The site where West Alton Jane Doe (2002) was found

This is the location where serial killer Maury Travis dumped the remains of an unidentified victim called West Alton Jane Doe (2002).

It is situated at the intersection between Highway 67 and St. Charles Street in West Alton, Missouri.

The Jane Doe is listed on NamUs under #UP17787. Her case file number on the Doe Network is 1641UFMO.

The skeletal remains were found on May 25th, 2002, after Travis anonymously contacted reporter Bill Smith at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper to claim responsibility for the murders of 17 women.

In his letter, he mocked Smith's article about a victim named Teresa Wilson, calling it a "nice sob story." Attached was a printed map of this intersection with an X marked on it.

"Dear Bill, nice sob story about Teresa Wilson. Write one about Greenwade (Alysia Greenwade). Write a good one, and I'll tell you where many others are. To prove I'm real, here are directions to number seventeen. Search in a fifty-yard radius of the X. Put the story in the Sunday paper like the last one."

When the police searched this location off Highway 67, they found the partial skeletal remains of a black woman who had died months prior. It is believed that she was aged 25–35 and roughly 5'4" tall. Considering Travis' modus operandi, it is likely that she was a sex worker or someone who lived a similar lifestyle.

The victim had been wearing a sleeveless Chorus Blues denim dress, a black spandex-type tank top, and a black and silver-colored V-neck top. Her skull and bones were found in the bushes, scattered across a 30-foot radius.

Travis' need for media attention proved to be his undoing, as investigators were able to trace the map to Expedia and subpoena a list of all IP addresses that had zoomed in on this area of West Alton.

His IP address was then matched to an MSN handle called "maurytravis", which led federal agents directly to his house in St. Louis.

Travis committed suicide in his jail cell shortly after he was apprehended.

Although West Alton Jane Doe led to his arrest, she has yet to be identified.

Photos

Photos of the site and other related images.

Travis sent a map to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Image source: Los Angeles Times: June 17th, 2002

Travis sent the map above to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch at the end of May 2002.

When the authorities discovered skeletal remains at the site, they immediately focused their efforts on finding the source of the map.

After learning that the anonymous sender printed it from a website called Expedia, they subpoenaed a list of the IP addresses that had used the service to zoom in on St. Charles Street in West Alton.

The results showed that 65.227.106.78 was the only IP address that looked at the site.

65.227.106.78 was then linked to an MSN account called "maurytravis", which led the FBI directly to his house.

Highway 67 and St. Charles Street

Image source: Google Maps

On Saturday, May 25th, 2002, the police entered these bushes and located the partial skeletal remains of a black woman. It is believed that the victim had been dead for a number of months.

The bones were spread across a 30-foot radius. Furthermore, a limb and a hand were missing.

This was most likely due to scavenging by raccoons, squirrels, and birds.

The Jane Doe in question may have disappeared between 2000 and early 2002. It is likely that Travis kept her alive in his basement for a period of time before he murdered her, as he was a sadist who liked to hold his victims captive.

Residents in West Alton weren't too surprised by the discovery, as the area is secluded and often used as an illegal dumping ground for household waste. Recent Google Street View images show that motorists still discard trash by the roadside.

West Alton Jane Doe (UP17787) (1641UFMO)

Image source: NamUs

These are some of the clothes that West Alton Jane Doe (UP17787) (1641UFMO) may have been wearing.

The top-left photo shows a full-sleeved black and silver V-neck top that was made out of stretchable fabric. The victim may have also been wearing a spandex-type black tank top (top-right).

Pictured at the bottom are parts of a sleeveless Chorus Blues denim sleeveless dress. The dress in question had metal buttons and a blue, rope-like (shoelace-like) lace at the back.

The label read: Chorus Blues. Section FF Row 12 Seat 04. Reserved Lower Mezzanine.

Unfortunately, this label was relatively common on Chorus Blues dresses.