New evidence may help solve 40-year-old Maryland murder

TINY particles of pollen may help cold case detectives crack a Maryland teenager’s murder four decades ago.

Sketch of Woodlawn Jane Doe by forensic artist - cold case Maryland murder. Picture: Baltimore County Police Department

TINY particles of pollen may help cold case detectives crack a young woman’s murder in the US four decades ago.

The breakthrough came in the 1976 Woodlawn Jane Doe case thanks to recently analysed pollen found on the victim’s clothing that suggests she is from Boston, WJZ-TV reported on Saturday.

The analysis determined the pollen, a blend of cedar and mountain hemlock, was linked to the Arnold Arboretum in Boston.

“We found the mountain and hemlock cedar plant, and it still has the tag on it from when it was planted in 1969,” Baltimore County Police Detective Dave Jacoby told the station.

In December, Baltimore County detectives distributed flyers in the Boston neighbourhoods where Woodlawn Jane Doe may have lived.

Woodlawn Jane Doe was murdered in Maryland 40 years ago. Picture: Baltimore County Police Department

Prior to the visit, they got a name from a tipster, leading them to believe she and her family moved to Boston from Puerto Rico when she was little, attended a Catholic elementary school and disappeared when she was 15.

Case detectives have not released the name, citing the ongoing investigation.

The young woman was drugged, raped and strangled. The body was discovered on September 12, 1976.

WJZ reported the victim’s neck and hands were bound and a white sheet was wrapped around the body which was dumped near a cemetery in Woodlawn.

According to the station, farm seed bags tied around her head were manufactured in Massachusetts — another clue for detectives that she may have come from Boston.

“I think there is someone out there that knows who this young lady is,” Mr Jacoby told WJZ.

“I think there’s someone who knows who is responsible for disposing of this body.”

This article originally appeared on Fox News