Body discovered January 29, 1994 | Name Murder Kori | |
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Full Name Kori Joanne Lamaster Born October 2, 1976 United States Status Remains identified after 19 years Other names Pogonip Jane, Kori JoAnne Bowman Known for Unidentified victim of homicide | ||
Kori JoAnne Lamaster was a formerly unidentified American murder victim who was found on January 29, 1994. She was reburied in an unmarked grave at Soquel Cemetery. Lamaster's body remained unidentified for nineteen years until the comparison of familial DNA and a finger print card revealed her identity. Until then, she was referred to as Pogonip Jane by investigators and media.
Contents
Physical characteristics and clothing
The decomposed remains of a white female were found in a shallow grave near a homeless campsite on January 19, 1994 in Pogonip Park in Santa Cruz, California. It was discovered by two hikers looking for mushrooms.
The victim was identified as being in her late teens with brown hair cut short with pink fingernails. Her death was estimated to have occurred a couple of weeks prior to the discovery; the cause of death was ruled to be bludgeoning with a metal object most likely a pipe that had crushed her skull. Due to advanced decomposition, it was hard to ascertain her facial features. A tiny heart was discovered tattooed between her left thumb and index finger. Her teeth had a few cavities that had been filled in with porcelain. Isotopic hair analysis revealed she had traveled between Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz (she lived in Pacifica) prior to her death.
Investigation
The Santa Cruz Police Department got a fresh impetus to investigate the case when its original investigator Butch Baker was murdered in an unrelated crime. They decided to work towards solving the case in Baker's honor.
Strategies taken subsequently in an attempt to arrive at an identification included the creation of a clay model reconstruction based on the skull of the victim.
Identification
Kori's family didn't file a missing person report for her until 2007. The reason for the delay in filing a report was not revealed due to privacy reasons. A DNA sample from her biological mother was submitted and the State Department of Justice lab announced a familial match in October 2013 with DNA taken from the victim's body that had been entered into their system earlier.
Contact with Kori's sister in the state of Washington provided a fingerprint card taken when Kori was young which was then used to match prints taken during her autopsy. A father and son who had been seen travelling with Kori have been identified as persons of interest. The son has since died, while the father, Wayne White, resides in eastern Tennessee.