KESQ.COM News Services
LOS ANGELES - A chance encounter in a McDonald's restaurant led to the identification of a the body of "Jane Doe #7" found in Sierra Madre 16 years ago as a runaway teen, it was reported today.
For more than 16 years, no one had known the name of the teen homicide victim found in Sierra Madre, PE.com, the website for the Riverside Press Enterprise, reported.
For more than 16 years, the family of Doungboupa "Dawn" Sihakhom of Ontariohad had no idea where she had gone, PE.com reported.
But at a McDonald's this July, Dawn's sister ran into a man with the words "missing children" on his T-shirt and that all began to change. She summoned the courage to tell the stranger about Dawn: The 17-year-old Ontario girl had run away in 1993 and police initially wouldn't take a missing-person report. Her family, Laotian immigrants, never pushed further, PE.com reported.
The man said he could help. His T-shirt read "Missing Children's Poster Partners," a company run by his wife, Becky Castillo, also a San Bernardino County coroner's volunteer, PE.com reported.
He gave the sister Castillo's business card. Days later, Castillo urged the sister to finally file a missing-person report and submit DNA samples that could be matched with unidentified bodies, PE.com reported.
The volunteer then began reviewing area cases for possible matches, PE.com reported.
She came upon Los Angeles County coroner's "Jane Doe #7," found dead in Sierra Madre, a few miles east of Pasadena, on Feb. 7, 1993 -- only days from the last contact Dawn had with her family, PE.com reported.
The photos and physical descriptions matched. Three months later, DNA technicians with the state Department of Justice confirmed that samples from Dawn's family matched those from Jane Doe #7, PE.com reported.
"I knew it was her in my gut, but I had to confirm it," Castillo told the Press Enterprise Friday. "I just did what should have been done all along."
Castillo, who received an honor for her efforts this week from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, volunteers under Deputy Coroner Investigator David Van Norman. Like him, she has become a tireless advocate for improving the way in which missing-person reports are treated, PE.com reported.
For several years, Van Norman has traveled throughout the region, pushing families of missing persons to insist that authorities collect DNA, fingerprints and dental records, PE.com reported.
If that information is then entered in the National Crime Information Center -- a federal database -- Van Norman believes many of the unidentified bodies at local coroner's office will be identified, PE.com reported.
Castillo agrees, pointing to Dawn's case, PE.com reported.
"Had this report been taken seriously (then), it wouldn't have taken 16 years," she said.
Sandy Fatland, the coroner's volunteer coordinator, said it is crucial for families to persist in filing complete missing-person reports, even when law enforcement is resistant, PE.com reported.
"Family is often the only advocates that these people have," she told the Press Enterprise.
Dawn's family could not be reached for comment Friday, PE.com reported.
The victim, who lived in Ontario when she ran away, was last heard from working as an exotic dancer at the Starlight Club in Los Angeles, PE.com reported.
Details of her killing were not available. Los Angeles County sheriff's homicide detectives have reopened the case with Dawn's identification as Jane Doe #7. They did not respond to requests for comment, PE.com reported.
