Forgotten: Wisconsin Cold Cases Podcast · Kassandra Sepeda/WSAW

Forgotten: Unidentified Remains - The Waiting Game

·17 min·1 clip
A Wisconsin homeowner used a human skull as a Halloween prop for three years before discovering it was real.
This episode investigates 13 sets of unidentified human remains in Oneida and Vilas Counties, Wisconsin, focusing on two specific cases: Jane Doe 1947, a strangled woman buried in a shallow grave, and Jane Doe 2021, a skull used as a Halloween prop before being identified as real. Medical Examiner Crystal Schaub explains the forensic challenges of pre-DNA era cases and the painstaking work of identification through multiple agencies.

As heard by us

A patient cold-case report that treats unidentified remains as people first and mysteries second.

The episode takes on the hard edge of unidentified-remains work: partial records, difficult evidence, and the long effort to give two Jane Does a name.

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Why you'd press play

If you want a careful Jane Doe case built around patience, evidence, and place, start here.

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