Update on the Jane Doe case from "Q" is for Quarry

A letter to Sue Grafton's readers, fans and friends:

My name is Bill Turner, and I am a retired Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department Detective Sergeant. I'm also a reader, fan and friend of Sue Grafton. Sue asked me to give you an update on the investigation of the real-life homicide on which she based "Q" is for Quarry. The homicide depicted in "Q" occurred in Santa Barbara County in 1969 and the victim, referred to as Jane Doe, is still unidentified. Sue and I keep in touch sharing Jane Doe information.

Before updating on the homicide investigation, I'd like to share with you some information about Sue and her involvement with law enforcement and with the Jane Doe case. Sue has been a friend of local Law Enforcement for years. In the past, during lean budget times, Sue donated money to the Santa Barbara Police Department to fund a police dog ("K-9"). As Sue writes in "Q," my friend Doctor Bob Failing, a retired Santa Barbara County Pathologist, first introduced me to Sue in order to discuss using our Jane Doe case for her book. After meeting with me and my boss, Commander Bruce Correll, we decided to collaborate with Sue in the hope that sharing our investigative information with Sue would provide leads in the case. Our involvement was approved by then-Sheriff Jim Thomas, who was as committed to solving the 1969 case as we were.

During one of our meetings with Sue we discussed the fact the 1969 crime scene photographs were of poor quality and did not depict what Jane Doe looked like at the time of her death. We believed if we could give Sue a photograph of Jane Doe for her book, one of Jane Doe's friends or family members would recognize and identify her. Identifying the victim is the most important step in finding out who killed her.

We decided to exhume Jane Doe's body and have a clay model constructed from her skull, which would depict what she looked like at the time of her death in 1969. We could then photograph the clay model for Sue's book. Unfortunately, our budget was extremely tight and I was having trouble finding the money to pay for the procedure. As soon as Sue found this out, she generously offered to pay for the exhumation and reconstruction with no strings attached. When I told Sue that I wasn't sure I was comfortable with this, she reminded me we were in this together. It was obvious Sue's commitment had gone beyond just her book - she wanted Jane Doe identified as badly as we did. Sue's author's notes at the conclusion of "Q" detail the exhumation and interment.

As a side note, I've got to share a story about Sue and guns. During one of our chats, I learned that Sue was somewhat handy with a pistol. I'm guessing while researching a previous Kinsey Millhone gun battle, Sue learned how to shoot. I challenged Sue's marksmanship and invited her to a duel at our department pistol range using our interactive laser shooting simulator. The shooter uses a laser equipped Smith and Wesson 9 mm semi-automatic pistol that does not use any live ammunition. The shooter is placed into various simulated situations projected on a life size screen and a computer records the laser "hits". Although the simulated training scenario is safe and not life threatening, it is a very stressful experience because it seems so real. The shooter must make quick decisions to shoot or not to shoot.

Sue took me up on the challenge. In a complete surprise to me, Sue handled the heavy pistol like a true Kinsey Millhone gun fighter and battled me to a draw through three scenarios. Not once did she shoot a "good guy" or miss a "bad guy". Now I know how Kinsey became proficient in shooting out moving car tires!!!!

I wish I could report that after "Q" was published, we identified Jane Doe. Unfortunately, we haven't yet. As soon as the book hit the stands in October of 2002 we started receiving information from readers throughout the United States who sent letters and e-mails, or called us. So far, we have received about 100 leads. The majority have been ruled out simply because the missing person disappeared after 1969. A few letters offered investigative suggestions on how we should proceed, and a number of writers just wanted to wish us luck.

In addition to the work we did on the Jane Doe murder before Sue's book, we've been pursuing the leads from her readers as they come in. Although I can't share with you details of the leads, I can give you an example of the type of information we've been receiving from readers. One reader wrote to us about a young woman who was last seen in the spring of 1969 leaving her childhood home in Minneapolis for San Francisco and was never seen by her family again. She is reported to closely match the description of Jane Doe. We've been trying to contact her surviving family in order to hopefully get dental charts or other identifying items from them.

When meeting readers of "Q" for the first time, I'm often asked what Bruce Correll, Sheriff Thomas, and I are doing now, since Sue mentions all of us in the book. It never occurred to me that anyone would actually be interested in what we're doing since the publication. Maybe it's just cocktail conversation but the interest still amazes me.

Bruce Correll and I retired together in June 2002 from the Sheriff's Department, four months before the release of "Q". We both had an opportunity to read the pre-published manuscript and were excited about the story. Bruce and his family relocated to their dream home in Idaho where they are enjoying the great outdoors, snow and all. Sheriff Jim Thomas retired a few months after us and he can now be seen as a guest commentator and consultant for NBC, specializing in the Michael Jackson case. Sheriff's Commander Deborah Linden (my beautiful wife) became the Police Chief for the City of San Luis Obispo, California, in January 2003. As for myself, I golf, when I'm not talking to other investigators about Jane Doe. For you golfers out there, if you are ever teeing up at one of our beautiful local golf courses and you hear the starter announcing, "Next on the first tee is the TURNER foursome," chances are that's me enjoying my retirement.

Although a number of us who initially started the Jane Doe case are now retired, the search for her identity and her killer continues by a group of dedicated Sheriff's investigators. We continue to be optimistic that through Sue's book, Jane Doe will be identified and finally returned to her family.

Respectfully,

Bill Turner, Sheriff's Detective Sergeant-Retired