Body Unidentified 56 Years After Being Found Buried in a Homemade Coffin in the Desert
Police believe Lancaster Jane Doe (1968) was the victim of a domestic murder and that her coffin was built with care.
On December 8, 1968, a group of hunters found a coffin buried in a desert in Lancaster, California. It was 15 feet from a dirt road on 188th Street East, a route mostly used by hunters just south of Fort Tejon Road. Sgt. Richard Longshore of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department described the burial spot,
“It was behind a tree or bush and could not be seen from the roadway. It was covered with dead limbs of trees and rocks and some dirt.”
Officers pried open the casket, which had been glued and nailed shut. It had been constructed of plywood and painted a reddish-brown color.
Inside, they found a mummified body placed within two multicolored quilts. Their head, which had a paper bag over it, lay on a brocade pillow. There was also a copy of the Los Angeles Times from July 1, 1967.
Investigators say the hole would have been difficult to dig due to the kind of soil. They believe whoever built the coffin did so with care and were concerned about animal intervention.
