NEW BUFFALO (WWJ) -- It’s been more than 33 years since an unidentified body washed ashore from Lake Michigan.
Now, police are taking news steps to solve the mystery, and asking the public for help.
On April 8, 1988, the body of a woman was discovered on the breakwater of New Buffalo, Michigan, close to the Indiana border.
She was never identified, and was later buried as a ‘Jane Doe.’
This week, the Michigan State Police (MSP) Niles Post, in coordination with New Buffalo Police Department, exhumed the body to retrieve a DNA sample and sparked a renewed interest in the cold case.
According to MSP, the woman is estimated to have been between 40 and 60 years old, approximately 5 feet, 5 inches tall and 175 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes.
She was also thought to have been wearing a wig or braided extensions, which had been pulled from the scalp.
It was discovered during the autopsy that the woman had undergone a hysterectomy, and that she had a singular scar stretching from her pelvis to naval. No other scars, marks, or tattoos were found.
At the time of her death, she was wearing a pair of men’s size 38 denim blue jeans with a wide double-ring type, striped cloth belt. Underneath the jeans, she was wearing red, white, and blue shorts and full-length panty hose.
She was not wearing a top when she was discovered, but did have on a sandy colored front-clasped, heavy-duty bra. She also was wearing black zippered, top ankle boots
Dental records that were already on file showed that her teeth were in excellent condition, and she was likely not a smoker or alcohol drinker.
The examining doctor also noted she may have come from an upper socioeconomic group based on the porcelain bridge replacing a front tooth, which was an experimental dental procedure at that time. She likely had the bridge put in around five years before her death.
Anyone with information about the woman’s possible identify is urged to contact the Michigan State Police Niles Post at 269-683-4411 or the New Buffalo Police Department at 269-469-1500.
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