Episode 60 DOE ID 'Christmas Tree Jane Doe' Joyce Marilyn Meyer Sommers

Just before Christmas, 1996, a groundskeeper at Pleasant Valley Memorial Park Cemetery in Annandale, Virginia discovered a woman's lifeless body. Police were summoned, and it quickly became clear to investigators that the deceased woman had taken her own life. Letters from the dead woman asked for an autopsy to not be performed on her and for her remains to be cremated. She also had gone out of her way to make it hard for investigators to determine who she was. With no identification, police respected her wishes, and she was soon cremated. She became known as 'Christmas Tree Jane Doe' due to the small Christmas tree found near her remains.

The authorities in the case felt that they had an obligation to identify Christmas Tree Jane Doe because they knew that her family might be out there looking for her and wondering what happened to her. They also felt that by identifying her, they could help other families looking for a lost loved one by having one less Jane Doe to consider. The journey to identify her was not an easy one, but eventually the team at Othram Labs, funded by crowd sourcing donations, was able to use DNA and genetic genealogy to finally give Christmas Tree Jane Doe back her name. Her name was Joyce Marilyn Meyer Sommers, and this is her story.

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