Vernon County Jane Doe

On the night of May 4, 1984, three teenagers came across the body of a woman lying a short distance off Old Line Road, a gravel road in rural Vernon County about six miles outside Westby, Wisconsin. She had died of blunt force trauma to the head: her jaw and an eye socket were shattered, her dentures had been broken, and investigators noted a possible sharp-force wound near her left ear. Both of her hands had been removed, which investigators believe was done to prevent identification through fingerprints. She was estimated to have been dead 24 to 48 hours, and the evidence suggested she had been killed elsewhere and left at the roadside.

The victim was a white woman estimated to be between 50 and 65 years old, about 5 feet 5 inches tall and roughly 150 pounds, with blue eyes and permed brown hair graying at the temples. She wore a black dress with a paisley print, a light blue turtleneck sweater, a multicolored coat, nylon stockings, and slip-on shoes; some of the clothing appeared handmade, and all brand labels had been removed. A broken denture and a man's Seiko watch were recovered near the body. In the days after the discovery, two witnesses reported having seen a bright yellow compact car, possibly a Datsun, stopped near U.S. Highway 14 in the area on the evening of May 4, with a man walking around the vehicle. A composite sketch was produced, but the man was never located.

The woman was buried in Viroqua, Wisconsin, and the investigation continued for decades, generating more than 4,000 leads according to the Vernon County Sheriff's Office. On August 12, 2015, her remains were exhumed so that DNA samples could be taken and a new forensic facial reconstruction could be prepared; forensic artist Catyana Falsetti completed the reconstruction, which was released in December 2015. In 2018, pollen testing on her clothing, performed through U.S. Customs and Border Protection, indicated she most likely came from an urban area in the semi-arid highlands of Arizona or New Mexico rather than from Wisconsin. At least seven missing women have been ruled out as possible identities over the years.

The case, listed in NamUs as UP4786, was taken on by the DNA Doe Project for investigative genetic genealogy work. Around June 28, 2023, the organization announced that the case had been transferred to another provider of forensic genetic genealogy, noting that it remains an open case. The Vernon County Sheriff's Office and the Wisconsin Department of Justice continue to investigate, and around the 40th anniversary of the discovery in 2024 the sheriff's office publicly renewed its appeal for information. As of the most recent updates, the woman found near Westby has still not been identified, and no one has ever been charged in her death.