The Death of LA County Doe, October 1982

On October 13, 1982, maintenance workers were clearing a roadside drainage ditch at Mt Baldy Rd mile marker 5.34 in LA County when they discovered the skeletal remains of a human underneath some bushes. The exact location is very close to the border with San Bernardino County, and is just inside the Angeles National Forest.

The sex of the decedent is undetermined. Because of this, I will be using the singular they to refer them. Furthermore, instead of the usual "John/Jane Doe," I have chosen to occasionally refer to them as Jean Doe, as Jean is a unisex name, and I do not want to simply refer to them as "Doe" or "Unknown Doe," as I find that to be dehumanizing. 

Google Street View of what I believe is the drainage ditch in which LA County Doe 1982 was found, via Google Earth.

The body was unrecognizable due to consisting of partial remains with soft tissues. One or more limbs, as well as one or both hands, were not recovered. According to NamUs, the decedent is estimated to have died sometime in 1981 or 1982; the user-based Unidentified wiki lists the postmortem interval as months to two years, i.e., sometime from 1980 to 1982, inclusive. Neither the cause nor manner of death — confirmed, suspected, or otherwise — has been provided by any sources.  

At the time of discovery, Jean Doe's remains were wrapped in coarse white cloth, which itself was inside a "full size bed sheet" that was light blue in color. Also found either on or near — sources do not specify — the body was a pair of blue jeans with a 31in (78.74 cm) waist and 30in (76.2 cm) inseam. None of the sources have posted images of any of the items found with the body.

Jean Doe was determined to have been a young white person who was estimated to be about 5'5 tall. They are believed to have been approximately 15 to 20 years old when they died; their age group on NamUs is classified as "Adult - Pre 20." The LA County Medical Examiner's Office (LACME) website lists Jean Doe's approximate age as 17+. Their sex, weight, and eye color are unknown due to the condition of the remains. 

Closeup aerial view of the location of discovery, with description. Pinpointed, described, and created by me using Google Maps, viewed through Google Earth. [Note: Where exactly in the drainage ditch this decedent was found (i.e., on the east or west side) is unclear; which side of the ditch the place marker is was chosen arbitrarily by me.]

Nearby Cases 

Three years prior to the discovery of Jean Doe, three other sets of remains were found within a five mile radius of this Doe (and of each other). These remains consist of two headless torsos and a skull, the latter of which has not been matched to either of the two torsos; further information about the Mt Baldy, Claremont, and Upland John Does can be found here.

Like LA County Jean Doe 1982, the Claremont and Upland JDs were found on the side of Mount Baldy Road. The Claremont and Mt Baldy JDs were also located in the Angeles National Forest in LA County. LA County Jean Doe 1982 was found less than one mile from where Upland John Doe had been recovered in May 1979.

Aerial view of where LA County Doe Oct. 1982 was found (purple icon) in relation to Upland John Doe 1979 (gray icon). Created by me using Google Maps. Viewed through Google Earth.

[Note: Upland JD's case is being handled by LE in San Bernardino County, and all sources indicate that he was found in their jurisdiction, in an area north of San Antonio Heights. However, based on all available information, it seems that — just like Jean Doe 1982 — Upland JD was actually found just barely inside LA County. Again, see my write-up linked above for maps to visualize just how close Upland JD was found to the county lines.] 

Both Jean Doe 1982 and all three 1979 John Does were determined to be white youths in their late teens or early twenties. No clothing was found with any of the remains, and none were found wrapped in any sort of fabric. The only item found with any of the three earlier remains was a hemp rope around Upland John Doe's torso.

The three John Does were all victims of homicide, and had been decapitated prior to discovery. 

Considering the fact that their remains had been concealed, it is reasonable to conclude that Jean Doe may have been the victim of a homicide, or at the very least that another party was definitely involved — and/or witness to — their death; this includes the possibility that, for example, the decedent died of a drug overdose while among other individuals, who then panicked and deposited the body instead of alerting the authorities. Law enforcement, however, has not released any sort of theories regarding the case, including whether it is being treated as a homicide. 

While LE, the press, and online users have not made the possible connection between the three 1979 John Does and this 1982 Jean Doe, I thought it important to note these similarities, especially considering the close proximity between Jean Doe and Upland John Doe. I, however, should mention that I do not necessarily believe this case is related to the other three, but, again, it seemed worthy of note. 

Aerial view of where LA County Doe Oct. 1982 was found (purple icon) in relation to, from top to bottom: Mt. Baldy John Doe 1979, Claremont John Doe 1979, and Upland John Doe 1979 (gray icons). Created by me using Google Maps. Viewed through Google Earth.

Conclusion 

Jean Doe's NamUs case, #UP4295, was created on Sept. 10, 2008, and last updated November 3, 2020. According to that source, their NCMEC case number is 1184174; however, they are not featured on NCMEC's site.

There is only one MP exclusion listed on their NamUs page: Joan Shelton, who went missing from Pima County, AZ in 2004. It is unknown why Shelton would be compared to Jean Doe at all, as she went missing more than twenty years after the remains were found.

It is unknown to me whether any of Jean Doe's identifiers are available for comparison, as there is no Doe Network profile for them, and I do not have the type of authorized NamUs profile that allows one to see the identifiers.

There are very few details available in Jean Doe's case. I could not find any mentions of the discovery of their remains in any newspapers, contemporary or otherwise. 

Anyone with information regarding this Doe should contact Identifications Investigator Betsy Magdaleno of the LA County Medical Examiner's Office at (323) 343-0512 or IDUnit@me.lacounty.gov. The agency case number is 1982-12921.

Sources 

NamUs 

WebSleuths 

Unidentified wiki

LA County Medical Examiner