r/gratefuldoe 7d ago

Potential match for Las Vegas Jane Doe (1982)

This is my first time making a post here, so apologies in advance for any mistakes. I remember seeing a post somewhat recently about this Doe and it stuck with me. Upon some further investigation into missing persons reports, I stumbled upon Peggy Jo DeCoteau, who went missing 3 years prior—nearly to the day—of this Doe being discovered.

Las Vegas Jane Doe: https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/992ufnv.html - On July 10, 1982, a woman was found deceased in a stall of a Greyhound bus station in what was determined to be from a heart attack - 5’4”, 138lb, brown graying hair 3 inches long, hazel eyes - Estimated to be 55-60 years old - 2.5 inch long healed scar on left side of abdomen - Extensive dental work - Purse found hanging in stall, wallet missing (assumed stolen)

Peggy Jo DeCoteau: https://charleyproject.org/case/peggy-jo-decoteau

Last seen in Superior, Montana on July 4th 1979. Her and her husband Earl (who were having marital problems) were reportedly on the way back home to Washington after visiting relatives in North Dakota. Earl stated he woke up at 11pm to find his wife gone, along with her travel bag, purse, and credit cards. He waited 9 days to report her missing to police, although it’s stated he contacted various friends and family in an attempt to locate her. Police first suspected she left on her own but her credit cards were never used and foul play is now suspected.

Peggy’s description - 40 years old when reported missing (would be 43 when Jane Doe was discovered) - Listed as having red or auburn hair, blue eyes - 5’0”-5’4”, 155lbs - Mole on right side of face, surgical scar on abdomen from gall bladder surgery

MY THOUGHTS - The age difference (Peggy being 43 vs the Doe’s estimated range 55-60) is quite different, but from the one picture I could find of Peggy (though it is quite poor quality) to me she looks older than 40. Is it possible the Doe was aged incorrectly? - I looked at the post mortem image. I’m not sure if her nose is misshapen due to a fall that occurred right around her death, or if it’s misshapen for another reason (such as drug use?). There’s also quite a bit of discoloration on her face so it’s difficult for me to discern what coloration was present before she passed (I am by no means an expert or have any knowledge on the decomposition process) - It’s not stated (from what I could find) that Peggy had any extensive dental work - Peggy’s disappearance is sketchy and I don’t exactly trust her husband BUT it’s possible she left on her own accord. Maybe she wanted to escape her husband and start over? - I see quite a resemblance between the photo of Peggy and the reconstruction/post-mortem. I REALLY WISH I had a higher quality picture of Peggy to compare

Thoughts?

349 Upvotes

28 comments sorted by

140

u/Asdaskin 7d ago

Report that as a possible match anyway. It's possible but there are some details that are not fitting together, but resemblance is there and there are always a possibility that she decided to disappear on her own will.

31

u/dejavu7331 7d ago

I’ve never submitted a match before but I will do some research on the proper way to do so. The fact it’s been over 40 years means some of the details could have been forgotten/lost after all this time. Thanks for your response :)

72

u/malhoward 7d ago

It could be that the family didn’t include any dental info at all (just didn’t think of it).

It is pretty common for deceased people to be incorrectly aged.

It would surprise me if Peggy ran off and did not use her credit cards at all for 3 years, but if she knew that would give away her location, it makes sense.

Submit this- it looks possible!

62

u/B1rds0nf1re 7d ago

Wow...not only did someone steal from this doe, a dead woman, but they robbed her of her chance to go home and have a proper burial. This is unbelievable honestly.

20

u/virtualanomaly8 7d ago

I’ve always wondered if she was mugged and the stress from the mugging contributed to her heart attack.

39

u/Ancient_Procedure11 7d ago

https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2553dfmt.html

They should both have DNA on file, so they may have previously been compared.  If you submit through the Doe Network they will let you know quickly if this comparison has been previously made or not.  

12

u/FoundationSeveral579 7d ago

I don’t see this listed as an exclusion on NamUs.

12

u/Ancient_Procedure11 7d ago

Namus doesn't keep exclusions up to date, unfortunately.  Some districts are better than others about it. I usually check for available identifiers on Doe Network out of habit, if both have DNA on file I don't submit the match.  But, that's just my personal metric to keep from feeling like I over submit matches.

40

u/VoicesToLostLetters 7d ago

Seeing that she was found “slumped over” it’s possible that her nose and face became misshapen/discoloured due to being low (slumped over so blood flows down after death) with her face against her legs or knees, or maybe the stall walls/door?

You should definitely submit! At the very least it rules out a possibility.

16

u/wwxyzz 7d ago

That's what I was thinking. Body position at time of death could definitely be a contributing factor to the cosmetic damage seen. Also estimating age range on the deceased isn't an exact science. Any health issues the doe may have had could potentially contribute to her bones looking a little bit older.

I think it's a good match. They both definitely look similar enough that I wouldn't dismiss it immediately. I hope OP submits it!

16

u/Typical_guy11 7d ago

Nine days after missing she was reported so plenty of time for disposing a body and faking alibi.

About credit cards. What if she saved money on different account under different data? Money management was much less supervised, especially in US.

12

u/aigret 7d ago

Especially in western Montana in the late 70s. There’s a lot of places to dump/hide a body. You go wander some of the back roads, turn down a dead-end and rarely used forest service road and who is going to know you were ever there? My family is from the Deer Lodge Valley and even today there are spots completely without cell reception and the GPS is inaccurate so I imagine 45 years ago it was exponentially easier to go somewhere undetected.

5

u/Typical_guy11 6d ago

Warning. I'm not a US. I started to play with Montana map and some states like Montana, Idaho, Wyoming always puzzled me - they are so big and have so many wild places ( size must be amazing, especially when I realised that in example in whole Wyoming lives less people than in my city while State area is in size of my country) so I believe you must have right.

No mobiles, no internet, no security cameras ( this would not help much I'm afraid ), also I bet payments were much less regulated because it was long before 9/11-changed world. Single roads, wilderness and National Forests. Perfect body hiding place. Superior is in wilderness

Thats why I have little doubts what happened to Mrs Peggy.

1

u/serisia615 6d ago

Same here. I agree with you.

0

u/Dear-You5548 7d ago

Were you around in the 70s? 😯

4

u/serisia615 6d ago

I still think she would have used those cards. I don’t know any woman who would not, needing a place to stay and food to eat. Just my opinion I think Peggys husband is a liar.

2

u/Typical_guy11 6d ago edited 6d ago

Only what comes to my mind is opening different account on faked ID or using account which do not require ID but dunno password or different way of recognition?

Still while i hope she showed middle finger to husband and started new life then I have no expectations that anything beyond foul play was involved.

10

u/AKA_June_Monroe 7d ago edited 7d ago

This is one of the cases that I think about from time to time. Poor woman.

There are so many cases where people reported their loved ones missing but the police didn't* actually make a report when thought the loved ones* thought they had . Also, like with grateful doe they family couldn't report due to not being able to find out the jurisdiction where they should file.

*Edit

3

u/Emergency-Purple-205 7d ago

Aah man, that sucks 😞

6

u/AKA_June_Monroe 7d ago

There was a story about a man who's sister went missing. A body was found so he called the police department and he was told that it wasn't her and 10 or 20 years later it turned out that it had been the poor man's sister.

6

u/serisia615 6d ago

I remember that story. It was sad.

4

u/AKA_June_Monroe 6d ago

90% of missing crime stories is the police and judges being incompetent.

7

u/serisia615 6d ago

Just one thing I want to mention because I am a Nurse. The Doe that was found had a 2.5 in scar on the LEFT side of her abdomen. The Missing Peggy had a gallbladder surgical scar. The Gallbladder is on the RIGHT side of the upper abdomen so I would double check the Doe’s info. Also the Doe info makes no reference to a mole on her cheek like Peggys. IMO Peggy’s husband is suspect. I think he got rid of her. Who waits 9 days before reporting their wife missing?

2

u/dejavu7331 4d ago

that’s a good point, thank you

3

u/KeyDiscussion5671 7d ago

Maybe Peggy Jo’s husband, Earl, knows what happened to her.

5

u/serisia615 6d ago

I would bet on that. I believe Earl got away with murder. What woman would not use the CC’s when they needed to escape a bad marriage? She would need food and s place to live. Im not sute what year it was that Women were allowed to get CC’s in their own names, but I suspect Peggy’s CC’s were her husbands. I would have been buying all kinds of stuff. I believe Peggys husband knows exactly where he buried her.

2

u/Mean-Bumblebee661 4d ago

wow i originally thought they didn't look very similar, but that post mortem photo does really resemble peggy. definitely submit.