FREDERICK, Md. -- It has been almost 23 years since the skeletal remains of a woman were found in the woods on a mountain near Frederick, Md.
Investigators don't know how she died, where she died, or who she is. But they've recently received some tantalizing leads, and they're looking for help to close this cold case.
The bones were found in an area known as the Frederick Municipal Forest. Back in 1982, it was known as the Frederick City Watershed because all the water that falls in the mountains drains into the city's reservoir.
Back in '82, in the heat of the summer in August, a man and a woman were up there looking for mushrooms and they made a horrible discovery.
"They came upon this trunk and what they found inside were the remains of the victim that were literally melted because of the heat," Lt. Tom Chase said.
As a consequence, detectives don't know who she was.
Three forensic anthropologists have produced artists' conceptions of what she might have looked like.
Forensic dentists have produced a dental chart that indicates she had work done at a dental school.
"According to these dentists, the type of dental work that she had done, they aren't done as frequently in the practice of dentistry, but they are still taught to people who are going to practice dentistry," Chase said.
Investigators do not believe she is from the Frederick area.
"We believe that if she was from Frederick, we would have been able to identify her a long time ago," Chase said.
But now, perhaps, there has been a break.
"I had a conversation with a detective from Roanoke, Va.," Chase said.
He got a call about Virginian Alice Welch, who has been missing from Roanoke since August of 1982.
"At this time, the possibility of us having located this person, I think, is as good as it's ever been over the course of this investigation," Chase said.
He said the time frame, the height, the weight, and the appearances all match up.
"If you look at the three likenesses that you have and the photograph of the victim from Roanoke as posted on the Web page, the same similarities of her facial features are on the picture, are, in my opinion, very consistent with those similarities with those features existing on these artist renderings," Chase said.
The similarities were first noticed by the Maryland Doe Network -- a group of volunteers who research missing persons cases.
"And in this instance, if this turns out to be the victim, it will be directly as a result of the efforts of the Doe Network," Chase said.
But, as of today, detectives do not know for sure who this woman is.
"Finding out exactly who she is, is when the work really begins because that's the first lead that you have to interviewing people she knows, interviewing relatives, interviewing people from her life. That obviously gives us leads to determine how she died," Chase said.
And the Doe Network continues to play an important role in this case.
Police in Frederick are also looking at the possibility that another missing woman may be the victim in this case.
Her case is also posted on the Doe Network Web site. She is Judith Ann Chartier, who has been missing from Chelmsford, Mass., since June of 1982.
You can get to the Doe Network online at DoeNetwork.org. The Maryland Missing Persons Network is online at MarylandMissing.com.
And if you have any information that can help investigators solve this case, they ask that you call the Frederick City Police Department at (301) 694-2100.