Post by vivazapata on Jul 6, 2020 19:32:51 GMT
I saw this case years ago on AMW. It was covered there and on other broadcasts many times, the most recent that I know of on Crime Watch Daily.
I always wondered why being somewhat famous it hadnt joined the legion of Jane Doe cases being looked at...well looks like it had !
In a poetic twist her murderer was murdered and doesnt appear to have been solved.
www.nbc-2.com/story/42249743/decadesold-cold-case-solved-by-monroe-county-detectives
Investigators from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Monroe County Sheriff's Office solved a homicide cold case with new DNA technology, officials said.
The body of an unknown victim was found in a wooded area off US 1 near Mile Marker 35 on Feb. 15, 1991, according to a press release.
Drawing national media attention, the "Valentine Jane Doe Homicide" was featured on shows like "Unsolved Mysteries."
The previously unknown female has now been identified as 18-year-old Wanda Deann Kirkum of Hornell, New York.
Kirkum was never officially reported missing to law enforcement and both her parents are now deceased, the release said.
Her killer has been identified as Robert Lynn Bradley, who died as a victim of a homicide in Tarrant County, Texas in April 1992. He was 31 years old.
Major Crimes Unit Detective Vince Weiner and the FDLE used new advanced DNA technology, which helped to identify the victim and the suspect.
Bradley's DNA was taken from the 1991 crime scene in the Florida Keys. That crime scene, as well as the 1992 Texas scene, were recently compared at the FDLE crime lab and determined to be a match.
The Texas investigation provided evidence that suggested he lived in Miami, Florida in late November 1990.
Witnesses saw Kirkum hitchhiking out of Key West on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, 1991. Some people remembered seeing her northbound on U.S. 1 at Mile Marker 10 on Big Coppitt Key and again at Mile Marker 15.
Kirkum was last seen at Mile Marker 17 still hitchhiking at approximately 6:30 p.m.
The next day, windsurfers found her body at approximately 8:15 a.m. off a dirt road east of Big Pine Key and west of Bahia Honda Key.
Kirkum was face down and nude, with the exception of her bikini top, with which she had been strangled, the release said. A forensic examination concluded that she was beaten, sexually assaulted and strangled to death.
Countless hours have been poured into trying to solve the homicide. The Sheriff’s Office maintains more than 4,000 pages of investigative documentation. Now, with the victim and suspect identities known, the Sheriff’s Office is formally considering the “Valentine Jane Doe Homicide” resolved and closed.
I always wondered why being somewhat famous it hadnt joined the legion of Jane Doe cases being looked at...well looks like it had !
In a poetic twist her murderer was murdered and doesnt appear to have been solved.
www.nbc-2.com/story/42249743/decadesold-cold-case-solved-by-monroe-county-detectives
Investigators from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Monroe County Sheriff's Office solved a homicide cold case with new DNA technology, officials said.
The body of an unknown victim was found in a wooded area off US 1 near Mile Marker 35 on Feb. 15, 1991, according to a press release.
Drawing national media attention, the "Valentine Jane Doe Homicide" was featured on shows like "Unsolved Mysteries."
The previously unknown female has now been identified as 18-year-old Wanda Deann Kirkum of Hornell, New York.
Kirkum was never officially reported missing to law enforcement and both her parents are now deceased, the release said.
Her killer has been identified as Robert Lynn Bradley, who died as a victim of a homicide in Tarrant County, Texas in April 1992. He was 31 years old.
Major Crimes Unit Detective Vince Weiner and the FDLE used new advanced DNA technology, which helped to identify the victim and the suspect.
Bradley's DNA was taken from the 1991 crime scene in the Florida Keys. That crime scene, as well as the 1992 Texas scene, were recently compared at the FDLE crime lab and determined to be a match.
The Texas investigation provided evidence that suggested he lived in Miami, Florida in late November 1990.
Witnesses saw Kirkum hitchhiking out of Key West on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, 1991. Some people remembered seeing her northbound on U.S. 1 at Mile Marker 10 on Big Coppitt Key and again at Mile Marker 15.
Kirkum was last seen at Mile Marker 17 still hitchhiking at approximately 6:30 p.m.
The next day, windsurfers found her body at approximately 8:15 a.m. off a dirt road east of Big Pine Key and west of Bahia Honda Key.
Kirkum was face down and nude, with the exception of her bikini top, with which she had been strangled, the release said. A forensic examination concluded that she was beaten, sexually assaulted and strangled to death.
Countless hours have been poured into trying to solve the homicide. The Sheriff’s Office maintains more than 4,000 pages of investigative documentation. Now, with the victim and suspect identities known, the Sheriff’s Office is formally considering the “Valentine Jane Doe Homicide” resolved and closed.
