The Murder of Carson Jane Doe, April 1978

On Thursday, April 20, 1978, the body of a recently deceased Hispanic and/or white girl was discovered buried in a shallow grave in a commercial flower field in the 19300 block of South Wilmington Ave in Carson, LA County, CA. 

Jane Doe had died recently enough that same year for her face to still be recognizable. Reconstructions of her, including one done by NCMEC, are posted on official databases. While her COD and DOD are officially undetermined, the Unidentified wiki lists her COD as beating; it is unknown where this information came from.

Reconstruction of Jane Doe from NCMEC.

According to the Doe Network and NCMEC, at one point two Hispanic males were seen driving away from the site where the body was found in a 1970 dark blue Vega Hatchback.

Jane Doe was 14 to 20 years old, 5'1 to 5'3 (estimated), and 130 lbs (measured). She had brown eyes, a medium complexion, and long, black hair. Her ears had been pierced, though no jewelry was found with her. It is unknown if there was any clothing on or near the body. Jane Doe's eyebrows were thin and well-groomed, and her fingernails were short and painted pink. She had a 3.25in vertical scar on her abdomen above her belly button, as well as light stretch marks, which both sources state may indicate that she had possibly had a child some time in the past. Her upper front teeth overlapped on her right side.

Jane Doe's dentals, fingerprints, and DNA are all available for comparison. She has two MP exclusions on NamUs: she is not Sylvia Torgow or Julie Soracco. Jane Doe's NamUs page, #UP4429, was created on September 10, 2008 and last updated June 23, 2025. The NCMEC and NCIC case numbers are 1106713 and U770930783, respectively.

Anyone with information regarding Jane Doe should contact Betsy Magdaleno of the LA County Medical Examiner's Office at 323-343-0512 or IDUnit@me.lacounty.gov. The agency case number is 785116. According to NCMEC, individuals can also call the Carson Station of the LA County Sheriff's Department at (310) 830-1123. 

Sources 

NamUs 

NCMEC

WebSleuths

Doe Network

Unidentified wiki 

LA Times 4/21/78 

LA County Medical Examiner 

2007 LASD bulletin, archived 

San Pedro News-Pilot 4/21/78   

Note: While this write-up was originally published on July 13, 2025, I regularly revisit cases, fix any typos or formatting errors, check for updates, hyperlink new posts, ensure that I have exhausted all sources, etc. When edits are extensive, I re-post the write-up. This post was last updated on October 1, 2025.