Decades later, police still looking to identify victims

No one ever came to claim two bodies discovered only 11 miles apart decades ago — but the Orange County Sheriff’s Office is still committed to finding the real names belonging to these unidentified faces.

An unidentified woman, referred to as Jane Hillsborough Doe, was discovered Sept. 19, 1990 on Interstate 40 in Hillsborough, according to a blog for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. She was believed to be between the ages of 15 and 25.

Similarly, an unidentified boy, referred to as John Mebane Doe, was discovered Sept. 25, 1998 on a service road in Mebane. He was determined to be younger than the unidentified victim eight years earlier, between 10 and 12 years old.

Law enforcement has no reason to believe these two cases are connected. But agencies across the country are working toward the same goal for both cases: identifying the unknown child victims.

“Missing children cases is definitely a global problem,” said Angela Williamson, the center’s unknown identification program manager.

“But with our technological advances since the 1990s, we think it is quite possible to revamp cold cases and eventually identify these victims like Jane Hillsborough Doe and John Mebane Doe.”

Greg Strowd, an investigator for the office, personally worked on the Jane Hillsborough Doe case 23 years ago.

“This incident is very different from an identified victims case,” he said.

“In this instance, we have someone’s child that we cannot identify. But even if we can’t determine exactly how the child died, we can at least try to identify the victim and give a family the closure they deserve.”

Strowd said although the cases have not been solved, missing children are generally found quickly in Orange County.

“Parents are usually quick to call law enforcement regarding missing children, making it easier to find them,” he said.

“We find that most of the missing children we are called about are confirmed runaways and are found safe.”

Tim Horne, one of the office’s investigators, is familiar with the two cases. Working as the lead investigator for the John Mebane Doe case, Horne hopes new tracking technologies will help identify the young boy found 15 years ago.

“There is one test in particular that deals with the victim’s isotopes,” he said.

“Basically, it identifies the element markers created by the water and food one consumes, making it easier to tell where exactly in the world the victim came from.”

Jane Hillsborough Doe’s body was cremated according to what were the department’s procedures in the early 1990s, Horne said.

Horne said tests like these are important when identifying victims because, most of the time, the victims aren’t from the area in which they were disposed. Because Interstate 40 runs from the East to the West Coast, he said the two bodies could have come from anywhere in the country.

The sheriff’s office and the national center want to use these cases to educate the public on missing and unidentified persons cases.

“We urge anybody who knows anything at all regarding these missing persons, or any future missing persons, to call our hotlines,” said Williamson.

“No detail is too small when it comes to information about a missing person.”