Martha and Sandra Stiver
In this episode, we shine light on the story of two unidentified young women found months apart and a few miles away from each other, linked by the same pair of white sandals. For nearly fifty they’re known as the Berks County Jane Does.
Berks County Jane Does
In August 1968, the unidentified body of a young woman is found in Berks County, Pennsylvania. She had been shot to death. Though she was mostly clothed, she did not have identification on her. It was determined that she was a young, white woman somewhere between the ages of 15-20 and she had been murdered just a few days before and placed in a rural location.
Though attempts are made to identify her, she doesn’t match any known missing persons cases that investigators look at.
Just a few months later, in April 1969, another murdered woman was found in French Creek State Park close to Hopewell Lake. She is curled on her side on top of a rock. Unlike the other woman, this woman is unclothed with a pair of underwear nearby that appears as though it was rolled off of the woman.
Though these two women are located several miles away from one another, investigators quickly link them by their matching sandals. Not only are they the same brand and type, they are the same color and size.
Dr. Wilton Krogman, a leader in forensic anthropology, examines the second woman’s remains and determines she is likely between the ages of 22-23 and likely of German, Swiss, or French descent.
They feel that she likely died the summer before, presumably around the same time as the first woman. Because of the amount of time that had passed and the condition of her body, they are unable to determine the exact cause of death, but the presumption is murder.
Both women were buried as Jane Does. Together, they become known as the Berks County Jane Does.
Motorcycle Gang
Meanwhile, in August 1969, a young couple, Marilyn Sheckler and Glenn Eckert, go missing after taking a drive together. Their car is found the next day, abandoned on a lover’s lane. Two months later, their bodies are found buried near the entrance of Dreamland Park, an abandoned theme park frequented by members of various motorcycle clubs.
Two members of these motorcycle clubs are arrested and convicted of these murders. As witnesses, two other motorcycle club members testify against them. After this trial is completed, investigators come forward with three photos they found at an abandoned airport hangar also frequented by motorcycle club members. It’s likely these photos were found during their investigation into Marilyn and Glenn’s murders. Each photo depicts individual subjects, two are of young women. The third is of a young man. Investigators believe the women are the murder victims found in Berks County.
After publishing these photos in the media and circulating them locally, police get a lead. A salesperson in a shoe store recognized the two women. There were few details about them, though.
Searching for a Missing Sibling
Sandra Stiver went missing from her family’s home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, likely during the summer of 1968. She was 14 at the time and left in the company of her 17-year-old sister-in-law, Martha. In the years since her disappearance, family members of both Martha and Sandra continued to search for them. This led Sandra’s younger sister to The Doe Network, a volunteer-based website where missing and unidentified persons are listed. She thought it was possible that one of the Berks County Jane Does was her sister, Sandra.
In 2013 the bodies of the Berks County Jane Does were exhumed. And, in 2014 they were identified as Martha and Sandra Stiver by the University of North Texas. At the time, this was the oldest case they had been able to identify through DNA.
Martha and Sandra Stiver
Sandra belonged to a large family that moved around the country frequently for her father’s business in commercial painting. This led the family to Kansas City where Sandra’s brother, Tom, met Martha at a teen dance. Not long after, Martha and Tom became pregnant and Martha gave birth to a baby girl.
When Martha and Tom’s daughter was about 1, the Stiver family moved to Philadelphia. Martha and Tom’s daughter was left behind.
Martha and Sandra left Philadelphia not long after the move. They were last seen running down their street in Philadelphia. They were never heard from again. The Stiver family theorized that Martha was attempting to return to the midwest to reunite with her daughter.
Though the Stivers say Sandra’s father returned to Philadelphia yearly until his death to look for his daughter and speak to authorities, it’s unclear if an official missing person report was taken out for either teenager.
Telling True Crime Stories
In looking at why we tell stories of missing and unidentified women, particularly in terms of older cases like Martha and Sandra’s, it’s easy to believe that this work isn’t necessary or doesn’t do good in the world.
We’re telling their stories here for a few reasons: solved cases are important touchstones in missing and unidentified cases. They show publicly how much value there is in continuing to advocate and investigate cases. They also highlight the importance of new investigative tactics. Often this is investigative genetic genealogy, but sometimes in cases like this it’s advances in DNA technology that allow older remains to be identified. And, in this case, highlights the important work of the volunteers who run sites like the Doe Network.
What is particularly important about Martha and Sandra’s cases is that their murders are still unsolved.
Subscribe to she goes by Jane wherever you get your podcasts to support our work in shining light on these stories.
People and Cases Mentioned in this Episode:
Martha and Sandra Stiver (solved unidentified persons cases, unsolved murder)
Marilyn Sheckler and Glenn Eckert (solved murder)
Guest reader
Kelsey Wang
Kelsey Wang is a Chinese-American actress who can be seen on television, film, and theatre. She spent her childhood in Singapore and Texas daydreaming of different worlds and being a storyteller. She is a graduate of Duke University and Yale School of Drama’s Summer Conservatory. Her television credits include Magnum PI, The Young and the Restless, and Netflix’s Daredevil. Her theater credits include the U.S. Premiere of Chimerica (2014 Olivier and Evening Standard Award for Best Play) at the Studio Theater in Washington, D.C. and Pan Asian Repertory Theater's production's Off-Broadway production of A Dream of Red Pavilions. You can follow her on Instagram @kelseywang_.