jane does meant,, but i had been retired for about a year and come back to the west coast to be near my daughter and grandchildren and to relax. it was winter 2017, when margaret, not the retiring type, was struck with an idea. she d already been deeply immersed in genealogy. helping the finding her birth parents. if i can figure out jane does s parents, will know who jane doe was markets plan obtained remains from jane and john those retest their dna and upload their results to a public database, where maybe that dna would lead them to some relative of the victim. so i had my recipe, and i reached out to colleen and i said we know how to do it. and she said bingo, all we need is dna. and i know a couple of people. at first, they paid their
breath she took, and every ounce of her, she adored them. that s all for this edition of dateline. i m natalie morales. thank you for watching. you for watching i m andrea canning and this is dateline . two guys saw what they thought was a mannequin. she had wood piled on top of her. no identification. we all came together because by becoming volunteers to identify jane doze and john those. there s a passion trying to find out who our doe is. they would have this is your family you, want to give them closure. to our homicide detectives, is way above our means. i said, i think i know how we can do. it all of these people share something amount of our dna
science writers harrison who set out to learn from the volunteers, saw their journey to the end. it did strike us that we were the first hour gone to knowing who she actually was. so that was extremely pointing. she had been able to stand there i don t know i could not articulate what was that. like this really, i think, change doesn t change the way we work. it changed how? it makes it personal, because you think, one of this is your family? one of this could be your friend? kevin became a licensed private investigator and continue to work with the dna dna doe project, still giving back victims their long lost identities. we made a little bit of a dent, where there is never gonna be a shortage, unfortunately, of jane does to help identify. and some are like dana lynn dodd, the little girl abandoned early. and one amanda and john try to
someone plagued by unanswered questions. i was looking for jane does area and texas. it might be much to one of these missing girls. and that s how we came across hundreds of pages of online forms, about a mystery woman nicknamed lavender doe . could she be one of the missing woman he was trying to locate? and so, given called the great county sheriff s department. and found himself on the phone with a lead detective, lieutenant eddie hope. i was glad people cared. because we live in a world where a lot of people are just worried about themselves and not others. and he was evidence that maybe there are people yes. some other investigator might have blown off. just as other civilian with an internet connection and the theory. but kevin seems to know what he s doing, and his internet skills, way beyond what lieutenant hope could do.