Sometime in the morning or early afternoon of May 14, 1991, a tractor-trailer driver made his last delivery in Tacoma after a cross-country trip from Missouri. Unknown to his employer, a passenger was riding in the cab as the truck headed south.
The woman had a small build, and the feather earrings she wore might have been a nod to her American Indian ethnicity.
Little else is known about her. The pair got only to Kalama before dying in a fiery collision with another truck.
While the driver was identified, his passenger wasn't. The Washington State Patrol hopes to change that with a new forensic sketch showing what the woman might have looked like.
"We don't want to give up on identifying her," said State Patrol spokesperson Sgt. Darren Wright. "We assume there's family out there wanting closure."
"Helen Doe," as she is known to detectives working the case, was between 5 feet, 1 inch and 5 feet, 4 inches tall, with brown hair and had a small gap between her lower middle teeth. She weighed between 110 and 130 pounds.
She had high cheek bones and a dark complexion. DNA testing revealed she was of Native American ancestry.
WSP detectives collaborated with the advocacy group Lost and Missing in Indian Country and forensic artist Natalie Murry to create a sketch they hope will identify Helen Doe.
There were other identifying characteristics that might help family identify Helen Doe. An autopsy found she had severe scoliosis with a convexity to the right. DNA, dental records and X-rays are available, the WSP said.
Wright hopes that the new sketch will bring back Helen Doe's real name and give her family closure.
"It's what she deserves," she said.
If you can identify Helen Doe, contact detective Stacy Moate at Stacy.Moate@wsp.wa.gov or 425-401-7745.
