[UPDATE: Post-Mortem Photos]Ode To Doe: Tuscaloosa County Jane Doe

Chantel Barone
Jul 24, 2023
2 min read

Update: In further attempts to identify a woman who has been unnamed for over 40 years, authorities have released a new image. This new photo is a post-mortem, taken after Jane Doe was prepared for burial. If you have any information pertaining to the identity of Tuscaloosa Jane Doe please call the Tuscaloosa County Metro Homicide Unit at 205-752-0616 or Tuscaloosa CrimeStoppers at 205-752-7867 or email Homicide@tuscco.com.

a dead woman — Post mortem images of Jane Doe from her funeral. Credit: NamUs

On April 18, 1982, the body of an identified woman was found in Slaughter Creek, near the Sipsey River in Romulus, Tuscaloosa County, in Alabama. She was 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighed approximately 110 to 115 pounds. The white female aged thirty-four to thirty-eight had been beaten, strangled, and sexually assaulted. She wore size 7 tennis shoes, knitted blue pants, a long-sleeved blue shirt, and a white bra and panties. A disturbance of the earth found at the location has led police to believe that she may have been fishing in the area and was attacked at the scene. She was also found to be wearing an upper partial denture. Evidence of labour suggests she may have given birth to a child in the past. She had dark brown, shoulder-length hair matching her brown eyes. She also had a visible scar below her right eyebrow.

Witnesses in the area at the time claim to have seen a woman matching Jane Doe's description just 2 days before she was discovered deceased. She was travelling with an unknown man in his 30s or 40s. Their car, a 1973 or '74 Ford LTD with a dark vinyl top, was stuck in the mud on Robert Cemetry Road. Reportedly the man, who was approximately 6'1" and 180-200lbs, was visibly upset about the situation, yelling and cursing at Doe.

a drawing of a woman — An artist reconstruction of Jane Doe Credit: The Doe Network | Wesley Neville

Tuscaloosa Jane Doe, who had also gained the nickname "Miss X" was buried at Sunset Memorial Park on December 9, 1982. Decades later, in 2013 her remains were exhumed for additional examination and to obtain a DNA sample in hopes of putting a name to the woman who had gone unidentified for more than thirty years. Despite this, she has yet to be identified and remains as 'Jane Doe'.

Anyone who can provide any information, in this case, is urged to call the Tuscaloosa County Metro Homicide Unit at 205-752-0616 or Tuscaloosa CrimeStoppers at 205-752-7867 or email Homicide@tuscco.com.

Below is a more recent artist's rendition of what Tuscaloosa Jane Doe may have looked like: