Case Profiles #53
Fairfield County Jane Doe
On June 5th, 1993, firefighters with the Bridgeport, Connecticut department received a call at about 5:30am by two people who reported smelling smoke as they were on their way to work. Emergency crews responded to a vacant parking lot at Lafayette Street and Railroad Avenue, which was overgrown and near the highway. After the fire was put out, they realized that there was a body. The body had significant burns to intentionally make identifying features indistinguishable. A book of matches and an antifreeze jug containing gasoline were found near the body, as well as a white Asics brand sneaker and one Reebok brand sneaker. Dr. Albert Harper, the executive director of the Dr. Henry C. Lee Institute of Forensic Science, determined that the Jane Doe was a black female between the ages of 25 and 35, was about 5’3” and had a slight build.
Police determined that two men had gone to a nearby gas station in the early morning hours at around 5:30am, purchased gasoline in an antifreeze container, and used this to douse the woman’s body before burning it. One of these men was a black male of average height and build that looked like he was in his late teens to early 20’s, with the other man being Hispanic and of similar height, build and age as the first man. These men were never able to be located. The body was was buried in Bloomfield in 2003 by a local funeral home. In 2015, the details of the Jane Doe’s case were entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), and she is UP14478. There was also a composite sketch drawn out to help identify her. In 2024, the Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner partnered with Othram Labs, an absolutely revolutionary company that uses DNA to identify genealogy and create images of people to help determine what they may look like. Anyone with any information on the Fairfield County Jane Doe is asked to please call the Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner at 860-679-3980 and let them know that you have information on agency case 93-05848 or NamUs ID UP14478.
You can also donate to the Fairfield Jane Doe’s case to help cover costs for DNA testing and research at https://dnasolves.com/articles/fairfield-county-jane-doe-1993/contribute
Yusef A’Vant
On April 13th, 2014, Yusef A’vant was working at the barbershop he owned, Krazy Kuts, in East Providence, Rhode Island. He had one customer in the shop, when suddenly a man with a gun came in. The gunman ordered the customer to lay face down on the ground, and then he proceeded to fight with A’vant before shooting him once in the abdomen. The gunman fled, leaving A’vant to bleed to death from his wound. It wasn’t until two years later, in August of 2016, that Thomas Mosley and his accomplice Evan Watson were arrested for the murder. Watson pled guilty for a reduced sentence of second-degree murder, and for providing the weapon and getaway vehicle. Mosley, who was the gunman, pleaded not guilty, and as a result, went through two trials in the span of several months. Ultimately, in February of 2020, Mosley was found guilty of A’vant’s murder and is spending two consecutive life sentences in the Adult Correctional Institute in Rhode Island.
Image sources:
unidentified-awareness.fandom.com - “Fairfield County Jane Doe (1993)”
providencejournal.com - “East Providence police chief: Barber slain in his shop was targeted”