A Decade Without a Name: Can You Help Identify Madisonville Jane Doe?

It’s something you don’t ever forget.

Several years ago, as part of NCMEC’s work to raise awareness in the case of an unidentified child, investigators took me to the field where she was found. I remember standing there, looking at the nearby highway and wondering who this little girl was and how she ended up there.

You don’t have to stand in that field to feel the urgency of this case. It’s heartbreaking to know that after 10 years, we still don’t know her name.

On Sept. 17, 2016, a man mowing a pasture off Interstate 45 made a grim discovery: the skeletal remains of a little girl inside a black suitcase.

She had been wrapped in white garbage bags. Inside the suitcase, investigators found a pink dress decorated with hearts and butterflies and the words “Follow Your Dreams,” along with a size 4 diaper.

Items found with Madisonville Jane Doe. (Credit: NCMEC)

She is believed to have been between 2 and 6 years old, White or Hispanic, with long, thick, dark hair that fell just past her shoulders.

There was something else investigators hoped might help identify her.

The little girl had a feeding tube, indicating that she required medical care during her life. Investigators previously believed she may have had a medical condition that impacted the size of her jaw. Investigators now know she did not have that condition, and the current NCMEC facial reconstruction reflects what they believe she may have looked like in life.

Facial reconstruction created by NCMEC forensic artist. (Credit: NCMEC)

Someone cared for this little girl. Someone knew her medical history. Investigators hoped the feeding tube might lead them to those people and, ultimately, to her name. But there wasn’t enough information to trace it.

And the years passed.

For a decade, investigators with the Madison County Sheriff’s Office, NCMEC and other agencies have been working to identify her.

Advances in forensic genetic genealogy helped investigators find some answers. Ongoing research has revealed that the little girl had ancestral ties to Nuevo León, Mexico, or El Salvador, although investigators still do not know where she was born or where she lived.

That distinction is important. Her ancestry may lead investigators across borders, but this little girl could have lived anywhere. Somewhere, there may be a relative who recognizes part of her story or someone who remembers a little girl with significant medical needs who seemingly disappeared. 

This is why we’re asking people to pay attention to her again.

Look at her face. Maybe something about her is familiar. Maybe a detail that seems insignificant is exactly what investigators have been missing.

All of us can do something.

Talk about what happened. Please share her story. Help us reach the person who has the piece of information that could finally lead investigators to the answers they’ve been searching for.

After 10 years, this little girl deserves her name back.

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If you have any information on Madisonville Jane Doe, please contact NCMEC at 1-800-843-5678 or the Madison County Sheriff’s Office at (936) 348-2755.

View Madisonville Jane Doe’s Missing Poster here: https://www.missingkids.org/poster/NCMU/1291323/1