In February 2003, workers preparing the basement of a Manhattan building for demolition made a gruesome discovery: the skeleton of a teenage girl rolled up in a rug and buried in a concrete grave.
The victim was tied with an electrical cable. A gold signet ring engraved with the initials “PMcG” was found among her remains, along with a bra, a 1969 dime and a green plastic toy soldier, Department of Justice Detective Ryan Glas told CNN. New York City Police.
For more than two decades, the unknown victim was nicknamed “Midtown Jane Doe” because she was found in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of New York City. But this week, investigators finally revealed her identity: Patricia Kathleen McGlone, a 16-year-old girl who lived in Brooklyn.
Investigators believe Patricia was murdered in late 1969 or early 1970 and buried in the basement of the building. Using advanced forensic analysis, they determined the identity of her parents and where they lived in Brooklyn, and reviewed local public documents. Police found a treasure trove of information, including her baptism card and school records, giving investigators a glimpse into the final years of her life.
Extensive forensic evidence linked his DNA to that of several people, including the mother of a woman killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York City, Glas said.
Construction workers found this monogrammed ring buried with the victim’s remains in February 2003. (NYPD via CNN Newsource)
She was buried under a nightclub that was popular in the 1960s.
In 2003, construction workers were hammering a concrete slab at the back of the building when a skull rolled out, Glas said. They then unearthed the other skeletal remains nearby.
Decades earlier, when Patricia was believed to have been murdered, the building housed a nightclub called The Scene, Glas said. The rock and roll venue, run by a young entrepreneur named Steve Paul, It was a celebrity hotspot. in the 1960s and hosted jam sessions for The Doors and Jimi Hendrix.
The New York City Medical Examiner’s Office determined in 2003 that the skeleton belonged to a teenage girl who was 5 feet 2 inches tall. But the case was closed because she was not reported missing, Glas said.
Investigators began reviewing the case again in 2017. Because the remains had been buried for so long and the bones were degraded, it took a while to create a proper DNA profile. But with advances in modern forensic technology, things started to improve last year, Glas said.
“It wasn’t for lack of trying, but there was a delay in trying to establish a profile,” Glas said. “By March 2023, we had a sample adequate enough to upload to public databases such as ancestry and genealogy websites. And from that profile, we were able to match with a distant relative on his father’s side.”
With that relative’s name and initials on the ring, investigators knew they were on the right path, Glas said. Researchers then began trying to figure out which generation he belonged to and his position in the family tree.
Together with genetics experts, they began tracing her mother’s side of the family and were able to narrow it down using the DNA that had been submitted to help find a
relative who died in the 9/11 attacks, Glas said.
Construction workers found the remains wrapped in a rug during a demolition project in February 2003. (NYPD via CNN Newsource)
Details emerged about her life as a young mother.
With that information, they established that she was an only child and was born on April 20, 1953, to Bernard McGlone and Patricia Gilligan.
Her parents are deceased, but investigators found documentation showing benefits she received from her father, who died in 1963. Her parents’ documents revealed that she grew up in Brooklyn and had attended a Catholic school.
“At that time we assumed that she had to have been baptized, she had to receive communion and finally, hopefully, she received confirmation. “I was able to obtain all three documents,” Glas said.
Investigators also gained access to his high school records and obtained more details about his life at the time. His records showed that she attended high school.
late 1968 and early 1969, but missed most of his classes.
“With the information of her age and that she was Catholic, that she had been married at such a young age, which was not unusual at the time, we suspected that this little toy soldier had something to do with her possibly being pregnant at the time,” Vidrio said.
At the time of her death, she was considered a runaway and may have given her son up for adoption, Glas said.
But the search for the child has been complicated by the fact that back then, when a child was adopted or given up, the birth certificate issued had the name of the adoptive parents and not the biological parents, Glas said.
Her husband was connected to the building where she was found, Glas said, but declined to provide additional information, citing an ongoing investigation. Police identified her husband and are trying to get more details about her life at the time, Glas said.
Glas is now hoping that Patricia’s relatives will come forward and provide information that could help investigators determine what happened to her or how she died.
“Anything they remember from that time, anyone who lived in the building, anyone who can give us more background on her or the person she was married to… any type of information we can follow up on,” Glas said. .
“I’m a father of three daughters, so I can only imagine what kind of childhood she had. then to where she ended up being murdered.”
Once Patricia’s identity is finally known, Glas said, police have a clear next step: find out who killed her.
Investigators and genetic experts worked for years to determine the teen’s identity, said NYPD Detective Ryan Glas. (NYPD via CNN Newsource)