IL THOMASBORO JANE DOE: WF, 19-41, found in cornfield near Thomasboro, IL - 1 May 1995 *KERI WYANT*

220UFIL - Unidentified Female

Reconstructions by Catyana Falsetti and the Champaign County Sheriff's Office; Rings and blouse.

Date of Discovery: May 1, 1995
Location of Discovery: Thomasboro, Champaign County, Illinois
Estimated Date of Death: 11 months prior
State of Remains: Partial skeletal
Cause of Death: Homicide

Physical Description
Estimated Age: 16-29 years old
Race: White
Sex: Female
Height: 5'1" to 5'9"
Weight: Unknown, but had medium to heavy build.
Hair Color: Straight, dark brown hair with a reddish tint.
Eye Color: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: She may have had one or more children, probably through Cesarean birth. She may had early athletic or dance training, such as gymnastics, ballet or figure skating, based on the leg bone structure.

Identifiers
Dentals: Available.
Fingerprints: Not available.
DNA: Available.

Clothing & Personal Items
Clothing: The victim's clothing was found in the field by police. A white, v-collared, short-sleeved blouse. It was a size medium and had buttons on both the front and the back. Additionally, there was a pocket on the left side, and bares a Huntington Ridge label. A pair of sweatpants were also located.
Jewelry: Two rings were also located nearby. One was a plain, gold band. A second was a yellow-metal ring with stones set in a circular pattern with a dark green center.
Additional Personal Items: Unknown.

Circumstances of Discovery
The skeletal remains of this victim were found May 1, 1995, in a ditch and cornfield along Champaign County Road 2400N near 1200E southwest of Thomasboro.

An agricultural service worker came across a bone and some clothing while preparing a field for planting. Police recovered additional remains when they were called to the scene.

The body is estimated to have been placed in the field between May 1994 and October 1994. The Champaign County Coroner has ruled the female's death a homicide. They were unable to determine the cause of death, although there is a possibility that she died from multiple gunshot wounds.

Reexamination of the woman's bones suggested she was between 16 and 29; previous estimations ranged from 19 to 41.

Isotope analysis of the remains suggested she may have been born near southeast Illinois; Nashville, Tennesee; Springfield, Missouri; or Topeka, Kansas. It is thought she resided locally in the five years preceding her death.

Genetic genealogy research is also being used in the case.

Investigating Agency(s)
Agency Name: Champaign County Coroner's Office
Agency Contact Person: Duane Northrup
Agency Phone Number: 217-384-3888 or 217-384-1204
Agency Email: Unknown
Agency Case Number: 1995-05-005

Agency Name: Champaign County Sheriff's Office
Agency Contact Person: Dwayne Roelfs
Agency Phone Number: 217-384-1213
Agency Email: Unknown
Agency Case Number: S95-1510

NCIC Case Number: U830642962
NamUs Case Number: 5325

Information Source(s)
NamUs
WandTv
News-Gazette
Champaign County Sheriff's Office

220UFIL

#JaneDoe was found May 1, 1995, in a ditch and cornfield along Champaign County Road 2400N near 1200E southwest of Thomasboro, Illinois

Estimated Age: 16-29 years old Race: White Sex: Female Height: 5'1" to 5'9" Weight: Unknown, but had medium to heavy build. Hair Color: Straight, dark brown hair with a reddish tint. Eye Color: Unknown Distinguishing Marks/Features: She may have...

www.crimewatchers.net

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[Romulus]

Identified!

Keri Lyn Wyant

Authorities identify Jane Doe from 1995 case

On Tuesday, officials said the woman was identified as Keri Lyn Wyant, who was born on October 18, 1971 in Galesburg, IL. They were able to identify Wyant through genetic genealogy.

Authorities said in May 2019, the sheriff’s department was informed the producers of a TV series of true crime mysteries and the “Unknown Doe Project” were interested in helping them attempt to identify Wyant through genetic genealogy. The production team also said they would cover the cost of additional DNA extraction from Wyant’s remains.

This comes after Wyant’s remains were found outside of Thomasboro in the area of 2600 North and 1200 East in 1995. The cause of death has been withheld, but it is determined to be a homicide.

On April 30, 2020, the sheriff’s office was notified by the production team that their team of genealogists were constructing family trees and they found crossovers where multiple family trees intersected. Through that research, they were able to figure out the remains belonged to someone with the last name Wyant. The sheriff’s office investigated further and figured out Wyant’s full name and birthplace.

They were then able to learn that Wyant went to high school at Galva High School in Galva, Illinois between 1989 and 1990, but did not graduate.
---
In early September 2020, the comparison confirmed Jane Doe was Keri Wyant.
---
After interviewing Wyant’s parents, they were able to figure out she moved out of her parent’s home in 1985 at the age of 14 to temporarily live with other relatives. Authorities said she “then possibly moved out of her relative’s home and she reportedly stayed for a period of time in Peoria, Illinois at the ‘Southside Mission.'”
---
Between late 1985 and 1988, officers said her location was mostly unknown. However, between 1989 to 1991, they said Wyant was believed to have worked at the following businesses:

• Gustavo’s Tacos (Galva, IL) (1989-1990)
• Market Street Cafe (Galva, IL) (1990)
• Hardee’s (Galesburg, IL) (1990)
• Taco House (Galva, IL) (1990-1991)

They also listed several other jobs from other the years that ranged from other areas of Illinois to Texas.

Through speaking with one of Wyant’s previous friends, they found out she reappeared in Galesburg around February 1994. “Keri appeared to have no place to stay and was approximately seven months pregnant,” said officers. The friend took her in. She gave birth in May of that year.
---
Detectives were able to identify the 1994 Henry County Fair carnival operator as Swyear Amusements. They are based in New Athens, Illinois.
---
The Champaign County Sheriff’s Office is looking for help with locating more information regarding Wyant. That includes a names of her friends, acquaintances, or anyone who had interactions with her. If you have any information that could help solve Wyant’s homicide, call Detective Dwayne Roelfs or Lt. Curt Apperson at the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office at (217) 384-1213.

Authorities identify Jane Doe from 1995 case | WCIA.com

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

'You can run, but you can't hide': CSI who helped solved Champaign Co. cold case believes a killer will be caught

CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, Ill. (WAND) - Bones, DNA, and perseverance. They are three things credited for cracking a decades old cold case in Champaign County.

www.wandtv.com

'You can run, but you can't hide': CSI who helped solved Champaign Co. cold case believes a killer will be caught​

Bones, DNA, and perseverance. They are three things credited for cracking a decades old cold case in Champaign County.

"Her case was complicated," Yolanda McClary, the founder of the Unknown Doe Project, told WAND News reporter Chris Carter, talking about her work in solving the mystery of human remains found in a field outside of Thomasboro.

The break in the 1995 mystery of unidentified remains came in October 2020 with the help of McClary, a retired Las Vegas CSI, and her team. The Champaign County Sheriff's Office announced because of McClary's work they were able to identify the bones as Keri Wyant.

"Nobody deserves to die without their name," McClary said. "No body. I do not care if you're good, bad or indifferent."


With the bones identified, McClary does not believe the work is done. The Champaign County Sheriff's Office is conducting a homicide investigation, and McClary believes with the help of DNA, a killer will be caught.

"DNA changes daily," she said. "Daily. So, I think that statement that 'you can run, but you can't hide' will be a very true statement at some point."

 

[Kimster]

Identified!

Keri Lyn Wyant

Authorities identify Jane Doe from 1995 case

On Tuesday, officials said the woman was identified as Keri Lyn Wyant, who was born on October 18, 1971 in Galesburg, IL. They were able to identify Wyant through genetic genealogy.

Authorities said in May 2019, the sheriff’s department was informed the producers of a TV series of true crime mysteries and the “Unknown Doe Project” were interested in helping them attempt to identify Wyant through genetic genealogy. The production team also said they would cover the cost of additional DNA extraction from Wyant’s remains.

This comes after Wyant’s remains were found outside of Thomasboro in the area of 2600 North and 1200 East in 1995. The cause of death has been withheld, but it is determined to be a homicide.

On April 30, 2020, the sheriff’s office was notified by the production team that their team of genealogists were constructing family trees and they found crossovers where multiple family trees intersected. Through that research, they were able to figure out the remains belonged to someone with the last name Wyant. The sheriff’s office investigated further and figured out Wyant’s full name and birthplace.

They were then able to learn that Wyant went to high school at Galva High School in Galva, Illinois between 1989 and 1990, but did not graduate.
---
In early September 2020, the comparison confirmed Jane Doe was Keri Wyant.
---
After interviewing Wyant’s parents, they were able to figure out she moved out of her parent’s home in 1985 at the age of 14 to temporarily live with other relatives. Authorities said she “then possibly moved out of her relative’s home and she reportedly stayed for a period of time in Peoria, Illinois at the ‘Southside Mission.'”
---
Between late 1985 and 1988, officers said her location was mostly unknown. However, between 1989 to 1991, they said Wyant was believed to have worked at the following businesses:

• Gustavo’s Tacos (Galva, IL) (1989-1990)
• Market Street Cafe (Galva, IL) (1990)
• Hardee’s (Galesburg, IL) (1990)
• Taco House (Galva, IL) (1990-1991)

They also listed several other jobs from other the years that ranged from other areas of Illinois to Texas.

Through speaking with one of Wyant’s previous friends, they found out she reappeared in Galesburg around February 1994. “Keri appeared to have no place to stay and was approximately seven months pregnant,” said officers. The friend took her in. She gave birth in May of that year.
---
Detectives were able to identify the 1994 Henry County Fair carnival operator as Swyear Amusements. They are based in New Athens, Illinois.
---
The Champaign County Sheriff’s Office is looking for help with locating more information regarding Wyant. That includes a names of her friends, acquaintances, or anyone who had interactions with her. If you have any information that could help solve Wyant’s homicide, call Detective Dwayne Roelfs or Lt. Curt Apperson at the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office at (217) 384-1213.

Authorities identify Jane Doe from 1995 case | WCIA.com

Was she listed as missing? I think that would be so unusual since she has a child.

The recon in this case doesn't match at all, IMO.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Was she listed as missing? I think that would be so unusual since she has a child.

She was 23 or 24 when she went missing, although given her lifestyle, no one officially reported her missing.

Her parents, still living, said she left home around the age of 14 to live with other relatives for a short period, then possibly moved from that home to a shelter for poor people in Peoria.

Her whereabouts were mostly unknown from late 1985 to 1989, but the investigators, aided by other police agencies in western Illinois, learned that she worked at several fast-food places from 1989 to 1994.


Detectives also found a former friend of Miss Wyant, who said she reappeared in Galesburg in early 1994 and was pregnant.

She gave birth to a son in May 1994 but gave him to the friend with whom she was living in Kewanee when she decided to join a carnival operating at the Henry County Fair in Cambridge, Ill. (The detectives later learned that her son was killed in a 2001 bicycle accident.)

25 years later, woman found dead in Thomasboro field has a name: Keri Wyant

What authorities still don't know is who killed her or why, and why she was some 150 miles from what had been her home.

www.news-gazette.com

 

[Guess Who]

She was 23 or 24 when she went missing, although given her lifestyle, no one officially reported her missing.

Her parents, still living, said she left home around the age of 14 to live with other relatives for a short period, then possibly moved from that home to a shelter for poor people in Peoria.

Her whereabouts were mostly unknown from late 1985 to 1989, but the investigators, aided by other police agencies in western Illinois, learned that she worked at several fast-food places from 1989 to 1994.


Detectives also found a former friend of Miss Wyant, who said she reappeared in Galesburg in early 1994 and was pregnant.

She gave birth to a son in May 1994 but gave him to the friend with whom she was living in Kewanee when she decided to join a carnival operating at the Henry County Fair in Cambridge, Ill. (The detectives later learned that her son was killed in a 2001 bicycle accident.)

25 years later, woman found dead in Thomasboro field has a name: Keri Wyant

What authorities still don't know is who killed her or why, and why she was some 150 miles from what had been her home.

www.news-gazette.com

I hope she really did go work at a carnival and that not just be a story that the person with the son gave them.

 

[GrandmaBear]

She was 23 or 24 when she went missing, although given her lifestyle, no one officially reported her missing.

Her parents, still living, said she left home around the age of 14 to live with other relatives for a short period, then possibly moved from that home to a shelter for poor people in Peoria.

Her whereabouts were mostly unknown from late 1985 to 1989, but the investigators, aided by other police agencies in western Illinois, learned that she worked at several fast-food places from 1989 to 1994.


Detectives also found a former friend of Miss Wyant, who said she reappeared in Galesburg in early 1994 and was pregnant.

She gave birth to a son in May 1994 but gave him to the friend with whom she was living in Kewanee when she decided to join a carnival operating at the Henry County Fair in Cambridge, Ill. (The detectives later learned that her son was killed in a 2001 bicycle accident.)

25 years later, woman found dead in Thomasboro field has a name: Keri Wyant

What authorities still don't know is who killed her or why, and why she was some 150 miles from what had been her home.

www.news-gazette.com

She never again had contact with her parents after 14? That's sad but there could be a reason I guess.

She allegedly left her son with a friend? She went missing and he died also some years later? It doesn't seem to indicate if the friend is male or female. It also seems there may be two friends? Galesburg and Kewanee are both mentioned and although they are not far from each other, they are about 45 minutes apart when I map it. A bit confusing whether it is one or two friends. If two, she moved in with one while pregnant and left her child with another later on as they are different towns. I may have missed something however...