HANOVER TOWNSHIP — Nearly eight years ago, the unidentified body of a Black woman was exhumed from Maple Hill Cemetery for forensic examination.
The identification was unsuccessful so a second attempt is being made.
The body of a woman whose body was found wrapped in a blanket and doused in sulfuric acid along Interstate 80 in Black Creek Township is scheduled to be exhumed later this month, possibly as soon as July 24.
“The location of her body, the manner in which she was wrapped, witness statements, and laboratory analysis indicating the presence of sulfuric acid on her body make her cause of death highly suspicious,” reads a petition to exhume her body filed in Luzerne County Court by District Attorney Samuel M. Sanguedolce and Assistant District Attorney Karl Frank.
Presiding Judge Michael T. Baugh on Tuesday signed a petition to legally exhume the body known as I80 Jane Doe.
I80 Jane Doe was discovered on August 9, 1973, in the westbound lanes of Interstate 80, near mile marker 250.6. An autopsy performed by the late Dr. George E. Haddock was unable to determine the cause and manner of death but did confirm that the body had sulfuric acid on it.
The woman is estimated to be between 20 and 30 years old, with brown eyes, between 4 feet 10 inches and 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighing about 100 pounds. When she was found, she had brown hair tied in a short ponytail and was wearing turquoise shorts, a pink blouse with white lace and blue slippers with a turquoise floral pattern, according to NamUS, a national database of unidentified and missing persons.
The body was wrapped in a yellow and green blanket with safety pins attached to the feet.
Sanguedolce and Frank said the body was exhumed in 2016, but DNA testing was not possible and samples were exhausted. After exhumation in 2016 and DNA sampling by Dr. Erin Kimmerle of the University of South Florida, the body was reburied.
Petition signatories Sanguedolce and Frank believe Dr Kimerle’s application of modern and advanced forensic techniques will aid in a second attempt to identify the body.
The second forensic examination will include a forensic autopsy, skeletal examination, forensic dental examination, X-rays, an MRI scan and the taking of additional DNA samples.
Excavating the unidentified remains and conducting scientific testing would cost more than $10,000, but the petition says Dr Kimmerle secured a federal grant to cover the cost.
