HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. — It’s been 29 years since the body of New Hope Jane Doe was discovered. But North Carolina investigators still don’t know her name or who her family is, but they aren’t giving up hope.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office said investigators believe New Hope Jane Doe was strangled to death. It was a work crew that discovered her body just beyond the New Hope Road exit on I-40 in Hillsborough.
Investigators said the woman had been dead 4-6 days before her body was discovered on September 19, 1990, near a guardrail on the highway.
They are not sure how old she was when she was killed but have given an age range of 15-25 years old. She was found in an oversized pink sweatshirt with three cartoon bunnies on the front. She was also wearing a thin yellow metal bracelet on her left wrist. She was 5'03'' tall and weighed around 120 pounds. She had blond, possibly frosted hair.
Sheriff Charles Blackwood was a patrol deputy at the time her body was discovered.
“Investigators pursued more than 100 leads, but we still don’t know who she is or who killed her. We want to learn who this young woman was and bring her family peace,” he said.
In 2018, a talented forensic artist completed a new illustration of New Hope Jane Doe to show her teeth. She had fillings in three of her teeth. She also had a 3-inch surgical scar on her lower right abdomen, consistent with an appendix surgery.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office said, “We want as many people as possible to see this new picture. Social media wasn’t a resource in 1990. Now, it allows us to get her likeness in front of more people than we ever dreamed possible back then. This image needs to reach the right person – the person who knows who this girl was.”
If you have any information about New Hope Jane Doe or if you know who she is, contact the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) or the Orange County Sheriff’s Office at 919-245-2927. Click here, to submit an anonymous tip.