Season 1 - Episode 5: Forgotten in the Forest - The Elma Jane Doe & Anne Lehman Cases

In this episode, we explore two haunting cold cases from the Pacific Northwest—one still unsolved, and another finally closed after nearly 50 years through the power of forensic genealogy.

Case 1: Elma 1988 Jane Doe On October 24, 1988, skeletal remains were found off a remote logging road near Elma, WA. The woman had been killed by a gunshot to the head, likely between 1982 and 1988. She was about 28 years old, 5 feet tall, and possibly of Native American or Southeast Asian descent. Her jaw had been broken near the time of death.

She was fully clothed in a men’s blue Loren Scott shirt, black Venezia pants, a floral blouse, slip-on shoes (worn only briefly), a pearl ring (Avon, Winter 1981), and a gold earring with five blue sapphires. A woman’s inside-out shirt was nearby. The scene suggested she was killed where she was found—five miles from the nearest paved road. Despite extensive DNA testing and outreach to tribes, her identity remains a mystery.

If you have information, contact the Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office at 360-249-3711.

Sources:

• DNA Doe Project: https://dnadoeproject.org/case/grays-harbor-co-jane-doe-1988/
• KIRO 7: https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/can-you-help-murdered-womans-remains-found-near-elma-still-unidentified-after-nearly-36-years/WQDUWHCX5BGEFERVJPVS6D6P3I/

Case 2: Annie Marie Lehman (1970–1971) Annie, 17, vanished from Aberdeen, WA, in 1971. Rumors tied her disappearance to human trafficking. Witnesses said she left with an older woman possibly linked to San Francisco. A year later, in August 1971, a father and son camping in Josephine County, OR, found a young woman’s remains in a forested dump site. Near her were a hunting knife, a map of Northern California campgrounds, and 38 cents.

The victim—nicknamed “Jane Annie Doe”—was about 5'4", 125 lbs, with dyed red hair and buck teeth. She wore a sterling ring with the initials “MH” and a mother-of-pearl ring with an “A” scratched in. A clay reconstruction by forensic artist Joyce Nagy in 2004 was named “Annie.”

In 2016, isotope analysis pointed to northeastern U.S. origins. In 2017, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the DNA Doe Project reopened the case. After degraded DNA recovery and tracing family trees across Canada, England, and New Zealand, a sibling match confirmed her identity. On March 12, 2019, Jane Doe was identified as Anne Marie Lehman, solving Josephine County’s oldest cold case.

If you have info, contact Josephine County Sheriff’s Office at 541-474-5123, Case #71-940.

Sources:

• Doe Network: https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/404ufor.html
• KOMO News: https://komonews.com/news/local/human-remains-found-in-woods-nearly-50-years-ago-idd-as-missing-wash-girl
• The Daily World: https://www.thedailyworld.com/news/is-annie-doe-annie-lehman/