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The original was posted on /r/unresolvedmysteries by /u/artisanal_doughnut on 2023-12-31 18:56:59+00:00.
Background:
On February 12, 2012, a person found a skull on the side of Danby Hill Road in Danby, Vermont. The person apparently removed the skull and brought it to state police on their own. No other remains were located. There were signs of trauma apparent on the skull.
Although early reports suggested that the skull belonged to a white woman, later analysis led investigators to believe that the skull belonged to a woman of Asian descent, between 15 and 40 years of age. According to NamUs, the estimated year of death is 1990–2005. A 2012 article stated that investigators were attempting to retrieve DNA from the skull. I’ve found some earlier sources suggesting they were unsuccessful, but the Doe Network currently claims that they have both DNA and dental records.
The victim is assumed to have been from out of state, as no one matching the description has been reported missing in Vermont. Danby is a small town in the southwest of Vermont. It’s in Rutland County, so the unidentified woman is sometimes referred to as the Rutland County Jane Doe as well as the Danby Jane Doe. Danby Hill Road is a short distance from US Route 7, which runs through the western parts of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont, ending just before the border with Quebec.
Potential matches:
There’s very little to go on in this case, but I’ve listed some possible matches below. I selected these women because they were last seen in the northeastern US/Canada, though of course it’s entirely possible that the victim was from farther away. Some of the women are slightly outside the age range, but I included them just in case. In most cases, I could find very little information about the circumstances of their disappearances.
• Dominga Tamayo Magpantay: Last seen in Larchmont, NY on February 12, 2003. Age 44 at time of disappearance. NamUs states that she “Left home under unknown circumstances.”
• Sai-Fang Wang: Last seen in Sunset Park in Brooklyn, NY on October 23, 2002. Age 33 at time of disappearance. NamUs says she “left her location and has not returned.”
• Hyungjun Park: Last seen on October 10, 2001. Age 29 at time of disappearance. NamUs says she disappeared from Hamden, CT, but also that she was last heard from in NYC, where she was planning to visit the Korean Consulate, so I’m not sure where exactly her last known location was.
• Li Y. Yan: Last seen in Manhattan on August 1, 1998. Age 44 at time of disappearance. Again, not much other info is available.
• Yong Joo Pak: Last seen in a shelter in NYC on December 28, 1991. Age 45 at time of disappearance.
• Xiu Zi Lin: Last seen February 3, 1998, in Montreal. Lin was a 16-year-old undocumented immigrant with no family in Canada. She left the shelter she was staying at and has not been seen since.
• Norine Higuchi Brown: Last seen December 12, 1990 in New Hyde Park, NY. Age 31 at time of disappearance. According to her husband, Brown went out to buy the ingredients for Christmas cookies at around 11:00 PM and never returned. Unlike the other women I’ve listed, Brown’s disappearance is fairly well-documented; you can read a write-up about it here.
Conclusion:
From what I could tell, there hasn’t been a real update in this case since 2012. I’m hopeful that if DNA really was found, investigators may eventually be able to provide more information that could lead to potential matches. For example, it seems like the skull was identified as being from a person of Asian descent before DNA was found. Identifying ancestry based solely on skull analysis leaves room for a lot of misinterpretation -- see this NYT article for more information. DNA would hopefully give more clues about the Doe's background.
Writing this post was also a stark reminder of how many missing persons on NamUs have received virtually no media coverage. While I have no way of determining if any of the women here are actually the Danby Doe, I hope that by including their names, I can help bring awareness to their stories.