Decapitated Girl Remains Unidentified Weeks After Slaying
June 14 -- Despite all their investigative technology and pleas on national television, Kansas City and FBI authorities still do not know who "Precious Doe" is.
It's been nearly two months since the little girl's severed head and naked body were found in a wooded area in Kansas City, Mo.
The case has been featured on America's Most Wanted twice, and still no one has claimed the little girl's body. No one seems to miss the child: no parents have come forward, no teachers or neighbors have successfully identified her computer-generated picture.
A positive ID remains the key to the case. So far, without a name, all DNA testing and computer-generated sketches have been rendered moot. Investigators cannot make progress in searching for Precious Doe's killer.
"Without a name, I really have no place to begin," said Sgt. David Bernard, the lead homicide detective in the case. "Without an ID, we can't talk to parents, relatives and teachers who can give us a background on the child and tell us who their friends, associates were."
A Community Mobilizes
The girl was dubbed "Precious Doe" by Move UP, a community outreach group that has helped Kansas City police with the investigation and did not want her generically identified as Jane Doe.
The girl's horrific slaying has moved the Kansas City community, bringing both white and African-American residents together to pass out more than 40,000 fliers to help identify the little victim and find her killer.
"This was such a horrendous case that we volunteered our services," said Jim Nunn, executive director of Move UP and a retired 27-year veteran homicide investigator. "The case is so unusual — that child is murdered and no one can identify her. Usually a parent, a teacher, a neighbor — someone — would miss her and come forward. And especially since this involves a child, people here are determined to find the killer."
Police came upon her beheaded body on April 28 while searching for a missing elderly man, who was later found. Three days later, the girl's head was found in a plastic bag.
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