The Pima County Jane Doe, Brenda Marie Gerow Linked To Dianne K Van Reeth Through A Serial Killer.

Brenda Marie Gerow

She was born on February 18th, 1960 in Nashua, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire to  William Joseph Gerow and Brenda Louise Harriman. She was the oldest of her siblings. 

The last time Brenda's family heard from her was on July 20th, 1980. She had left three months earlier with John "Jack" Kalhauser, her boyfriend at the time. Brenda met Jack in a nightclub. He was a wanted felon and was supposedly on the run. 

Brenda had worked at a convenience store as well as a bartender at a biker bar in Dracut, Massachusetts.  She remained in contact with family and had at one time called home stating she would be returning, yet she never did. Her family attempted to report her missing, yet local police declined to cooperate, due to the fact that she was 20-years-old when she vanished.

On April 8th, 1981, a group of hunters driving through the Arizona desert saw a denim jacket hanging from a tree near Houghton Road and Interstate 10. The hunters then looked through the area and discovered a body lying on the ground. The body was clothed in denim jeans, white socks with pink pom poms, a white bra, blue underwear, brown suede shoes and unique blouse that was a dark blue and had "puffy reddish-colored sleeves" with a flower design.

To investigators theorized that by their clothing that the person could have been involved in the local county fair that had occurred at the time of the murder. Scratches on the victim's body suggested the victim had been walking or running through a wooded area before their death.

After medical examiners conducted an autopsy, it was deduced that the remains were of a young woman between the ages of 18 and 22 who was strangled to death. It was determined that she died one-and-a-half to two days before her body was discovered. She had been severely beaten, in addition to being sexually assaulted.

Even though the body was in an advanced state of decomposition, which left her facially unrecognizable, fingerprints and dental records were obtained. Sadly, no missing person cases were a match.

While trying to identify Jane Doe, police were investigating and compiling a case against John Kalhauser. He was responsible for the murder of his wife and a 52-year-old man, as well as numerous other violent offenses dating back to 1979. In 1995, while building the case against Kalhauser, a photograph of a young woman with light hair holding a bouquet was found in his possession.

After a 2012 exhumation of the body, the victim's face was digitally reconstructed after her skull was examined via a CT scan. The scan was sponsored by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Fast forward to 2014, the investigating team matched the lady in the photograph with Jane Doe. On December 23rd, her brother, Bill Gerow Jr., received a notification from police that the female in the picture could be his sister.

On September 28th, 2015, authorities were able to publicly announce that Jane Doe was Brenda. 

Kalhauser is considered a person of interest in the murder; police have asked for information from anyone who knew Kalhauser and Gerow in the late 1970s or early 1980s.

Kalhauser has past ties to Arizona and is believed to have murdered his wife, Diane K. Van Reeth, in Nevada in 1995; he was living under the name, Don Stecchi, at the time of his wife's disappearance.

Diana was born on November 16th, 1959 to Richard Wade Van Reeth and Ardythe Celia Van Reeth. 

She was a research coordinator in the tax services office of Tucson Electric Power. Diana was last seen during the morning hours of August 10th, 1995 in Tucson, Arizona. She departed from her family's residence in the 2800 block of east MacKenzie Street in the Winterhaven area and was en route to her job. Diana never arrived and has never been heard from again.

Her Ford Aerostar minivan was discovered abandoned two days after her disappearance. The vehicle was parked in the 2800 block of east Fort Lowell Road in Tucson. The keys were inside the minivan, but there was no other evidence of her at the scene. Authorities stated no indication of foul play was discovered.

Kalhauser's fingerprints were located on the vehicle, but i don't necessarily know if that proves anything.

Investigators don't know if Dianne was aware of Kalhauser's criminal history. However, she was in the process of divorcing Kalhauser at the time of her disappearance, and was seeking custody of their two sons.

Dianne's body has never been found, but Kalhauser was later convicted of her murder in 1999.  Kalhauser's was also convicted for the 1974 murder of Paul Chapman and indicted for the attempted murder of a man in 1979. Following his indictment, Kalhauser jumped bail and fled. 

Kalhauser was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Arizona following his conviction of second-degree murder. He completed his sentence on May 8, 2019.

Investigators are still compiling as much information and proof in attempt to put Kalhauser away from Brenda's murder.