PA PHILADELPHIA JANE DOE: WF, 30-60, found in Schuylkill River by oil refinery - 20 March 1968

[Akoya]

In 1968, Interstate 95 was not completed through Philadelphia. At the time, the George Platt Bridge was known as the Penrose Avenue Bridge. This bridge was congested with traffic from Chester, Delaware, and the Philadelphia Airport. It doesn't look likely that Jane Doe was thrown from the bridge by someone who was passing through.

 

[Akoya]

https://www.namus.gov/UnidentifiedPersons/Case#/16623/details

Clothing and Accessories
Clothing
socks and stockings, walking suit, 2 sweaters, polo type shirt, fir hat. Skirt from Lord and Taylor, Labels: Deloux, Knitmaster & Dele. Size 10
On the Body

Footwear
Black chucka boots
On the Body

Jewelry
Timex Wrist Watch, white metal # 50102366
On the Body


Philadelphia can be cold in March, but Jane Doe seemed to be wearing an excessive amount of clothes. She was wearing a suit, 2 sweaters, and a polo shirt, yet she didn't have a coat.

 

[Akoya]

Jane Doe was found in the Schuylkill River 50 feet west of Penrose Ave., in Schuylkill River, near oil refinery.

This location is 50 feet west of the Pratt Bridge. Access to the river at this location would not have been an easy task. The Lower Schuylkill River is tidal at this location, near the junction of the larger Delaware River. I have to wonder if Jane Doe went into the Schuylkill River further west and floated toward the bridge as the tide ebbed.

 

[Akoya]

https://marineweather.net/tide/penrose-avenue-bridge-schuylkill-river-pa-tides

Penrose Avenue Bridge, Schuylkill River, PA Tides
Marine Forecast: Delaware Bay North Of East Point Lighthouse

There is a seven foot tide in the Lower Schuylkill River.

 

[Akoya]

Jane Doe could have been at the Penrose Diner.


https://www.philly.com/news/penrose-diner-hour-overnight-wawa-20181230.html

Penrose Diner ends 24-hour service as the round-the-clock world shifts
by Michael Klein, Updated: December 30, 2018

Penrose Diner in South Philadelphia will end its 50-year tradition of 24-hour operation at 11:59 p.m. Monday, reflecting changes among not only its customers but also the workforce in general.

“The people in the 21-to-25 range are just not going out the way they used to,” Bill Dovas, an owner, said Sunday. The Penrose, at the intersection of 20th Street and Penrose and Packer Avenues, came to fame in a different era, benefiting from traffic off the Platt Bridge.

“When they go out to the clubs, they’re afraid to drive and don’t want to pay for an Uber both ways," Dovas said.

The Penrose’s hours will be 6 a.m. to midnight daily starting New Year’s Day. Dovas said the shorter hours would allow the diner to focus on quality and consistency. He said staffing also was a problem because “my longtime employees were getting tired.”

 

[Akoya]

Penrose Diner, Philadelphia

 

[Akoya]

On the north side of the Platt Bridge (Penrose Avenue) there were mountains and acres of scrap metal and broken automobiles.

https://www.philly.com/philly/business/20120401_South_Philly_scrap_heap_moving_to_Camden.html

South Philly scrap heap moving to Camden
by Linda Loyd, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER, Posted: April 1, 2012

Camden Iron & Metal and its heap of crushed scrap at the foot of the Platt Memorial Bridge near the airport are moving to Camden, along with 175 jobs and the promise of 50 hires.

The unsightly junkyard of crushed cars and washing machines that is synonymous with 26th Street and Penrose Avenue - the gateway to Philadelphia for millions of visitors - will disappear after the scrap recycler installs, by the end of this year, a modern new shredder at Atlantic and Front Streets in Camden.

Now, all the scrap gets crushed in South Philadelphia and trucked to Camden, where a million tons a year goes out of Beckett Street Terminal.

After trying since 2005 to consolidate its operations in Philadelphia - and even buying for $13.2 million the 44-acre vacant Foamex Industrial Inc. in Eddystone - the company, which began in Camden in 1929, is going back to its roots.

 

[Akoya]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

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

www.namus.gov

NamUs UP # 13616

ME/C Case Number: J03-660370
Chester County, Pennsylvania
Age cannot be determined Female

Case Report - NamUs UP # 13616
Case Information
Status Unidentified
Case number J03-660370
Date found July 11, 1995 13:15
Date created March 04, 2015 14:55
Date last modified April 11, 2017 13:33
Investigating agency
date QA reviewed

Local Contact (ME/C or Other)
Agency Chester Cnty Coroners Ofc
Phone 610-344-6165
Case Manager
Name Chadwick Roberts
Phone 717-299-7650

Demographics
Estimated age Cannot Determine
Minimum age 18 years
Maximum age 40 years
Race Unsure
Ethnicity
Sex Female
Weight (pounds) 125, Estimated
Height (inches) 64, Estimated
Body Parts Inventory (Check all that apply)
All parts recovered
Body conditions
Not recognizable - Decomposing/putrefaction
Probable year of death 1995 to 1995

Circumstances
Location Found
GPS coordinates 40.004118 -75.664671
Address 1 42' East of Valley Creek Rd.
Address 2 .25m South of Boot Rd.
City
State Pennsylvania
Zip code
County Chester
Circumstances
Unidentified female was located in Valley Creek on 07/11/95. Her legs were severed and not with body. She was in a suitcase which was wrapped in a green trash bag. Legs were later discovered in Cores Creek State Park, Middletown Twp., Bucks Co., PA January 1996.

Physical
Hair color Brown
Head hair
short length approx. 6" - 6 1/2 "
Body hair
normal
Facial hair
none
Left eye color Brown
Right eye color Brown
Eye description
No other distinctive body features

Fingerprints
Status: Fingerprint information is available elsewhere


Clothing on body
Blood-stained bra.
Clothing with body
Light blue long sleeve denim blouse w/ collar w/ white 3" band across chest & back. The band had vertical blue stripes within. Buttons were copper color and they were buttoned up.
Footwear
N/A
Jewelry
N/A
Eyewear
N/A
Other items found
with body
A white headband/hairband, blood-stained bed sheets (fitted and regular), bed quilt. The body was in a zippered garment bag.

Dental
Status: Dental information / charting is available and entered

DNA
Status: Sample submitted - Tests complete