Murder of Alisha Heinrich - Misplaced Pages

Formerly unidentified American decedent

Alisha Heinrich
Alisha Heinrich, c. 1982
Born	Alisha Ann Heinrich (1981-05-24)May 24, 1981
Disappeared	c. November 24, 1982 (aged 18 months) Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Status	Identified after 38 years
Died	December 3 or 4, 1982 (aged 18 months)
Cause of death	Homicide by forced drowning
Body discovered	December 5, 1982 Moss Point, Mississippi, United States
Resting place	Jackson County Memorial Park, Pascagoula, Mississippi, United States 30°21′24″N 88°30′53″W / 30.3567°N 88.5147°W / 30.3567; -88.5147 (approximate)
Other names	Delta Dawn, Baby Jane
Known for	Formerly unidentified victim of homicide
Height	2 ft 5 in (0.74 m) - 2 ft 6 in (0.76 m)
Parent	Gwendolyn Mae Clemons (mother)

Alisha Ann Heinrich, previously known as "Baby Jane" and "Delta Dawn", was a formerly unidentified American child murder victim whose body was found in Moss Point, Mississippi, in December 1982. The child — aged approximately 18 months — was partially smothered before she was thrown alive from the eastbound Interstate 10 bridge into the Escatawpa River, where she ultimately drowned. Her body was recovered between 36 and 48 hours after her death.

On December 4, 2020, investigators announced that Heinrich had been identified via genetic genealogy research. Heinrich and her mother, 23-year-old Gwendolyn Mae Clemons, had been missing since approximately November 24, 1982, from Kansas City, Missouri. Clemons is believed to have been a distressed woman seen carrying an infant on December 3, 1982, close to the location where Heinrich's body was discovered. Although a witness reported seeing an adult female's body in the same river, no further remains were ever recovered; Clemons is still considered a missing person.

Prior to her identification, Heinrich was known as both "Delta Dawn" and "Baby Jane" due to her sex, her age, and the fact her body was discovered at daybreak close to a delta of the Escatawpa River.

Interstate 10 bridge

According to numerous eyewitnesses, in the early hours of December 3, 1982 a female toddler was seen in the area of Moss Point, Mississippi, in the company of a young adult female presumed to have been her mother and who had been carrying this toddler in her arms. These sightings had occurred on both Mississippi State Highway 63 and, later, the National Interstate 10, close to the state border of Alabama. The woman carrying this child had been wearing a blue plaid shirt and blue jeans, and was last seen walking west along Interstate 10, close to the truck scales at the Alabama-Mississippi border sometime between midnight and one o'clock in the morning of December 3. Reportedly, this woman had been in an acute state of distress, but had ardently refused any offers of help from passing vehicles. These eyewitness reports subsequently given to investigators would further be corroborated by accounts from a woman who had been monitoring CB radio conversations between truck drivers early in the morning of December 3, and who stated to investigators numerous truck drivers had been raising what she termed a "boatload of hell" regarding an obviously distressed woman walking along Interstate 10 with a barefoot, coatless female toddler in her arms and who had repeatedly refused any offers of assistance from passing vehicles. It is believed that the toddler in this woman's company may have been the victim subsequently recovered from the river.

Discovery

Within two days of these sightings, at approximately 7:00 a.m. on December 5, a truck driver sighted the body of an adult female, clothed in a blue plaid shirt, floating face-down close to a bridge spanning the Escatawpa River along Interstate 10. This truck driver immediately reported his discovery to the Jackson County Sheriff's Office, and a sheriff's deputy immediately responded to the scene; finding no body floating in the general area of the river in which the body had been sighted, this deputy decided to continue the search, expanding the geographical search radius of the river as he did so. Shortly thereafter, he discovered the body of a small blond-haired child lying partially submerged and face up in the weeds close to the bridge. Authorities quickly determined the child had been thrown from the bridge into the general area where her body was subsequently found, and that this child's body was unlikely to have been that sighted by the truck driver, as the section of the Escatawpa River where her body was discovered had been heavily infested with weeds, thus making a sighting of any body in this section of the water very difficult for passing motorists.

Subsequent search

Following the discovery of the child's body, the general vicinity of the Escatawpa River where the truck driver had sighted the body of the adult female was dragged in the hopes of also retrieving her body, although these efforts proved unsuccessful. These searches were conducted with the aid of helicopters and boats, although the body of the woman initially sighted within the Escatawpa River has never been found. However, if the body seen floating in the river on December 5 was not hers, she has never been located alive, or presented herself to authorities.

Although the underwater search unit failed to locate the body of the adult woman, this search unit did locate the largely skeletal remains of a young African-American male on December 8. His body was located beneath the eastbound I-10 bridge approximately 60 yards from the scene of the earlier discovery of the child's body. Investigators determined this individual had also been thrown over the I-10 bridge, although this victim had lain undiscovered for a minimum of six months, and had been shot to death, thus making his death extremely unlikely to be connected to the case. This man was given the name of Moss Point John Doe by investigators prior to his 2022 identification.

Physical examination

An autopsy performed on the child's body revealed that someone had attempted to smother her before she had entered the river, although the child had still been alive when she had entered the water, having inhaled murky water from the river into her lungs, thus indicating she had ultimately died of drowning. The official cause of death would be certified as drowning due to her having inhaled water upon impacting the surface of the river. Investigators would also conclude she had been intentionally deposited into the river from the eastbound I-10 bridge, very likely having been thrown into the river by the woman seen carrying her two days prior to her discovery (with this woman possibly believing the child had died via the act of smothering).

In life, Delta Dawn had been a healthy toddler, with her age estimated to have been between the ages of one and two years old, most likely being between 18 months and two years of age. Twelve of her milk teeth had erupted at the time of her death, which influenced this age estimation. The girl was Caucasian, with curly strawberry-blond hair, and has been described as being markedly beautiful in appearance. Because the child's body had lain in the river for approximately 36 to 48 hours prior to her discovery, her eyes had clouded to such a degree that determining their precise color was very difficult, although it is believed they had been either blue or brown. Despite the elemental damage to the eyes, her face was described as being in a "recognizable" condition. She was around two feet six inches in height, weighed around 25 pounds and although no food was found in her stomach, she showed no signs of having been malnourished. The girl wore a pink and white Cradle Togs checkered dress, decorated with three flowers on its front, along with a diaper.

Funeral

The funeral of this then-unidentified child (who would become known as both "Delta Dawn" and "Baby Jane" to both the public and the media) was primarily funded by a local deputy named Virgil Moore who, along with his wife, Mary Ann, initiated a fundraising and donations appeal via local businesses and funeral homes to ensure the child received a Christian funeral, with Mary Ann Moore as the individual who coined the name "Baby Jane," having been aghast at the thought of the child being simply buried as a Jane Doe.

Delta Dawn was buried in the Jackson County Cemetery following an hour-long service conducted at the Bethel Assembly Church in Pascagoula. This service was conducted within weeks of the child's discovery, after all efforts to locate any relatives had proven fruitless. The service itself was attended by approximately 200 people, with four police officers serving as pallbearers. The primary means of paying for and conducting the child's funeral were donations by various local businesses and their employees, and Delta Dawn was buried beneath a flat granite marker with a ceramic vase. Her grave bears the inscriptions "Baby Jane" and "Known Only To God".

On the 25th anniversary of the funeral of Delta Dawn, a memorial service in her honor was held at the Bethel Assembly Church. This memorial service was organized by two Alabama women named Marjorie Brinker and Lynn Reuss, who have both stated they could not comprehend "why someone would throw a baby into the river like that."

"She belongs to somebody. And, if she's not remembered, it's not going to be put out anymore. It's just ... time is going to pass on by. And this way here, if we keep her in the light, somebody may just come forward."

Paul Murphy; Deputy sheriff on duty at the time of the recovery of the body of Delta Dawn from the Escatawpa River, 2007.

Investigation

Extensive searches were conducted to find the body of the woman seen floating face-down within the Escatawpa River on December 5; equal efforts have been made to locate and/or identify the acutely distressed woman seen walking along Interstate 10 carrying a barefooted child in her arms on December 3, should the body sighted by the truck driver actually not have been hers. All efforts proved fruitless. Several scenarios surrounding the death of Delta Dawn have been theorized, with the most common contemporary assertion being that the woman seen with the toddler was the child's mother, who had either accidentally or intentionally caused the child's death before subsequently committing suicide.

Following the discovery of Delta Dawn, newspapers throughout the country published stories of the discovery of the child's body, and the sightings on Interstate 10 two days previously. These stories often featured contemporary forensic facial reconstructions of how the child had most likely appeared in life. All initial efforts proved unsuccessful with ascertaining the identity of Delta Dawn via this technique. A contemporary report of a woman who informed sheriff's deputies that she had "given away" her child to a group of men was originally connected to the case by the investigating officers, although these investigators rapidly determined that the subject requesting assistance had a male child, thus enabling investigators to quickly determine this report as being irrelevant to this case.

In 2009, the body of Delta Dawn was exhumed in order that investigators could obtain a DNA sample from her body which could be entered into both the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children databases for comparison with nationwide unsolved murders and missing person reports. Initially, no DNA match with Delta Dawn or the individual believed to have been her mother was obtained.

With advances in technology, several forensic facial reconstructions of the child were created in the years following the discovery of her body in ongoing efforts to identify her. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children also released two illustrations depicting potential likenesses as to how Delta Dawn may have physically appeared in her life; other forensic artists also produced their own renderings in efforts to discover her identity.

Identification

On December 4, 2020, Jackson County Sheriff's Office announced the identification of Delta Dawn as 18-month-old Alisha Ann Heinrich of Joplin, Missouri. Her identity was confirmed via DNA sequencing and genetic genealogy, with the child's DNA linked to family members in Missouri, where her mother, Gwendolyn Mae Clemons, had previously lived. The process of generating a profile suitable for uploading into a public genealogy database was performed by a lab operated by Othram Inc.; the research was conducted by forensic genealogists under Redgrave Research Forensic Services.

Gwendolyn Clemons had recently divorced from the father of her daughter. She, her daughter, and an unnamed boyfriend had reportedly disappeared "on or around" November 24, 1982, from the family's residence in Kansas City, Missouri. The intent of their departure was to relocate to the state of Florida, with Clemons informing her relatives of her intentions to start life anew in this state. The boyfriend later returned to Missouri alone. This man, now deceased, has been described as both a "person of interest" and a suspect in various media reports.

The circumstances surrounding Alisha's death, and the simultaneous disappearance of her mother, remain under active investigation by the Jackson County Sheriff's department. Investigators remain uncertain as to Clemons' ultimate fate. At a press conference held on December 4, 2020, Sheriff Mike Ezell informed reporters: "We do not know if she is dead or alive at this point. We're assuming the worst, but we don't know that for sure."

Prior to the Jackson County Sheriff's Department's formal announcement of the identity of Delta Dawn as Alisha Ann Heinrich, the previously unknown woman accompanying the child upon the eastbound Interstate 10 bridge was theorized to have been responsible for her death in a suspected murder-suicide, although this theory is now in doubt.

Notes

The body of the adult female sighted by this truck driver is presumed to be that of the adult woman seen clutching the toddler in the early hours of December 3.
Prior to later developments, authorities would speculate the most likely scenario regarding these events was that the woman had attempted to smother the child, whom she had then thrown into the water before then jumping to her own death from the bridge.
On March 22, 2022, Moss Point John Doe was identified via the usage of genetic genealogy analysis conducted by Othram Inc. as Gary Simpson (b. 1962) of Louisiana.
Mary Ann Moore would name the then-unidentified child "Baby Jane," the name currently inscribed upon the child's granite grave marker within the Jackson County Cemetery.

References

^ Redgrave, Anthony Lukas; Redgrave, Lee Bingham (December 4, 2020). "Identity of "Mississippi Delta Dawn" AKA "Baby Jane Doe" Confirmed". Redgrave Research Forensic Services. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
^ "Search for Baby Jane's ID Continues". The Clarion-Ledger. December 20, 1982.
^ "After 38 Years, Delta Dawn's Name Was Restored as Alisha Ann Heinrich, Daughter of Gwendolyn Clemons, Both of Whom Vanished in 1982". DNASolves.com. December 4, 2020. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
^ Baker, Margaret (December 4, 2020). "Unsolved Murder of Baby Jane Haunted Mississippi Community for Years. Now, She's Been Identified". The Clarion-Ledger. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
^ "NamUs #MP73713". National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. September 16, 2020. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
^ "Case File 45UFMS". doenetwork.org. The Doe Network. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
^ "Jane Doe 1982". missingkids.org. National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
Broadus, Don. "Mother of Baby Believed in River". The Mississippi Press.
^ "Officials search for body in the river". The Clarion-Ledger. December 8, 1982. p. 1B.
^ "River Dragging Begins for Body". The Mississippi Press. December 1982. pp. 1, 12.
^ "Mystery of lost child lingers: Baby Jane would be 25". The Sun Herald. December 8, 2007.
^ "Case Report - NamUs UP # 12191". identifyus.org. National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. February 27, 2014. Archived from the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
^ Broadus, Don (December 1982). "Funeral Service for Baby Jane". The Mississippi Press.
^ "Unidentified Baby Still Remembered After 25 Years". WorldNow. WLOX13. December 7, 2007. Archived from the original on March 23, 2016. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
"Coast Divers Continue to Search". The Clarion-Ledger. December 12, 1982. p. 1B.
"Case File: 2408UMMS". The Doe Network. October 11, 2014. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
"John Doe 1982". National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
"Moss Point John Doe (1982) is Identified". dnasolves.com. March 22, 2022. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
"Unidentified Baby Still Remembered After 25 Years". WorldNow. WLOX13. December 7, 2007. Archived from the original on March 23, 2016. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
"25 Years Later, 'Baby Jane' Still a Mystery". Picayune Item. December 7, 2007. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
"Unidentified Baby Still Remembered After 25 Years". WorldNow. WLOX13. December 7, 2007. Archived from the original on March 23, 2016. Retrieved January 27, 2018.
Halber, Deborah (July 1, 2014). "The Bodies in Singing River: On The Trail of a Cold, Cold Case". Archived from the original on September 19, 2017. Retrieved January 31, 2018 – via tufts.edu.
^ Knowles, Lindsay (December 4, 2020). ""Baby Jane Doe" in Nearly 4-decade Old Death Case Identified". WLOX. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
Tron, Gina (December 4, 2020). "After Saving For Big Birthday Trip, Woman Instead Uses Money To Fund DNA Research Giving Young Murder Victim Her Name Back". Oxygen. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
Bolander, Gretchen (December 4, 2020). "WC Toddler Identified in MS Cold Case". fourstateshomepage.com. Retrieved December 4, 2020.

Cited works and further reading

Evans, Colin (1996). The Casebook of Forensic Detection: How Science Solved 100 of the World's Most Baffling Crimes. New York: John Wiley & Sons Inc. ISBN 0-471-07650-3.
Halber, Deborah (2015). The Skeleton Crew: How Amateur Sleuths Are Solving America's Coldest Cases. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-451-65758-6.
Meyer, Cheryl; Oberman, Michelle; White, Kelly (2001). Mothers who Kill Their Children. New York University Press. ISBN 0-814-75643-3
Newton, Michael (2004). The Encyclopedia of Unsolved Crimes. New York: Facts on File. ISBN 978-0-816-07818-9.

External links

2011 iReport pertaining to the case
2014 Tufts Magazine article pertaining to the murder
2020 article detailing the identification of Alisha Heinrich
Alisha Heinrich at The Doe Network

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