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April 19, 2003
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Web Helps ID John and Jane Does
Maybe a Web surfer will finally give a name to Jane Doe #13-01, found dead in the desert east of Los Angeles with bright yellow flames painted on her fingernails. Or perhaps an identity waits online for another woman whose long, flowing black hair would have been as distinctive in life as it was on the skeleton discovered in a Southern California ditch.
Both women are among hundreds of unidentified dead people whose faces, body measurements and dental records are being posted on the Internet by coroners and volunteers. They're tapping technology -- and each other -- to solve cases that reach back decades.
"The communications are so open now," said Todd Matthews, a Tennessee amateur detective who helps run The Doe Network. "I don't know if people realize how much has changed." The site allows visitors to search through a long list of unidentified bodies without having to contact a homicide detective or coroner.
No one knows exactly how many John and Jane Does lie in morgues or pauper's graves nationwide, but California is home to at least 2,100, according to state statistics. The trick is to match the bodies with reports of missing persons from around the country and the world.
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