CA HOLT JANE DOE: WF, 24-45, found inside refrigerator in irrigation ditch in Holt, CA - 29 Mar 1995 *AMANDA SCHUMANN DEZA*

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320UFCA - Unidentified Female​

Jewelry, bedsheets and bag found with remains.

Date of Discovery: March 29, 1995
Location of Discovery: Holt, San Joaquin County, California
Estimated Date of Death: Between August 1994 and February 1995.
State of Remains: Not recognizable - Decomposing/putrefaction
Cause of Death: Homicide by blunt-force trauma to the head

Physical Description​

Estimated Age: 24-45 years old
Race: White
Sex: Female
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 110-130 lbs.
Hair Color: Strawberry blond or red
Eye Color: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: No visible tattoos or scars. Her nails were manicured.

Identifiers​

Dentals: Available. Teeth virtually perfect with only a few fillings. Signs of regulare care.
Fingerprints: Unavailable.
DNA: Available.

Clothing & Personal Items​

Clothing: She looked as if she had been dressed to go to an outdoor event. Blue sweatshirt; Levi shorts, size 30-32; Victoria Secret bra, size 34B; Fruit of the Loom T-shirt; trendy multicolored knee-high socks with toes; Gorilla hiking boots worth approximately $120.00 in 1996.
Jewelry: A one-third carat wedding ring was found on her right hand and authorities believe that she may have been estranged, separated, or divorced from her husband. A leather band was found that detectives believe was a part of a charm necklace. The ornaments that would have been laced on the necklace were found in the victim's pocket. Investigators believe she quite possibly had her necklace broken in the scuffle and the ornaments were collected and placed into her pocket before she was murdered.
Additional Personal Items: White blanket, blue blanket, Hillary brand sleeping bag.

Circumstances of Discovery​

The victim was discovered decomposed, inside a gold 1983 Frigidaire refrigerator, in an irrigation ditch along Bacon Island Road, in the Delta area west of Stockton. Individuals had been scoping the area for coins, cans, and other metal objects when they found a refrigerator tied shut with rope and dumped into the levee. They cut through the rope, opened the fridge, and dug through a patched faux fur waterbed quilt and a Hillary brand sleeping bag before reaching a woman's remains. She had been bound and gagged with a sock and electrical tape, and had blunt force trauma to her head.

Detectives say that the items found inside of the refrigerator lead them to believe that the fridge had resided in the East Bay. They came to this conclusion because the items that they found all had ties to that area. Some of the cities associated were; Richmond, Antioch, Pittsburgh, Oakley, and Brentwood. The electrician's tape used to tie up the victim had been purchased at the military surplus store in Oakley. There was an unopened bag of Ice from the Glacier Ice Co. which is produced in Freemont and shipped only to the East Bay. There were miniature milk cartons in the icebox that are used mainly in hospitals, schools, or institutions.

Based on the contents, police say the refrigerator was likely to have originated between the Highways 680, 580, 4, and Interstate 5.

The refrigerator's serial number revealed it had been manufactured in Pennsylvania and sold in Oakland, California.

There was a glacier ice bag inside the fridge with the date August 1994. It is surmised that the decedent was killed sometime between the date on the bag and 30 days before her body was found. Hundreds of leads have been followed-up with no success.

Investigating Agency(s)​

Agency Name: San Joaquin County Medical Examiner's Office
Agency Contact Person: Dr. Michael D. Hunter
Agency Phone Number: 209-468-4300
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: 95-172

Agency Name: San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office - Cold Case Unit
Agency Contact Person: Captain John Huber
Agency Phone Number: 209-468-5087
Agency E-Mail: coldcase(at)sjgov.org
Agency Case Number: 95-10064

NCIC Case Number: U821013310
NamUs Case Number: 68494

Information Source(s)​

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

San Joaquin County Sheriff
Just the Facts Magazine (archived)
Recordnet (archived)
America's Most Wanted

320UFCA

Whoever murdered #JaneDoe in Holt, California left her with her possessions in a refrigerator! She was found in March 1995.

Clothing: She looked as if she had been dressed to go to an outdoor event. Blue sweatshirt, Levi shorts a size 30-32, Victoria Secret brand bra (size 34B), Fruit of the Loom T-shirt, trendy multicolored knee-high socks with toes, and Gorilla...

www.crimewatchers.net

*CLICK THE REPORT BUTTON IF YOU'D LIKE THIS CASE MOVED TO THE GENERAL DISCUSSION AREA TO BE OPENED FOR COMMENTING.

 

[Summer_Breeze]

San Joaquin County investigators identify woman found dead in fridge 27 years ago

Investigators hope her identity will lead to more information and help them solve her killing.

www.abc10.com

Author: Staff (ABC10)
Published: 2:42 PM PST February 23, 2023
Updated: 2:42 PM PST February 23, 2023

STOCKTON, Calif. — We now know the identity of a woman killed and left in a refrigerator in San Joaquin County 27 years ago.
Investigators held a press conference Thursday detailing how they identified Amanda Lynn Schumann Deza.

CASE HISTORY​

A person recycling in Holt came upon a partially submerged refrigerator in an irrigation canal off Bacon Island Road in March 1995. Inside the refrigerator was a woman’s body.

Investigators believed she had been in the refrigerator for several months prior to being found, and her body had obvious signs of injury.

Information about the case was entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, but with no hits, the case went cold.

The sheriff’s office says new science and technology — investigative genealogy — helped them identify her.

Last year the sheriff’s office and medical examiner’s office partnered with Othram and they sent skeletal evidence to the company’s lab for a DNA extract and genome sequencing.

Othram returned a DNA profile and their team identified leads for the victim’s family or relatives, leading investigators to the victim’s mother and daughter.

 

[noZme]

Amanda Deza's badly decomposed body was found in 1995 by someone who was searching for cans and bottles to recycle when they stumbled across a partially submerged refrigerator in the Whiskey Slough irrigation canal, in Holt, California. Police assigned to the case at the time said the then-unknown woman had been stuffed in the fridge which was dumped and had sat undiscovered for about six months. She had no identification on her, and there were no relevant missing person reports.

Now, nearly three decades later, and after numerous scientific advances, the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office has finally made a breakthrough in the case, identifying Amanda Deza and notifying her next of kin.

Skeletal samples were sent to Othram, a private forensic laboratory, which used a combination of DNA testing and genealogy analysis to crack the case and identify possible living relatives. Detectives were then able to match Deza's DNA sample to those provided by her mother and daughter.

Police identify "lady in the fridge" cold case victim after 30 years

DNA analysis reveals the victim was Amanda Lynn Schumann Deza, a troubled Californian woman who was murdered decades ago but never reported missing.

www.newsweek.com

 

[Kimster]

Another troubled woman who met the wrong person - a killer. Makes me so sad.

 

[Mel70]

I remember the UID posting because I remember the jewelry. Rest in peace.

 

[Mel70]

OMG. Possibly "Terry Rasmussen". He was a sicko. They must have good reason to suspect him. He was good at being a chameleon. I believe he killed wherever he was. I remember he was even jailed under a different name, And LE didn't even know his real name. Getting away with the "Bear Brook" Murders from 1985 until they connected one of the girls DNA to him. Even killing his own daughter. He was pure evil.