CA EUREKA JANE DOE: FM, 18-26, found in different sites, CA - 26 Oct 1997 - Tattoos *KERRY CUMMINGS*

Unidentified Person Case

UNIDENTIFIED
Unidentified Person / NamUs #UP53661
Female, Multiple
Date Found
October 26, 1997
Location Found
EUREKA, California
Estimated Age Range
18-26 Years

General Location
East side of Freshwater Slough near the foot of park street
EUREKA, California 95501
County
Humboldt County
GPS Coordinates
40.798050,-124.121207

Circumstances of Recovery
Torso found on muddy bank of tidal slough [1997 Eureka, CA], Left arm/hand found on ocean beach [1998 McKinleyville, CA], Thighs & Breasts found in wooded forest [1998 Trinidad, CA]. All were connected by positive DNA comparison. The man convicted of killing this woman claimed she was from Arizona [AZ], New Mexico [NM] or Colorado [CO]. She had left because she was upset over a relationship issue and/or a child custody issue. These last two sentences were offered by the killer and have not been confirmed as true.
Details of Recovery

Inventory of Remains
Head not recovered One or more limbs not recovered One or both hands not recovered
Condition of Remains
Not recognizable - Partial remains with soft tissues
Circumstance Notes
Torso found on muddy bank of tidal slough [1997 - Eureka, CA], Left arm/hand found on ocean beach [1998 - McKinleyville, CA], Thighs & Breasts found in wooded forest [1998 - Trinidad, CA]. All were connected by positive DNA comparison.

Physical Description
Hair Color
Unknown or Completely Bald
Head Hair Description
unknown, head not found
Body Hair Description
Dark brown pubic hair.
Facial Hair Description
unknown
Left Eye Color
Unknown or Missing
Right Eye Color
Unknown or Missing
Eye Description
Unknown
Distinctive Physical Features
Item
Description
Scar/mark
A small poorly defined dark colored dot was on the high upper-front of her right thigh. This appeared to be consistent with a mark left by being punctured by a pencil as a child. If so, it was completely healed.

Tattoo
The convicted killer volunteered he thought she had a ring/chain of small flowers tattooed around one ankle - unknown which. This information is not confirmed as being truthful.

Other distinctive physical characteristic
At autopsy the pathologist determined from the condition of her cervix that she had given birth to at least one child.

Clothing and Accessories
Item
Description
Clothing
The convicted killer described the victim was white and wearing small tennis shoes and baggy bluish green-pants with a wild pattern. The truthfulness of this information is not confirmed. No clothing was located associated with this victim.
Near the Body

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[Summer_Breeze]

Sheriff's Office Identifies Wayne Adam Ford Victim After 25 Years

The Humboldt County Sheriff's Office has identified one of serial killer Wayne Adam Ford's victims 25 years after her dismembered body was found through advanced forensic...

www.northcoastjournal.com

POSTED BY THADEUS GREENSON @THADEUSGREENSON ON WED, JUN 7, 2023 AT 6:40 PM​

The Humboldt County Sheriff's Office has identified one of serial killer Wayne Adam Ford's victims 25 years after her dismembered body was found through advanced forensic DNA testing.

Through a partnership with the California Department of Justice and the forensic genealogy laboratory Othram Inc., the sheriff's office was able to identify the woman as Kerry Ann Cummings, who was about 25 when she went missing in 1997.

In October of that year, a duck hunter located partial human remains in Ryan Slough, north of Eureka, and additional partial remains were recovered on Clam Beach the following January. Efforts to identify both were unsuccessful, though subsequent testing identified them as having belonged to the same person.

Ford infamously turned himself into the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office main station Nov. 3, 1998, walking in with a severed breast in his pocket, and subsequently admitted to murdering several women throughout the north state, including the woman whose partial remains were found in Ryan Slough, according to a press release. Ford was subsequently convicted of four counts of murder and sentenced to death, and currently is held on San Quentin Prison's death row.

But efforts to identify Cummings' remains have continued for decades, with investigators checking her DNA profile against missing persons databases, found remains and the National Unidentified Persons Index.

In December, the sheriff's office and Department of Justice partnered with Othram Inc. in an effort to determine if advanced DNA testing could help identify Cummings, or at least a close relative of hers.

"Utilizing this profile and forensic genealogy, a potential DNA match was developed for a close relative," who was later determined to be Cummings' sister Kathy, according to the release.

Investigators contacted Kathy, asking if she had any missing family members. She replied that her sister, Kerry, had been missing since the mid-1990s. Kathy later told investigators that her sister had been suffering from an untreated mental illness and was couch-surging in the Eugene, Oregon area when the family lost contact with her.