Jane Doe Body Discovered

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This tattoo turned out to be the key in discovering the victim's identity: Missing person Lindsay Harris.

Since May 23, 2005, Illinois State Police have worked to solve a baffling murder mystery: police were called to the shoulder of an exit ramp off Interstate 55, in Divernon, Ill., where they were faced with a shocking crime scene.

About 120 yards southeast of the Exit 80 overpass of Interstate 55, detectives found two severed human legs in a marsh along side the road.

On the upper right thigh, near the hip, was a partial tattoo, which investigators believed was their best chance to identify the victim.

The subsequent investigation of the legs and the surrounding area led the team's forensic anthropologist  to believe that the death and dismemberment of the victim had happened one to three months before the remains were discovered.

The forensic anthropologist was also able to determine that the remains were those of a white female, about 5'3" to 5'7" tall. The girl was believed to have been relatively young when she was killed, possibly in her 20s.

The victim appeared to have a French pedicure, with light pink nail polish and white tips on her toenails. There were indentations in the toenail that indicated there had once been five rhinestones on the toe, although only one remained at the time the body was recovered.

Body Identified As That Of Lindsay Harris

Agents with the Illinois State Police worked their Jane Doe case for three years. They didn't have a name, a face or a family to work for, but they never gave up.

In May 2008, the break they were waiting for finally came.

A report from the FBI arrived detailing missing persons cases from around the country. One case caught detectives' eyes immediately: the missing woman had a tattoo in the exact same place as the severed legs.  Police requested a DNA analysis, and agents finally had a name for their victim: Lindsay Harris.

Lindsay's case has been featured on America's Most Wanted and AMW.com since she went missing in 2005.

Lindsay had gone missing from Las Vegas, Nev. on May 5, 2005 -- just three weeks before the severed legs were found.

Now, the Illinois State Police are working the murder of Lindsay Harris. Friends and family say Lindsay was an all-American girl from upstate New York, who was living in Las Vegas, Nev. at the time of her disappearance.

Could The Answer Lie Along Interstate 55?

The area where Lindsay's remains were found is located on the shoulder of an exit ramp that leads to nowhere. According to police, it is a place where a lot of truckers pull off the highway to sleep while on long drives.

Since it is not a common area for people to travel, and is often frequented by truckers on long drives, cops have speculated that a truck driver might have some knowledge of what took place in this deserted, swampy area.

Interstate 55 is approximately 960 miles long, and travels from Laplace, La. to Chicago, Ill. It passes through such major cities as Jackson, Miss. and St. Louis, Mo.

Is it possible that similar crimes have occurred along this road? Could the clue to solving Lindsay's case be hidden somewhere along Interstate 55?

Coincidence Or Something Far More Sinister?

Between March 2003 and April 2006, four known Vegas prostitutes -- Lindsay Marie Harris, Misty Marie Saens, Jodi Marie Brewer, and Jessica Edith Louise Foster -- disappeared under similarly suspicious circumstances.

All were white, skinny and pretty, with strawberry blond hair and ranging in age from 19-26. Each girl ranged in height between 5'4" and 5'6", and all of their boyfriends/pimps were black males.  Three of the girls' middle names were "Marie."

Three of the women were dismembered and their remains had been dumped just off of remote stretches of highway. Two of them were found near industrial areas, and the body of the fourth woman, Jessie Foster, has never even been found.

Are all of these similarities mere coincidence, or is there someone out there viciously taking the lives of Las Vegas-area prostitutes?

Cops are actively pouring over the evidence and are hellbent on finding the culprit or culprits, though leads are few and far between.

One other notable piece of information that cops are looking into regarding Lindsay's murder is the fact that at the time of her disappearance, she was wearing a custom-made Corum watch, which her boyfriend had bought for her.  The watch, valued at over $5,000, has a silver metal band,and a blue and pink mother of pearl face in the shape of a heart.  It was never recovered.

If you know anything about the brutal, cold-blooded murders of Lindsay Harris, Misty Saens, or Jodi Brewer, as well as the disappearance of Jessie Foster, you've got to call our hotline right away at 1-800-CRIME-TV.

Wanted For:

• Murder , Springfield , IL

(Information valid as of November 16, 2008)

Associated Persons:

Lindsay Harris
Missing Person
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Unknown Jodi Brewer Killer
Fugitive
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Jessica Foster
Missing Person
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Unknown Misty Saens Killer
Fugitive
»More information

Television Airings:

• »November 15, 2008
• »June 21, 2008