ST. LOUIS — A social media post from someone with the username “finding-jeanetta” has St. Louis homicide detectives abuzz, as they hope it could help them solve the gruesome murder of a child that’s haunted the department for 40 years.
The post appeared on Reddit about a month ago.
The author, who did not publish their name, asked for help in finding their older sister, who was 9 years old on Valentine’s Day in 1983 -- the last time the author says anyone remembers seeing her alive in Terre Haute, Indiana. The missing girl was living with her father then – who is not the author’s father – and he had ties to St. Louis.
Fourteen days later, on Feb. 28, 1983, the decapitated remains of a little girl forensic experts believe was between the ages of 8 and 12 years old were found in the basement of an abandoned building.
But whoever “finding-jeanetta” is has gone dark. Several people commented on the post, suggesting it could be connected to the unsolved St. Louis case known as Little Jane Doe.
5 On Your Side posted a comment asking the author for comment, but hasn’t heard back.
Neither have police.
Now, the police department is asking the public for help as they continue to track down this lead.
“The level of detail that is contained within this post, there seems to be a fair amount of information that could potentially fit with the information that investigators already know,” said St. Louis police Sgt. Charles Wall, who spoke on behalf of the homicide division. “We have to hold out hope that there's somebody that knows something.”
The author states they had different fathers, and their sister’s father took the older sister from her maternal grandmother’s house while their mother was in prison.
Relatives of the missing little girl told the author the last time anyone saw her was when another sister babysat her on Valentine’s Day in 1983 while her father and his new wife went on a date.
Fourteen days later, the decapitated remains of a little girl were discovered in the basement of a vacant apartment building in the 5600 block of Clemens Avenue in St. Louis.
Forensic pathologists estimated she was between the ages of 8 to 12 years old.
The author believes their missing sister was born May 15, 1973 – which would have made her 9 years old when the unidentified body was found.
Here are some of the details that stand out to police:
- The author and their older sister went to live with their maternal grandmother after their mother went to jail in 1981.
- The author lived with her missing older sister for at least two years when the missing girl’s father picked her up from her grandmother’s house just after the new year in 1983.
- When their mother got out of prison in 1986, the missing girl’s father would not let her speak or see the daughter they shared.
- St. Louis police exhumed Little Jane Doe’s remains in June 2013 for further forensic testing. Minerals in her bones indicated she likely came from six states in the middle of the country, including Missouri, Illinois and Indiana.
- A possible name: Jeanetta Brooks
At 84, retired St. Louis homicide detective Joe Burgoon is one of the last remaining original detectives who worked the case from the beginning.
He said St. Louis detectives always speculated the victim couldn’t have been living in St. Louis at the time of her murder because they combed through every school roster and accounted for every child who was enrolled at the time.
He remembers going inside the vacant apartment building and seeing Little Jane Doe’s remains.
She was laying on her stomach, with her hands bound behind her back with a red and white nylon rope. She was naked from the waist down, wearing nothing but a yellow V-neck long-sleeve sweater with the label cut out. It was stained with blood, but detectives don’t believe that basement is where she was killed because her body didn’t have any blood left in it. Neither did her stomach.
She had no signs of abuse, and the sweater was in otherwise very good condition with creases still in it from where it had once been neatly folded.
Her nails were painted red, but sloppy and chipped, like any child who painted their own nails would have, Burgoon recalled.
Wall said detectives like Burgoon worked doggedly to solve the case.
“It’s just unimaginable,” Wall said.
And it’s proven to be impossible to solve.
Police and crime lab experts have tried to test Little Jane Doe’s DNA against multiple databases that have led to breaks in other seemingly unsolvable cases across the country.
Nothing has ever clicked in this case.
Now, police are hoping a social media post might change that.
Anyone with information is asked to call the St. Louis Homicide Division at 314-444-5731, or, to remain anonymous, call CrimeStoppers at 877-371-TIPS.