The release states that Nunnenman, previously known as "Western Reserve John Doe," was walking on Western Reserve Road in Boardman, Ohio, on Aug. 12, 1982, when he was struck by a car traveling in the same direction. The 18-year-old driver left the scene but later turned herself in. No identification was found on the victim, and the case soon went cold.
On Aug. 13, 1998, the decomposed body of a female in her 30s was found in shrubbery in a ravine off the 1300 block of Avocado Avenue in El Cajon, a suburb of San Diego. The woman was found wearing a blue "Woodruff Warriors 20-year reunion 1971-1991" T-shirt, black shoes, white socks, and a silver herringbone bracelet. She was described as a 5-foot-2-inch white or Hispanic female weighing 110 pounds. The case was determined to be a homicide, but efforts to identify her were unsuccessful.
The new appeal is accompanied by a special sketch by a US forensic facial reconstruction artist now central to their new campaign. The woman's skeleton was discovered on January 5, 2021 by workmen clearing sections of the old Midleton-Youghal railway line as part of a greenway development. One theory being examined by detectives is that the woman may have been illegally exhumed from a grave - and then deliberately dumped by the rail line where she lay undiscovered for years.
