Marcia Sossoman King/Buckskin Girl Show Notes
In 1981, three men find the body of a woman in a ditch along a rural road in Ohio. Investigators quickly learn that she was murdered, but were unable to learn her identity. Initially suspecting she was a local, they soon theorized that she must have been a hitchhiker from outside the area. Still, with no leads, they couldn’t begin to determine who she was or who killed her.
Buried under the name Jane Doe, she became one of the most recognizable Jane Does in the country. Dubbed Buckskin Doe, pictures of the woman with her long red hair tied in braids wearing a fringed buckskin coat circulated on the internet, most notably in online forums.
Despite ruling out over 200 missing women, investigators were no closer to learning her identity when they decided to turn to new scientific methods including pollen analysis, isotope analysis, and, finally, investigative genetic genealogy which ultimately gave her her name back.
In 2018, Marcia Sossoman King was no longer known as Buckskin Girl. This is her story.
For more information about the DNA Doe Project and their work on Doe cases, head to their webpage. And, to support their ongoing work in identifying individuals, donate directly on their page.
People and Cases Mentioned in this Episode:
Marcia Sossoman King (solved unidentified persons case, unsolved homicide)
Guest reader for "Prime"
Mercedes Rose
Mercedes Rose was born to be a performer. She has always realized this-- and steadily, the rest of the world is recognizing it, too. Blessed with a perfect name for an actress, an endless supply of enthusiastic determination, and little desire to pursue any other career path...she has built up a very impressive resume in the latter half of a lifetime of following an impulse to be the center of attention. Mercedes does it all. She has appeared in feature films (What The Bleep Do We Know?, the Train Master series), network television (Portlandia, Leverage), commercials, voice-over work (notably, she originated the voice of Princess Rosalina in several popular Nintendo game titles), performing stand-up and sketch comedy, as a spokesperson/host, and most recently as one of the stars (and creators) of new media sensation, The Haunting Of Sunshine Girl.