 conspiracy at that point of silence. There's just so many 350 00:17:57.880 --> 00:18:01.319 different possibilities about who could have done this. But I 351 00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:04.400 love to see a community step up and say that, like, 352 00:18:04.720 --> 00:18:08.319 this person isn't a stranger, this person is now the 353 00:18:08.440 --> 00:18:10.599 US as a collective, our family. 354 00:18:11.519 --> 00:18:13.920 Yeah. I've seen this in a lot of these cases 355 00:18:13.920 --> 00:18:16.279 involving decenans, where a lot of people will go to 356 00:18:16.319 --> 00:18:18.759 their funerals. They just have the mentality, we don't know 357 00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:20.720 who this victim is, but we're going to show that 358 00:18:20.759 --> 00:18:23.559 we care. And it's always kind of moving when they're 359 00:18:23.599 --> 00:18:26.359 actually like people around when they're buried and they have 360 00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:29.200 their funeral, when you realize that no one cared enough 361 00:18:29.240 --> 00:18:31.480 about her in her personal life to come forward and 362 00:18:31.519 --> 00:18:35.279 claim her. Well. Within the next few years, a potential 363 00:18:35.359 --> 00:18:37.839 suspect in Hope's murder would pop up on the radar. 364 00:18:38.519 --> 00:18:41.599 On March the seventh, nineteen eighty five, nineteen year old 365 00:18:41.640 --> 00:18:44.279 Sennetta Ford was stabbed in her chest and throat with 366 00:18:44.319 --> 00:18:47.799 a butcher knife inside her Saint Louis basement apartment before 367 00:18:47.839 --> 00:18:51.119 she was strangled to death. The investigation soon led to 368 00:18:51.160 --> 00:18:54.279 the building's maintenance man, who went by the name Thomas Turner. 369 00:18:55.240 --> 00:18:57.880 The authorities did not yet realize that his real name 370 00:18:57.920 --> 00:19:00.559 was Vernon Brown, and he had previously he served four 371 00:19:00.599 --> 00:19:03.440 years in prison for sexually assaulting a twelve year old 372 00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:07.440 girl in Indianapolis. Brown also had an active arrest warran 373 00:19:07.519 --> 00:19:10.759 in Indiana for robbery and six counts of child molestation, 374 00:19:11.200 --> 00:19:14.039 which is why relocated to Saint Louis and changed his 375 00:19:14.160 --> 00:19:18.000 name to Thomas Turner. While Brown denied any involvement in 376 00:19:18.039 --> 00:19:22.039 Seneta Ford's murder, his wife, Kathy Moore, later told police 377 00:19:22.039 --> 00:19:24.759 that he confessed to the crime and revealed details which 378 00:19:24.759 --> 00:19:27.559 had not been released publicly, such is the fact that 379 00:19:27.599 --> 00:19:30.200 Seneta had been strangled with an electrical cord from a 380 00:19:30.240 --> 00:19:33.559 curling iron. Even though a warrant was issued to arrest 381 00:19:33.640 --> 00:19:37.079 Brown for murder, the charges were soon dropped after Kathy 382 00:19:37.160 --> 00:19:41.240 Moore recanted her story about her husband's confession. In addition, 383 00:19:41.559 --> 00:19:44.480 Missouri law had a statute at that time which prevented 384 00:19:44.480 --> 00:19:48.920 a defended spouse from testifying against them in court. Unfortunately, 385 00:19:49.079 --> 00:19:51.640 over the course of the next year, Brown would commit 386 00:19:51.720 --> 00:19:54.880 habitual sexual assault on his wife's three sons from a 387 00:19:54.880 --> 00:19:58.839 previous marriage, who were aged eleven, nine, and seven. On 388 00:19:58.880 --> 00:20:02.160 October the twenty fourth, nineteen eighty six, Brown was sitting 389 00:20:02.240 --> 00:20:04.839 on his residence's front porch when he noticed a nine 390 00:20:04.880 --> 00:20:08.519 year old African American girl named Janet Perkins walking home 391 00:20:08.519 --> 00:20:12.440 from school. Brown proceeded to lure Janet into his residence, 392 00:20:12.559 --> 00:20:15.240 and even though his three step sons were home, he 393 00:20:15.359 --> 00:20:17.640 ordered them to lock themselves into the rooms while he 394 00:20:17.680 --> 00:20:21.079 took Janet down to the basement. He then proceeded to 395 00:20:21.079 --> 00:20:23.799 strangle Janet to death with a rope, and the three 396 00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:26.440 boys would later claim that they could hear her screaming 397 00:20:26.480 --> 00:20:29.759 through the vents. After Brown placed the girl's body in 398 00:20:29.799 --> 00:20:32.839 two trash bags, he disposed of it inside a dumpster 399 00:20:33.000 --> 00:20:36.319 in an alley behind his house. Well. It wasn't long 400 00:20:36.359 --> 00:20:39.119 before Janet's body was found, and since a witness had 401 00:20:39.119 --> 00:20:42.480