Skeletal remains discovered last month in Bessemer, Alabama are unidentified — and the mainstream media hasn’t expressed any interest in publicizing the disturbing case. According to the NAMUS database, the remains were found on March 28, 2022 after a citizen in the area notified police of their presence. Not much is known of this discovery, but with the number of unsolved missing persons cases in the Southern United States, this Jane Doe shouldn’t go ignored.
The NAMUS page about this unidentified body reveals that the skeletal remains appear to be female. She may have stood between 5′ and 5’3″ tall, but her build couldn’t be determined due to the condition of her remains. Furthermore, her age couldn’t be determined — though she is presumed to be an adult. The only other physical identification they could make on the set of skeletal remains, was that the decedent was caucasian. The profile also reveals that her estimated time of death was approximately 20 years ago. In other words, the remains of this unidentified woman have been there for quite a long time.
The state of Alabama is home to numerous unsolved disappearances. Around the time that this unidentified woman died, there were approximately 20 unsolved disappearances of white women in the state. Two of those women vanished from the same county as this most recent discovery of unidentified human remains. One of those women was named Janet Jones Luxford, a 40-year-old Florida woman who had been in Bessemer, Alabama on a sort of road trip. She was last seen at a motel in Bessemer, but hasn’t been seen since. Her disappearance from Bessemer, Alabama was just a little over 20 years ago.
Another woman who vanished from the area was Barbara Sparks, a 59-year-old woman who vanished from Birmingham in the year 2000. Barbara’s disappearance has always been considered suspicious, but there has never been any clues to direct police in one direction or the other. Her case remains unsolved over 20 years later.
There is also the possibility that this Bessemer, Alabama Jane Doe came from out of state, and might be the remains of a woman missing from anywhere in the United States. What’s disturbing is the lack of media attention on this very recent find. Without public awareness, the identity of this Jane Doe could go unknown forever.
Chelsea Hoffman is a true crime writer with over a decade of professional writing experience. She is best known for her coverage of missing people including the tragic disappearance of Madeleine McCann as well as the heartbreaking cases of Dylan Redwine, Heather Elvis and many others.
