Who Was The Shafter Jane Doe And Who Killed Her?

The Shafter Jane Doe

"Who am I?"

On November 16th, 1993, a California geologist was driving across northern Nevada when he stopped, near the Interstate 80 off ramp to Shafter, to stretch his legs. The geologist came across a grisly scene.  In some sage brush the geologist discovered a pretty, blonde woman's body, posed like a cross, nude, shot once in the back, once in the chest. She had been severely beaten about the face.  Her body was found  in an advanced stage of decomposition. It was surmised that Jane Doe sat there unnoticed close to a week.

The autopsy concluded that Jane Doe was 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighed roughly 140 pounds and had given birth to at least one child. She had all of her teeth and appeared to be in the process of having a route canal. Also from her teeth, it was gathered that she was 27 years old at the time of her death. 

Her nails were painted bright pink and seemed to have been professionally done. Each ear had been pierced, but she was wearing no jewelry. She also had a 2-inch by 4-inch mark on the back of  her right calf, which could have been a burn scar or birth mark. She was shot twice with a medium-caliber handgun. There was no sign of sexual assault.

Even thought Jane Doe's body was severely degraded, investigators managed a partial fingerprint from her right thumb. The print has bounced through every database available and has led nowhere.

Not long after Jane Doe's body was found, someone reported having spoken to a white male at about sunrise November 9th, in Oasis. Investigators believed the homicide occurred around that time.

The town of Oasis, Nev., is approximately 12 miles north of Shafter.

Authorities searched in vain for the man the witness claimed to have been 6 feet 1 inch tall with brown hair and a short beard. The man was allegedly driving a mid-1970's station wagon, possibly painted green and brown.  

Authorities have placed convicted murderer Dale Wayne Eaton in the Elko area from 1992 to 1995. Eaton owned a 1979 Dodge pickup, a 1963 Ford truck and a passenger van.

Eaton is a Wyoming man who kidnapped, raped and murdered  Lisa Marie Kimmell in 1988 and was convicted of the crimes. He could still be subject to the death penalty.

Eaton has been asked if he was involved in Jane Doe's murder, but he isn't talking.

In 2009, isotope testing on a hair sample indicated that she'd lived much of her life in the Southwest, including Southern California, New Mexico and Arizona. For the last seven months of her life (likely April - November 1993), she'd lived in Lincoln County, Wyoming, near the town of Afton.

Anyone who believes they may have information on the case is asked to call the Elko County Sheriff's Office in Nevada at (775) 738-HELP.