Kriti Mehrotra
It was December 12, 2014, when not only the state of Pennsylvania but also the entire nation was left shaken to the core as a decapitated human head was found lying in the woods 10 yards off a rural road in Economy. According to Netflix’s ‘Unsolved Mysteries: The Severed Head,’ it was a 15-year-old eighth grader who’d discovered it upon returning home from observing a hunt, only to immediately call the police. But alas, despite his full cooperation, an extensive search of the area, as well as continued investigations, neither the other remains of this woman nor her identity has ever come to light.
Jane Doe is Believed to Have Been Elderly
While the authorities admittedly have never had enough to go on so as to solve this matter, Jane Doe’s appearance, as well as her quick autopsy, gave officials some line of direction. That’s especially because while she appeared to have recently passed owing to the lack of decomposition, it turns out she had long been embalmed, so finding her exact time of death was improbable. Then there’s the fact that instead of eyes, this elderly woman, believed to have been above the age of 60 owing to her white curly hair plus wrinkly face, had small red balls – her eye sockets had been deliberately emptied.
This, combined with details like the cut marks were near perfect, led officials to believe Jane Doe was probably a victim of the black market – as in, she had likely been separated from her eyes and body so that parts of her could be illegally sold for money. However, they could not figure out precisely where she came from or which funeral home had initially handled her since there were no traces of contact left behind, and no embalming expert was known to have such a Modus Operandi.
Jane Doe Was Briefly Thought to be Teresa De Carlo
More than finding who had decapitated Jane Doe or dropped her off in the woods, the officials focus on uncovering her identity since that truly matters more – after all, she must have had loved ones somewhere, someplace missing her. They hence contacted a forensic artist, who then took her time and came up with an almost identical sketch of her to be released to the public before also making a sculpture of her face in the hopes somebody would come forward to positively identify her. This plan did not work in the way they’d hoped, but they did eventually get a call from The Union Cemetary of Fayette County.
The coroner of this establishment told officials that the crypt of Teresa De Carlo had been broken into, with the only thing missing being her head, despite there being countless other things of value there. The only issue was that Teresa had died in the early 1950s, and her casket had been broken into on August 4, 1988, more than 26 years before the head even appeared in Economy Borough. Nevertheless, it was relevant enough for the police to investigate this lead, especially since an initial photo match between Jane Doe and Teresa indicated they could be the same person.
Therefore, since DNA could not be used owing to both their embalmment, a forensic dentist was called in to help uncover the answer – she confidently ascertained they had the wrong woman. As per the documentary, Jane Doe’s mouth displayed a history of dental work, but the procedures she had done were first developed in the 1970s-80s, long after Teresa had passed. That’s when the authorities also conceded that since satanic cults were on the rise in the late 80s, it was possible some followers had robbed her crypt in order to complete one of their rituals.
The Officials Did Have a Lead in Jay Grabner, But it Didn’t Pan Out
While officials were back to square one in terms of uncovering Jane Doe’s identity following the Teresa De Carlo analysis, they did have a suspicious lead in a local man by the name of John Jay Grabner. He actually lived mere feet from the spot where her head was discovered, and it later came to light that he was once close friends with the 15-year-old who’d found her too – they’d fallen out mere months before. His constant, unnecessary assertion into the investigation concerned the local police too, right along with the fact he had made some odd passing remarks concerning murder, the black market, as well as funeral services in his initial interview.
It gradually also came to light that Jay had a telescope in his home pointing right towards the area where Jane Doe was recovered, he had a deep freezer in his garage where he admittedly kept his dog, and he truly did not like the 15-year-old anymore. It turned out he had a horse named Ginger who had recently been stabbed – mere feet from where the head had been disposed of – and he vehemently blamed the teen for harming the animal. Therefore, once it passed away, the theory is that he sought revenge by ensuring the latter found the head on the path he always took home so that he could blame him, which he did try, but to no avail.
The fact Jay’s mother had passed away did make officials wonder if she was their victim, yet they never found any concrete evidence to back their claims, resulting in things fizzling out. The fact this local resident and retired railroad engineer vehemently proclaimed his innocence didn’t help either, only for him to then suddenly pass away on September 30, 2020, at the age of 70. According to the documentary series, this antique car collector and Area Director of the National Railroad Retirees Association actually died by suicide – he apparently walked into moving traffic.
Thus, Jane Doe’s case was again left hanging, particulay as officials truly believed Jay knew more than he was letting on one way or another. Nevertheless, they haven’t lost hope and continue to look up possible leads concerning this entire ordeal so as to, at the very least, identify their victim. The local detectives involved her have actually since respectfully even buried Jane Doe to show her that there are people out in the world who’ll never forget her – they want justice for her in every way, shape, and form.
Read More: Steven Powell: What Happened to Josh Powell’s Dad? How Did He Die?
