Former BCCC Criminal Justice major, Detective Chris McMullin, is hoping that DNA and forensic sculpting can identify skeletal remains that were found in Bensalem ten years ago.

According to McMullin, on Sept. 18, 1995 two children playing in a small patch of woods, behind what was the Club House Diner on Street Rd., found what they thought was a turtle shell. However, it turned out to be the skull of a woman.

Since there were no leads in the case, it went cold. In 2002, McMullin, confined to desk duty after a knee surgery, decided to work on the cold cases. At the time, most of them hadn’t been entered into the police computer system. “It was tough; this whole case was in a box,” he said.

“There has been a lot of exposure on this, and we got a lot of leads, but they all hit dead ends,” McMullin said. “It is kind of sad.”

Police documents show that the body of the woman was wrapped in plastic and had no clothing on. She was estimated to be between 35 and 45 years old, and approximately 4-feet-8-inches to 5-feet-2-inches tall. Found near the body were 2 t-shirts, a pair of pants, a sleeveless vest, 2 crucifixes, a beaded car seat cushion, a piece of rope, and a small sample of hair.

Police documents stated that the pants were size 40×30, light blue corduroy, Rustler brand. The vest was quilted and also blue. One of the t-shirts had “KPMG Peat Marwick” written across the front. McMullin was able to trace this to a company in San Francisco, CA. The second t-shirt had “Property of Alcatraz Penitentiary Swim Team” on it.

McMullin said an autopsy showed that the hyoid bone, located in the neck, was the only bone missing, which he says is typical of strangulation. The medical examiner determined that the time of death was at least 1 to 2 years before she was found.

McMullin put details of the case on a nonprofit website, www.DoeNetwork.org. The website contacted McMullin about providing a forensic sculptor, Seth Wolfson, to create a likeness of this Jane Doe from her skull. This is done by first creating a cast of the skull. A face is then sculpted out of clay using standard depth markers placed at different areas around the skull as guides.
After convincing Bensalem Township and the District Attorney’s office to split the cost, McMullin was able to exhume the body and take a DNA sample of Jane Doe in May 2004.

He is currently working with Camden Police in an effort to locate the family of Elba Irizarry, a woman missing since 1993. Irizarry’s description and time of disappearance is a close match for the body found. If Irizarry’s family members can be located, their DNA can be used to find a link.

If you have any information about this case, contact Detective Chris McMullin at 215-633-3726.