“Who’s that girl?” DNA Doe Project needs help identifying Afro-Caribbean Jane Doe

BY MICHAEL THOMAS

If you are from St Vincent, St Lucia, Grenada, or any part of the Grenadines or the Caribbean for that matter, the information in this article could be of serious concern to you.

As of this moment, investigative genetic genealogists have the remains of one Jane Doe and are desperately asking for your help in reuniting her with the family and also solving the mystery of what happened to her.

According to investigators, the deceased is around 18-25 years old. Her remains were discovered in 2006 near Bowmanville, Ontario outside of Toronto, and she is likely of Afro-Caribbean heritage. Investigators are now seeking the public’s help to generate new leads in this case.

It was in April of last year, that detectives from the Durham Regional Police approached the DNA Doe Project for help identifying Jane Doe’s remains.

Jane Doe had protruding upper front teeth with white composite fillings. Discovered near the body was a ring with a red garnet in the middle and a diamond on either side. This ring is stamped “Burns” on the inside and is believed to have been sold through Burns Jeweller in Oshawa, Ontario.

Initially, investigators thought Jane Doe was Caucasian. “It wasn’t until we sequenced her DNA recently that we discovered that her heritage is largely African (with some South-East Asian as well),” stated C. Lauritsen of the DNA Doe Project. “We have reason to believe she has at least extended family from or still in the Caribbean, possibly St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, although not necessarily exclusively.

We don’t yet know if she, herself, might’ve lived there before her death or not, but because of this connection, we would love to be able to specifically reach the Caribbean-Canadian community and beyond to ask if anyone can help us identify her.” 

Forensic artist Carl Koppelman produced this portrait incorporating new information about her African heritage.

The investigators are asking the public to check out this information and the new portrait to see if they recognize this Jane Doe or might have known her family in the 1990s or early 2000s. In the meantime, if anyone recognizes her you are being asked to reach out to the authorities. Another helpful way would be to share your DNA results for comparison if you have done a direct-to-consumer test.

If you recognize this woman or have any information to share, please contact Detective Hermano Dorego of the Durham Regional Police Service at +1-905-579-1520 ext. 5319 or hdorego@drps.ca.

Here is a bit more on the DNA Doe Project. DNA Doe Project Inc. is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to identify John and Jane Doe and return them to their families. The genealogy research is pro bono, but the organization relies on donations to fund lab costs when agencies cannot afford them. To date, DDP has made over seventy identifications. Discover more at https://dnadoepro