The RCMP released a sketch asking the public's help in solving the 16-year-old mystery of a woman whose partial remains were found on serial killer Robert Pickton's farm. Cpl. Annie Linteau says the Mounties have reached out to police around the world to try and figure out Jane Doe's identity.Handout/The Canadian Press
RCMP want the public's help in solving the 16-year-old mystery of a woman whose partial remains were found on serial killer Robert Pickton's farm.
RCMP will be posting an FBI sketch of what the woman may have looked like on their website in the hope that a member of the public may recognize her.
Half of the woman's skull, with the vertebra attached, was found in 1995 by a man filling a water bottle at a creek in Mission, B.C.
In August 2002, bones recovered at Pickton's farm in Port Coquitlam were genetically linked to Jane Doe, but charges against Pickton for her murder were dropped.
RCMP Corporal Annie Linteau said she could not discuss the Pickton case and could not point to any new information about Jane Doe that was not part of the Pickton trial.
"This is not a story about Pickton. This is about Jane Doe," she said Sunday in an interview.
The police have released information about Jane Doe in an effort to identify her, she said.
"Since the Pickton appeal, we have met with family members and answered their questions," she also said.
However the RCMP have been unable to speak to the family of Jane Doe because they do not know who she is, Cpl. Linteau said.
The public appeal for help in identification of Jane Doe comes as the provincial commission into the investigation into the missing and murdered women from Vancouver's downtown eastside is in its preliminary stages. Public hearings are to be held later this year.
So far, police know that Jane Doe was Caucasian, between 20 and 40, missing some teeth in the upper right portion of her jaw and that she died some time between 1985 and 1995. The woman may also have worn dentures.
RCMP are hoping other police agencies will be able to match Jane Doe's information with someone on their missing persons files.
The Canadian Press with files from Robert Matas