List of formerly unidentified decedents

Example of a poster detailing information about four unidentified victims, all of whom have since been identified as: Tammy Alexander, Tammy Terrell, Sherri Jarvis, and Marcia King.

An unidentified decedent, or unidentified person (also known as UID or UP), is a deceased individual whose identity cannot be determined by law enforcement and medical professionals. In numerous instances, it takes several years to ascertain the identities of some UIDs, while in other situations, they remain unknown indefinitely. A UID may remain unidentified due to insufficient evidence and the absence of personal identification, such as a driver's license. When the remains are so decomposed or mutilated that the body is not easily recognizable, a UID's face may be reconstructed to depict their appearance before death. UIDs are frequently referred to by the placeholder names "John Doe" or "Jane Doe."

Identified

• Linda Agostini, murdered in 1934 in Australia and identified in 1944. She was previously known as "Pyjama Girl."
• Barbara Ann Hackmann Taylor, murdered in 1968 and identified in 1998; she was previously nicknamed "Tent Girl."
• Amber Creek, Creek's frozen body was discovered on 6 February 1997, in Racine County, Wisconsin. She was known as "Racine County Jane Doe" and was identified in June 1998.
• David Glenn Lewis, disappeared from his home near Amarillo, Texas, under unusual circumstances in 1993 and killed in an apparent accident on a state highway near Yakima, Washington, shortly afterwards; as he had no identification on him he was not identified until 2004.
• Erica Green, formerly known as "Precious Doe," murdered in 2001 and identified in 2005.
• George Robert Johnston, formerly known as the "Ballarat Bandit," a Canadian man who committed suicide in California in 2004 and identified in 2006.
• Tammy Vincent, Vincent's burned body was discovered on the morning of 26 September 1979, in Tiburon, California, and identified in July 2007, Prior to identification, Vincent was known as "Tiburon Jane Doe".
• Riley Ann Sawyers, nicknamed "Baby Grace," murdered in 2007 and identified later that year.
• Atcel Olmedo, formerly known as "DuPage Johnny Doe", murdered in 2005 and identified in 2011.
• Anjelica Castillo, formerly "Baby Hope," murdered in 1991 and identified in 2013.
• Kori Lamaster, as known nicknamed "Pogonip Jane" and "Kori Bowman", found in Pogonip Park, California in 1994 and identified in 2013.
• Barbara Precht, nicknamed "Pearl Lady", found in the Ohio River in 2006 and identified in 2014.
• Michelle Garvey, found murdered on 1 July 1982, in Baytown, Texas, and known as "Baytown Jane Doe" until her identification in 2014.
• Tammy Alexander, found murdered in 1979 and identified in 2015. She was formerly known as "Caledonia Jane Doe" and "Cali Doe."
• Brenda Gerow, found on 8 April 1981, in Tucson, Arizona, and known as "Pima County Jane Doe" until she was identified in 2015.
• Carol Ann Cole, found murdered on 28 February 1981, in Bossier Parish, Louisiana, and known as "Bossier Doe" until her identification in February 2015.
• Jason Callahan, known prior to identification as "Grateful Doe," died in a 1995 car accident and identified in 2015.
• Marcia King, previously known as "Buckskin Girl," found murdered in 1981 and identified in 2018.
• Linda Pagano, previously known as "Strongsville Jane Doe", found murdered in 1975 and identified in 2018. Due to a clerical error, Pagano's case had not been added to national databases until her cemetery record was rediscovered in 2016 by an amateur genealogist.
• Debra Jackson, found murdered in 1979 and identified in 2019. She was previously nicknamed "Orange Socks" for the only clothing remaining on her body upon discovery.
• Joseph Henry Loveless, whose partial remains were located in 1979 and identified in 2019. Loveless' was estimated to have been murdered in 1916, marking the oldest identification using forensic genealogy thus far.
• Danny Stutzman, previously known as "Little Boy Blue" and "Matthew", was discovered on December 24, 1985, and identified in 1987.
• Kimberly Maria McLean, alias Lori Erica Ruff, found dead by suicide in 2010; her husband's family subsequently discovered that her identity was falsified. Her true identity remained unknown until 2016.
• Robert Ivan Nichols, alias Joseph Newton Chandler III, found dead by suicide in 2002; investigators found that he had stolen the identity of a deceased eight-year-old boy. He was identified in 2018.
• Lyle Stevik (alias), found dead by suicide in 2001 and identified in 2018; his family has chosen not to make his identity public.
• Elizabeth Roberts, a teenaged girl murdered in 1977 and identified in 2020. Nicknamed “Precious Jane Doe” by the detective who reopened her case, Roberts is an early case of DNA sequencing using rootless hair.
• Alisha Heinrich, found murdered in 1982 and identified in 2020. She was previously known as "Delta Dawn."
• Dean and Tina Clouse, found murdered on January 12, 1981, and publicly identified on the 40th anniversary of their discoveries. Their missing infant daughter was found alive in Oklahoma in 2022.
• James Freund and Pamela Buckley, found murdered on 9 August 1976, and publicly identified on 21 January 2021; formerly known as the "Sumter County Does."
• Carolyn Eaton, previously known as "Valentine Sally", was found on 14 February 1982, and was identified on 22 February 2021.
• Evelyn Colon, United States, found murdered in 1976 and known as "Beth Doe" until her identification in 2021.
• John Gregory, found in 1859 and identified in 2021, the engineer (warrant officer) of HMS Erebus, a ship that attempted to traverse the then-undocumented Canadian Arctic and find the Northwest Passage. His identification is currently the oldest being made by DNA comparison.
• Stevie Crawford, A boy found dead in a river in Ashland, Oregon on 11 July 1963, and formerly known as "Boy in a Bundle", was identified on 28 June 2021, thanks to advances in DNA.
• Gordon Sanderson, Canada, found in 1977 and was known as "Septic Tank Sam" until his identification in 2021.
• Margaret Fetterolf, previously known as "Woodlawn Jane Doe", was found murdered on 12 September 1976, in Woodlawn, Maryland, and identified on 15 September 2021.
• Sherri Jarvis, previously known as "Walker County Jane Doe", was found murdered on 1 November 1980, in Huntsville, Texas, and publicly identified on 9 November 2021.
• Amy Yeary, previously known as "Fond du Lac County Jane Doe", was found on 23 November 2008, in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, and identified on 23 November 2021.
• Tammy Terrell, previously known as "Arroyo Grande Jane Doe", was found murdered on 5 October 1980, in Henderson, Nevada, and identified on 2 December 2021.
• Sharon Lee Gallegos, previously known as "Little Miss Nobody", was a murdered toddler found on 31 July 1960, in Congress, Arizona, and identified on 15 March 2022.
• Kelly, previously known as "El Dorado Jane Doe", was found on 10 July 1991, in El Dorado, Arkansas, and identified on 24 May 2022.
• Carl Isaacs Jr., previously known as "Rock County John Doe" and "John Clinton Doe", was found on 26 November 1995, in Rock County, Wisconsin, and identified on 14 June 2022.
• Dawn Olanick, previously known as "Princess Doe", was found on 15 July 1982, and was publicly identified on 15 July 2022.
• Ruth Marie Terry, previously known as "Lady of the Dunes", was found on 26 July 1974, and was publicly identified on 31 October 2022.
• Joseph Augustus Zarelli, previously known as "Boy in the Box", was found on 25 February 1957, identified by law enforcement on 30 November 2022, and publicly identified on 8 December 2022.
• Amore Joveah Wiggins, previously known as "Opelika Jane Doe", was discovered on January 28, 2012, and identified in January 2023.
• Ruth Waymire, previously known as "Spokane Millie Doe", was found in 1984, and identified in March 2023.

See also

• List of wheel-well stowaway flights, many of whom do not survive the attempt and have not been identified
• Body identification
• Operation Identify Me
• Unidentified decedent