Former Kilgore detective rejoins Jane Doe investigation 22 years later

KILGORE, Texas (KLTV) - East Texas investigators hope new technology will help solve a 22-year-old cold case.

Kilgore police are revisiting the case of a woman’s body found in December of 2000. Her identity remains a mystery to this day.

One of the investigators who worked the scene all those years ago is helping in the new effort: former Kilgore detective Tom Watson, who was at the original scene in December of 2000.

“I worked for the Kilgore Police Department for about 10 years. Back then, we got a call that a hunter was out there tracking an animal, and he stumbled across these remains, just skeletal remains,” Watson said.

Aside from some clothing and shoes found at the scene, a facial reconstruction image from the original investigation is all detectives had to go on.

“Really the only thing we had to go on was we believed this person was a migrant or a transient, and we didn’t know how she got there. It was in such a remote location. Our guess is that she was hopping a train and went down the embankment,” Watson said.

22 years later, the questions remain the same: Who was she? How did she get here? Investigators are hoping new technology may give some answers.

With updated technology, the department received a new facial reconstruction and phenotyping report. They now have a much more defined image of what the female could have looked like.

“The new images now are a lot better quality. Looks like a photograph,” said Watson.

Watson knows somebody, somewhere, cared about this woman and hopes the new image will solve her identity.

“Somebody’s missing a daughter or a mother or a sister. We’re hoping somebody will come forward and give us a lead,” he said.

Kilgore police ask if you recognize the woman, please give them a call.

She’s been part of the DNA Doe Project and was one of ten cases featured at the Las Vegas crime conference last year.

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