Identification Made for Unidentified Female Homicide
Victim Discovered in Maryland in 2000
An unidentified female homicide victim discovered in
Baltimore, Maryland in 2000 has been positively identified as Brenda
Wright, a 46-year-old woman who disappeared from the Baltimore
area. Members of The Doe Network provided crucial information to
law enforcement that eventually connected the missing woman with the
remains.
Robert Lingoes, The Doe Network's Law Enforcement
Liasion and a civilian dispatcher with the Quincy, Massachusetts Police
Department, was working on a volunteer off-lining project with the
National Crime Information Center (NCIC) in the fall of 2001. Sheree
Greenwood, a member of The Doe Network, found the
unidentified female's case on the Nation's Missing Children
Organization and Center For Missing Adults (NMCO)'s Web
site at http://www.nmco.org. Greenwood submitted it to Lingoes
for an off-line search.
The victim was described as Caucasian, approximately 4'10 - 5'4 and
120 - 140 pounds. She was estimated to be between 38 - 45 years of age
at the time of her death. Authorities believed she had been deceased
for 10 - 14 months prior to discovery on December 15, 2000. She was the
victim of a homicide. She was located in the 800 block of Rolyn Avenue
in the southeast section of Baltimore. The woman had an orthopedic
device surgically attached to her left ankle, suggesting that she may
have walked with a limp. The victim wore a t-shirt imprinted with the
phrase "Wynn Family Reunion 1997." Wynn family members' names and an
image of a Native American were also featured on the shirt.
Lingoes' original NCIC off-line search initially produced no results
as to a possible match for the unidentified woman. He solicited the
help of Doe Network member Vicki Siedow, a private
investigator based in California, for further investigation into the
case. Siedow was able to trace the victim's shirt to a Native American
tribe in the Lumberton, North Carolina area.
Doe Network members were able to ascertain that Thomas
Wynn, one of the family members believed to be involved in the
reunion referred to on the victim's shirt, resided in Tennessee.
Todd Matthews, the Tennessee Area Director for Doe
Network, contacted Thomas concerning the shirt. Thomas told
Matthews to contact his sister, Lola Wynn Haskins, who designed
the shirt and lived in Lumberton, North Carolina. Haskins told Matthews
that one of the reunion shirts had been given to a woman in Baltimore
known as "Brenda." Haskins said that "Brenda" resided with Crystal
Wright in Maryland and "Brenda" matched the unidentified woman's
description.
Lingoes investigated the information provided by Haskins and located
Crystal Wright. He then informed the Baltimore Police Department of the
developments in the fall of 2001. A department official notified
Lingoes on December 28, 2001 that the woman had been tentatively
identified as Brenda Wright, who previously resided with Crystal
Wright in the city.
The match was confirmed in February, 2002 by DNA analysis.
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Questions regarding The Doe Network itself may
be directed towards its Administrator, Helene Wahlstrom.
The Doe Network's Law
Enforcement Liasion Robert Lingoes and member Sheree
Greenwood contributed to this release.