Someone’s Daughter

In Someone’s Daughter, Silvia Pettem tells of a young woman, known only as “Jane Doe,” found murdered in 1954 in Colorado. Pettem spurred the Vidocq Society and Boulder County Sheriff’s Detective Steve Ainsworth to find the woman’s name and killer. Several Vidocq members selflessly volunteered resources and time: Dr. Richard Froede and Frank Bender did skull and facial reconstructions. Dr. Walter Birkby, Dr. Robert Goldberg, and Dr. Terry Melton worked on DNA. Fred Bornhofen coordinated. Many others contributed. In October 2009, DNA comparison with a surviving sister confirmed Jane Doe’s identity as Dorothy Gay Howard, an 18-year-old missing from Phoenix, Arizona.