Rockledge Jane Doe

Do you recognize this woman?
1980 Jane Doe still unidentified

Rockledge, FL – In October 1980, authorities in Brevard County, Florida recovered the remains of an African American woman they recognized as a former Pinellas County arrestee. At the time of her arrest, she gave the fictitious name Joanne English, along with a date of birth and Social Security number that were also false. Her case is an open homicide, and the first step to solving it could be finding her true identity.

The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office brought the case to the DNA Doe Project in 2019, and lab analysis of a sample of her remains yielded a DNA profile that was uploaded to GEDmatch.com and FamilyTreeDNA.com – the two databases that can be used for investigative genetic genealogy on law enforcement cases.

She was 5’6” tall, weighed 120 pounds, and estimated to be between 21 and 30 years old at the time of her death.

Investigative genetic genealogists with the DNA Doe Project have analyzed her DNA relatives and how they relate to each other and to Jane Doe in an attempt to locate the right branch of her family tree to find her name. It’s been a meticulous process working with distant relatives and genealogical records that are often incomplete and difficult to access.

“African Americans are underrepresented in the DNA databases we use, so it’s been slow going,” said Jenny Lecus, team co-leader on the case. “We really need more members of the public to upload to help us fill in the gaps and connect the dots between her genetic relatives and our Jane Doe.”

Genealogists have traced a branch of Jane Doe’s tree to Anson, North Carolina, so uploads from people whose families are in that area are particularly important.

Anyone who has taken a direct-to-consumer DNA test at sites like Ancestry.com, 23andMe.com, or MyHeritage.com can download their profile and upload it to DNAJustice, GEDmatch and FTDNA and allow law enforcement searching. “You could be the match to resolve this case,” said Lecus.

“We’re asking anyone who grew up in Anson in the ‘70s and might have known this Jane Doe to reach out to us,” said Janel Daniels, team co-leader on this case. “Someone may also recognize her from her time living in the Clearwater area of Florida.”

Anyone who recognizes this woman is encouraged to contact the DNA Doe Project at case-tips@dnadoeproject.org.

Description
On October 11, 1980 a passing motorist found the body of a black woman on the east shoulder of an isolated rural road about 100 yards north of Barnes Boulevard in Rockledge, Brevard County, Florida. She had been shot in the head and the case is considered a homicide. She was 21-30 years old, weighed about 120 pounds, was 5’6, and had brown hair and eyes.

During the search for the woman’s identity the investigators discovered that she had been arrested in Pinellas County, about 150 miles to the west. The name she gave when booked was “Joanne English”, which turned out to be false, along with her Social Security number and date of birth. DNA, fingerprints, and dental records are available for comparison.

NamUs ID: UP2312
Date Body Found: October 11, 1980
Race: Black/African American
Gender: Female
Estimated Age: 21-30
Estimated PMI: 1 Day
Location: Rockledge, FL