UNIDENTIFIED: December 1953 Wellington, New Zealand Jane Doe

A Jane Doe was found in December of 1953 in Wellington, New Zealand. She either died or was interred at the Kaori Cemetery and Crematorium on December 31st. There is little information in this case.

SOURCES:

Unidentified Wiki

Find a Grave

UNIDENTIFIED: December 27, 1953 Los Angeles, California John Doe

 On December 27, 1953, an off-duty Los Angeles Police Officer was hiking in Griffith Park in Los Angeles, California when he discovered skeletal remains scattered along the hillside. He had died around a year before and there was no evidence of violence on the skull. A broken phonograph was found nearby. It was the type to be used for home recordings so police suspect it was a suicide note. It's also believed that he was not wearing his pants when he died. v

John Doe was a man between 50 to 60-years-old. He was 5'0". He was wearing a grey hat with the initials 'STW', grey trousers, a white nylon shirt, a red sports shirt, and brown Oxford shoes. He had a pocket comb, black plastic lead pencil, a gold wristwatch 'Gruen' brand, a silver scapular medal and chain, a pair of old bifocal glasses, and a pair of horn-rimmed eyeglasses.

SOURCES:

NamUs

Unidentified Wiki

Daily News December 28, 1953

MISSING: Beverly Mastny

 

On September 21, 1953, 15-year-old Beverly Mastny was last seen in Broadview Heights, Ohio. a man would pick her up in front of her grandparent's home. She was never seen again.

Beverly is a white female and was 15-years-old at the time. She's 5'7" and 115 lbs. She has two-toned strawberry-blonde hair and blue eyes. 

SOURCES:

NamUs

Ohio Attorney General

Unsolved Murder of Jonathan Alonzo Anthony

 On November 17, 1953 neighbors of 75-year-old Jonathan Anthony went to check up on him as they had not seen him for two days. They went to his home Burnetts Chapel Rd in Greensboro, North Carolina. He had been bound, severely beaten, and gagged. He was beaten before he was bound and had been suffocated with a torn bed sheet. A blood-stained trowel was found on a shelf on the back porch.

SOURCES:

Rocky Mount Telegram November 19, 1953

The Herald-Sun November 19, 1953

The News and Observer November 19, 1953

The Durham Sun December 11, 1953

Unsolved Murder of Joseph "Joe Stevenson

 Around 12:30 a.m. on October 22, 1953 police received a call for a shooting at the Blue Goose Jook in Belle Glade, Florida. The Blue Goose Jook was a gambling location in Zellwood owned by Lee Grant, who was at the location. The body of Joseph Stevenson who went by Joe Stevens was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds near The Blue Goose Jook.

SOURCES:

Orange County Sheriff's

Murder of Auli Kyllikki Saari

 

Auli Kyllikki Saari(back right) with her sisters

On May 17, 1953, 17-year-old Auli Kyllikki Saari was cycling to her home in Isojoki, Finland from a prayer meeting in Merikarvia. On this particular day, she stated that she was tired, and others found this unusual. She stated that she was going to attend another prayer meeting at Kortteenkylä village schoolhouse. At 6pm she left on her bike and rode 40 minutes to the prayer meeting.

Maiju, a friend of Kyllikki, also attended this meeting. The two would ride home together at 10 p.m. and at 10:30 the two would separate at an intersection. Maiju noted that her friend seemed apprehensive and depressed. When they had gotten to where they needed to separate she seemed nervous to go on alone stating, "Probably it goes now as it has before. Bye then, Maiju." 

A man named Tie-Jaska saw her a mile further from where she and her friend separated. After this, no one saw Kyllikki alive again. She did not arrive home and her family assumed that she stayed the night with Maiju. When she didn't arrive home two days later they assumed she was staying with someone in Isojoki to be closer to work. They would find out she didn't show up to work and didn't see her. She would be reported missing two days after she disappeared.

In the weeks after her disappearance witnesses stated that there was a suspicious cream-hues car with a bike in a nearby storage compartment. Others state that they have heard cries and sobs for help neat the lake in Karrankaja. No one knew what had happened to Kyllikki until October 11, 1953. Her body would be pulled from a bog. 

The bog was close by to where Kyllikki was last seen and it was obvious she had been killed. She had been pushed down with a pine branch into the bog. She was nude from the waist down and her jacket was wrapped around her head.  She had either been suffocated or died from blunt force trauma to her head. It's unknown if she had been sexually assaulted or not.

The pine branch used to push her and keep her in the bog was freshly cut. It had been sharpened by someone who was left-handed. Her shoe, scarf, and a man's sock were also found there. Items of hers were missing though, her wristwatch, red cloth purse, and hymn book were never found.

Kyllikki wasn't one to go out to dances or entertainments. It's believed that she did not have a boyfriend as she didn't tell anyone about having one. She had told an older female friend she had no interest in men and didn't want to get married.

The person who killed Kyllikki had to of been strong. Alli, her older sister, said that Kyllikki was strong and had good arm strength. Not only that, but the person must have carried the girl a distance to the bog, dig, and then refill the grave. Which would have taken some strength to do.

There were several suspects in the crime, but no ones been convicted in the girls murder.

SOURCES:
Wikipedia

Mysteries Unsolved

History of Yesterday

Murder of Odessa Meister

 

On December 20, 1952, 35-year-old Odessa Meister left her home on Columbia Street in Cumberland, Maryland. She would board the Cumberland Transit Lines bus for work and be seen getting off the bus at the Celanese plant on McMullen Highway. Witnesses stated that she was seen approaching a car near the plant's gate after the driver honked the horn. After they talked for a few minutes she got into the car and was never seen alive again.

She wouldn't be seen for almost a month. On Jan. 16, 1953, two high school boys found her body on McNamee's Hill in a pile of cardboard and Life Magazines. She was lying face down 60 yards down the hill and approximately 100 feet west of the extension of Leiper Street. Her eyeglasses and handkerchief were found 50 yards from her body leading down to her. 

Odessa was beaten to death. She was hit about the head around 8 times with a blunt object like a tire tool or wrench. There was no sign of a struggle as her clothes seemed to be in good condition, but there was a bruise on the second finger of her right hand. It's believed that she was not beaten where she was found, but she did die there as blood was at the scene. Her stockings were not torn and would have been snagged on the brush in the area if she had walked there. It's likely her killer carried her unconscious body and dumped her there. 

SOURCES: 

Maryland State Police

Western Maryland's Historical Library

The Cumberland News Jan. 17, 1953

INFANTICIDE: November 12, 1953 Des Moines, Iowa Baby Doe

On November 12, 1953, the body of an infant was found in the Des Moines River in Des Moines, Iowa. His head was struck and then he was thrown in. His race could not be determined. His body was cremated at the time and there's a low possibility of identification.

SOURCES:
NamUs

MISSING: Sarah "Ella" LuElla Snow

On September 13, 1953, 33-year-old Sarah "Ella" Snow was with her mother and children in Springville, Utah. She told her mother that she was going to get supplies for dinner, and left with her car. She never returned, and a few days later her car, and shoes were found at the mouth of Hobble Creek Canyon. There was an extensive search, but no sign of her.

Sarah is a white female and was 33-years-old at the time. She was 5'3" and 103 to 125 lbs. She has brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing green slacks, white shoes, and a red and green plaid blouse. She may go by her nickname "Ella" or the last name Young or Snow.

SOURCES:

NamUs

Charley Project

The Unsolved Murder of Oda Apple

Around 9 pm on the night of  August 8, 1953, 45-year-old Oda Apple and his 3-year-old son left their home in Cincinnati, Ohio were walking to an errand at the drug store. On the return, Oda and his son were walking hand in hand and were only a few doors down from their home when Oda was shot in the back of the head.

His son would watch Oda stumble and fall on the sidewalk. His son would run home screaming that the firecrackers got his dad. Oda's wife would find her husband lying in the grass dead. It was said that it was a relatively calm night and no one seemed to be outside to witness the death. There was one neighbor who heard the gunshot and thought it was a car backfiring. They believed that they heard footsteps fleeing that was not of a child. His son also claimed that he saw no one.

There was no evidence that Oda had any enemies and they couldn't find anyone with a sufficient motive. One article stated that Oda may have felt that something dreadful was going to happen soon, but was not specific on why he felt that way. Police at the time also believed that it's possible that Oda may have been killed accidentally by a stray bullet and his death may not have been intended by the killer.

SOURCES:
Ohio Attorney General
The Cincinnati Enquirer August 10, 1953
The Cincinnati Enquirer May 21, 1956