Discovery Information
Date Found: October 21, 1971
Estimated Year of Death: 1971
Ethnicity: White / Caucasian, Black / African American
Location Found: Fort Motte, SC
Latitude: 33.7390444
Longitude: -80.6925887
Physical Characteristics
Estimated Age Range: 17 - 23 years
Gender: Female
Height Range: 62 - 65 inches
Weight Range: Not specified
Identifying Features: Clothing blue skirt, 1 silk stocking, lavender slip according to coroner's notes from 1971On the Body
Forensic Details
DNA Status: unknown
Fingerprints Status: unknown
Dentals Status: unknown
Circumstances
On the afternoon of October 21, 1971, two university students discovered a body floating in the Congaree River while they were walking across a railroad bridge. The body was that of a female and was caught on tree limbs near the train trestle. She was estimated by the Calhoun County Coroner to be between 17 and 35 years old and "probably white". The body was intact but bloated and wearing a blue skirt, one silk stocking, and a lavender colored slip. The Coroner estimated that the body had been in the water for approximately 15 to 20 days. Unfortunately, the original autopsy report cannot be located. The remains appear to have been autopsied, with the head and hands removed, presumably for printing and odontological analysis. After initial efforts to identify the body failed, the decedent was buried on Calhoun County property in a marked grave. These remains were exhumed in 2019 as part of further efforts to identify this decedent using NAMUS and DNA testing. Further testing for genetic genealogy efforts have revealed the decedent to have mixed African and European ancestry suggesting she may have been culturally labeled African American. Details of Recovery Inventory of Remains Condition of Remains Not recognizable - Decomposing/putrefaction
Contact Information
Source: https://www.namus.gov/UnidentifiedPersons/Case#/61811/details?nav
Contact Name: Calhoun County Sheriff's Office
Contact Number: 8038742741
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Unidentified Comments
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