Bucks DA seeks help to ID woman

Trentonian, The (Trenton, NJ) - June 3, 2004
Author: DAVE SOMMERS, Staff Writer

Bucks County District Attorney Diane Gibbons yesterday asked for help from the public in identifying the 4-foot, 8-inch victim who apparently was killed one or two years prior and then wrapped in plastic before being dumped.

"It is amazing how (forensic artists) are able to reconstruct what a person looked like with just part of the person’s remains," Gibbons said during an afternoon press conference in which she unveiled a clay sculpture and a photo likeness of "Jane Doe."

The woman was estimated to be between 35 and 45 years old.

"With two Bensalem detectives working the case, we’ve been able to come up with some new information," she said.

For example, the DA’s office released photos of two crucifixes which were found with the woman’s remains. Police also found a shirt bearing the words "Alcatraz" near the woman’s body, the DA said.

Police also found a brown-beaded car-seat cushion near the body in addition to a sample of the woman’s hair.

Gibbons said forensic pathologist Dr. Ian Hood, who performed the autopsy, determined the woman had been killed in 1993 or 1994.

The woman’s naked body was wrapped in plastic and placed in a sparsely wooded area behind the Clubhouse Diner, not far from Philadelphia Race Track.

Although the case had grown cold after police were unable to make a positive identification, authorities recently decided to accept an offer by the Doe Network to re-create the woman’s likeness through a process known as skeletal sculpturing.

After Bensalem Police put up the money to have the victim interred in early May, reconstruction artists Seth Wolfson and Danny Sollitti went to work.

The photos were on display at Bensalem Police headquarters yesterday afternoon.

Detectives are also awaiting results of DNA testing that was unavailable at the time of the woman’s death, officials said.

Gibbons noted that detectives were looking into the possibility that the homicide could be connected with Billy Montgomery, a Bucks County man who plead guilty in 1994 to wrapping two female murder victims in plastic before disposing of their bodies.

However, detectives must first make a positive identification on this Jane Doe victim before that investigation can move forward, Gibbons said.

Anyone who thinks they recognize the woman is asked to contact Bensalem detectives Andy Aninsman or Chris McMullin at (215) 633-3700.