Episode 141 Doe ID: Evelyn 'Dottie' Lees 

 

On June 28,1988, the remains of a woman were found in a remote area of Pinal County, AZ along state Route 79 South of US 60. The body was found in a shallow grave, and appeared to have been placed there with care leading police to believe that someone close to her may have placed here there. She was determined to be an elderly woman and it appeared that she had been strangled to death. She has been there for about a year. Police were stumped as they didn't have any missing women that matched her description in the area. The case of this Jane Doe went cold until years later when genealogy finally provided answers. She was Evelyn "Dottie" Lees, a grandmother who was in her late 80's when she died. Investigators learned that Evelyn had never been reported missing, and for years following her death, benefit checks to her were being cashed. A background check revealed that Evelyn, who had spent her life in Utah, had moved to Arizona at the insistence of family. Since this family member, who Evelyn lived with at the time of her death was never reported missing, it has caused investigators to view them with suspicion. The only problem is, those family members that may have had answers, all died before Evelyn was identified. If they had any answers, they took them to the grave. This Jane Doe has her name back; it's Evelyn 'Dottie' Lees, and this is her story.  

Episode 140 Gayla McNeil

In October 1983, a young homicide detective caught his first case when a woman turned up floating in a canal in Palm Beach County, Florida.  The Jane Doe was a homicide victim, with brutal injuries and evidence of rape.  A complex investigation failed to identify her – but then her fingerprints did.  She was Gayla Ann McNeil, a former US Airforce service member. Detective Bill Springer began a 40 year quest to solve Gayla’s murder – which involved figuring out where she had last been seen and by whom.  It turned out, her last known contact was with law enforcement – and a clerical error may have cost her her life.   

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Introducing Morbidology, a preview of episode 294: The Mandan Massacre.   It was just before 7:30AM on 1 April, 2019, when employees started to arrive at RJR Maintenance and Management in Mandan, North Dakota. When they entered the building, however, it quickly became apparent that something was amiss. A body was found, followed by another, then another, then another…. Make sure to subscribe to Morbidology across all podcast platforms and YouTube.

Episode 139 Doe: ID 'Wayne County Jane Doe' Connie Christensen 

In December, 1982, deer hunters in Wayne County, Indiana, found skeletal remains in the woods along Martindale Creek. When the remains were first found, authorities were unable to tell much about the skeletonized remains other than that they belonged to an adult female. There was no ID found with the remains, but police theorized that they had a homicide on their hands. Later they would be proven right when it was discovered that the victim had died from a gunshot. Police were stumped as they had no missing females in their area that matched the clues that they had for this victim, and the investigation slowed. The unknown homicide victim became known as 'Wayne County Jane Doe'. Years later, DNA & genealogy would be used to finally identify this victim. Her name was Connie L. Christensen, and she had last been seen by her family in March, 1982, when she dropped her young daughter off with family saying that she was leaving the area. Connie was believed to have been pregnant when she was last seen by her family. Subsequent investigation revealed that Connie spent time in Nashville, TN, in April, 1982. After that, she vanished. An older man that had a relationship with Connie is a suspect in her murder. Unfortunately, this suspect has passed away, and perhaps took anything he knew about Connie's death to his grave. Although Wayne County Jane Doe's killer has never been brought to justice, she at least has her name back; it's Connie Christensen, and this is her story. 

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Introducing: Women and Crime 

Women and Crime Podcast is True Crime told by real Criminologists. Amy Shlosberg and co-host Meghan Sacks are both criminologists who have spent their entire careers studying and teaching about crime.

In each episode of Women and Crime, you'll hear about cases involving women as both victims, and offenders. In this preview, you'll hear about the case of Ana Abulaban, in which A perfect Tiktok marriage, hid a violent reality that would quickly turn lethal.

To listen to the full Ana Abulaban episode, head over to the Women and Crime website. You'll find over 200 episodes of Women and Crime available to binge on right now, and it's available everywhere you listen to podcasts. 

Episode 138 Yvonne Leroux 

 

Detectives in the York Regional Police, located in Ontario, Canada, had a perplexing scene on their hands in late November 1972. A teenage girl was found dead in the middle of a quiet roadway, bludgeoned to death. It appeared she may have been raped as well.  The victim, 16 year old Yvonne Leroux, was well known to police because of her recent history as the victim in a drug-pushing biker gang’s threats to her safety. But all investigative avenues in pursuit of this information led nowhere. Detectives over the years revived the case, but got nowhere until they obtained a male DNA profile from Yvonne’s autopsy samples in 2001. Finally, in 2021, the investigation turned to IGG, the oldest cold case taken up by Canada’s only in-house law enforcement genealogy team.  They quickly named the man who had killed Yvonne. Her family was relieved to know who had taken Yvonne from them, although many questions remain unanswered.

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Episode 137 Doe ID: Nora Castillo 

In June, 1988, a farmer in Baca County, Colorado found skeletonized human remains on his property. Investigators found nothing in the way of identification, and only a 1986 quarter in a pocket. All investigators knew was that they had found the remains of a young woman, who was likely Hispanic, and although a cause of death could not be determined, severe injuries to her legs, and the overall circumstances led police to think that she was the victim of a homicide. Police had no missing persons cases on women in the area that matched their victim, and her case went cold almost immediately. They kept the Jane Doe's remains for years before finally laying her to rest. Over the years, investigators searched databases for DNA links, and frustratingly, a link was missed by the system that could have given Jane Doe her name back sooner. Eventually, genealogy did provide police with their victim's name. It was Nora Castillo, a young mother from McAllen, Texas, who had gone missing in 1986 or 1987 following a string of struggles in her life. Now that police know who their victim is, they still want to find out how she came to be in the farmer's field in 1988, and who put here there. This Jane Doe finally has her name back; it's Nora Castillo, and this is her story. 

If you have any information about Castillo or this case, please contact the Baca County Sheriff’s Office at 719-523-4511 or the McAllen Texas Police Department at 956-681-2221.

 

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Episode 136 Teree Becker and Cherrie Bridgewater Part 3 of 3 

This is part 3 of the Becker/Bridgewater case. If you have not listened to parts 1 and 2 yet, please stop now and go back and listen to those two parts first. 

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Episode 136 Teree Becker and Cherrie Bridgewater Part 2 of 3

This is part 2 of the Becker/Bridgewater case. If you have not listened to part 1 yet, please stop now, and go back and listen to part 1 first. 

To listen to every episode of DNA: ID ad-free and get other benefits, simply  visit our channel page on Apple Podcasts to get started with an AbJack Insider subscription. Of course, you can also support DNA: ID with a Patreon subscription.

For all things DNA: ID, visit the show's homepage Visit this link to buy DNA ID Merch

Episode 136 Teree Becker and Cherrie Bridgewater Part 1 of 3

In 1975, 19 year old free spirit Teree Becker was found in a Westminster, CO field, after hitchhiking toward home two days earlier.  Police did everything they could to solve her case, but could not identify the culprit. Then, in 1991, it happened again – this time in Las Vegas, NV.  The victim this time was Cherrie Bridgewater.  The cases bore some similarities, but as they were 16 years and states apart, they were not connected until DNA linked both murders to the same man.  And that man would not be named for another decade, when a complex genealogy analysis finally named the despicable rapist and murderer who had snuffed out the lives of these two young women. 

To listen to every episode of DNA: ID ad-free and get other benefits, simply  visit our channel page on Apple Podcasts to get started with an AbJack Insider subscription. Of course, you can also support DNA: ID with a Patreon subscription.

For all things DNA: ID, visit the show's homepage Visit this link to buy DNA ID Merch