In 2019, a team from the University of Indianapolis, led by Forensic Anthropologist Dr. Krista Latham, digs to locate the remains of a ‘Jane Doe’ buried at the Fowler Cemetery in the 1970s. The woman who has became known in the area as the ‘Woman in the Box’ has now been identified as Jane Hart. Photo by Clayton Doty/Benton Review
Nearly five decades after the body of an unidentified woman was discovered stuffed inside a cardboard box in a rural Benton County cornfield, investigators have finally restored her identity.
Benton County Coroner Matt Rosenbarger announced that the homicide victim long known only as the “Woman in the Box” or Benton County Jane Doe has been positively identified as Jane Hart, born in 1906 whose last known residence was in Chicago. She was murdered at age 69.
The identification ends nearly 50 years of mystery surrounding one of Indiana’s most enduring cold cases and is the result of years of work by the Benton County Coroner’s Office, the DNA Doe Project, the Human Identification Center at the University of Indianapolis, the Indiana State Police and numerous forensic specialists and volunteer genealogists. “The DNA recovered from Jane Hart’s remains was extremely degraded, and obtaining a usable profile required significant advances in DNA technology,” Rosenbarger said. “This investigation experienced many highs and lows over the years, but the determination of everyone involved never wavered. The DNA Doe Project has been an extraordinary partner throughout this process. They are an astronomical asset.”
Hart’s remains were exhumed from the Fowler Cemetery in 2019 as investigators renewed efforts to identify the victim using modern forensic techniques. The Benton County Coroner’s Office partnered with the DNA Doe Project, a nonprofit organization that uses investigative genetic genealogy to identify unidentified homicide victims.
After scientists developed a DNA profile, genealogists quickly determined the victim was of Croatian ancestry. That discovery presented a challenge because people of Eastern European descent remain underrepresented in public genealogy databases commonly used in investigative genetic genealogy.
“We could tell that our Jane Doe had Croatian ancestry, which posed a challenge,” said Harmony Vollmer, co-leader of the DNA Doe Project team. “Without more people of Eastern European descent uploading to the GEDmatch, FamilyTreeDNA and DNA Justice databases we have access to, cases like this will remain tricky to solve.”
Despite the limited DNA matches — the closest sharing just 1.6% of her DNA — volunteer genealogists spent years researching census records, institutional records, probate files and family histories before making a breakthrough in 2024.
Investigators traced the victim to a Croatian immigrant woman who arrived in the United States in 1905 and gave birth to a daughter the following year. Difficult family circumstances led to the child being placed in an orphanage. Census records later showed the daughter moved from Ohio to Chicago as an adult. Her name was Jane Hart.
“We uncovered further documentation from institutions that Jane had lived in, as well as probate records linking her to her family,” said Traci Onders, co-leader of the DNA Doe Project. “This research revealed genetic and genealogical connections that enabled us to identify her as a candidate.”
Rosenbarger said the work was far from over after Hart emerged as a likely match.
Numerous interviews, genealogical research, historical records, advances in DNA technology, communication with family members and countless cold calls eventually confirmed Hart’s identity. Distant relative of Hart, Ron Maloney provided extensive family genealogy that helped investigators connect missing pieces of the family’s history.
“It was thanks to the assistance of Jane’s surviving family that we have been able to confirm her identity,” Onders said. “Once we had identified Jane as a likely candidate, they assisted by taking DNA tests and uploading their DNA data to GEDmatch, the results of which proved Benton County’s Jane Doe to be their long-lost relative.”
Several of Hart’s distant relatives recently met with investigators during a Zoom call to discuss the confirmed identification.
The investigation began on Oct. 8, 1976, when farmer Norman Skoog discovered a sealed cardboard box while harvesting corn near Otterbein. According to reports, Skoog and his father-in-law loaded the box into a pickup truck and took it to his residence before opening it.
Inside, they found the body of a woman wrapped in multiple layers of plastic and tied with white rope. Investigators noted a strong odor of perfume emanating from the box.
An autopsy conducted at Purdue University determined the woman had been shot once in the back of the head, with the bullet exiting through her right eye. Investigators estimated she had been dead for approximately one to one-and-a-half weeks, although they believed the box had been placed in the cornfield only 12 to 18 hours before it was discovered.
The autopsy also documented that Hart had undergone a radical right mastectomy and previous abdominal surgery.
Despite extensive efforts in 1976, including fingerprint comparisons, dental examinations and distribution of identifying information nationwide, investigators were unable to determine the victim’s identity. She was buried in a pauper’s grave at Fowler Cemetery on Oct. 18, 1976.
Although Hart has finally been identified, authorities say the homicide investigation remains an active cold case.
Benton County Coroner Rosenbarger did say they don’t believe that theories of the box being dropped by helicopter hold any real ground.
The Benton County Coroner’s Office credited numerous agencies and individuals for helping solve the decades-old mystery, including Dr. Krista E. Latham and the Human Identification Center at the University of Indianapolis, the Indiana State Police Laboratory Division, retired Indiana State Police Detective Bill Nave who was the original investigator on the case, Newton County Coroner Scott McCord, Rod Green Excavating and the volunteer genealogists of the DNA Doe Project.
The DNA Doe Project also recognized HudsonAlpha Discovery, Lakehead University’s Paleo-DNA Lab, Astrea Forensics, Intermountain Forensics, Kevin Lord for bioinformatician, GEDmatch Pro, FamilyTreeDNA and the organization’s donors and volunteers for their contributions to the investigation.
Loading Comments