Sharon Abbott Lane

Fairfax County Jane Doe
Discovered	December 6, 1993
Unidentified for	30 years
Sex	Female
Location	Fairfax County, Virginia
Age	15 - 39
Race	White/Hispanic
Height	5' - 5'3
Weight	Unknown (Slim to medium build)
Postmortem interval	1 - 13 years
Cause of death	Stabbing

Fairfax County Jane Doe was a woman found murdered in Virginia in 1993.

Case

The victim was discovered in a shallow grave in Fairfax County, Virginia, near Washington, D.C. at least a year after she was killed. Authorities have had difficulty assessing when she died, but it is known that she was murdered no earlier than 1980.

Police revealed she was stabbed to death with wounds to her back, collar bone and neck and had been attacked from behind at one point during the killing.

Characteristics

• She had previously cared for her teeth, but in the years preceding her death, she had reduced her dental hygiene habits.
  • Five molars were missing.
  • There was evidence of decay.
  • Fillings were observed.
  • Staining on her teeth indicated she smoked.
  • She had an overbite.
  • A gap was present between her front teeth and a cosmetic filler was in place.
• Some discs in her vertebrae were herniated, suggesting a job requiring heavy lifting.

Clothing and accessories

• She had an inexpensive hair pick and hair clip.
• She possibly wore denim jeans with zippers near the ankle, which had mostly rotted away.
• She wore bikini underwear with synthetic material and a lace border.
• A Gigi bra, size 34-B.
• White Huarache sandals with Native American designs, indicating she died during warmer months.
• Earrings (requiring piercing) gold in color with "aqua" swirls.
• A quarter dated to 1980.

Gallery

Reconstruction process

Media

• Her case was documented extensively on the second episode of The New Detectives.
• The victim's reconstruction was shown in the episode of Cold Case Files titled "A Knock at the Door," on display in the Fairfax County Sheriff's Office.
  • Fairfax County John Doe (1972) and Christmas Tree Lady also appear.

Sources

• Fairfax County Jane Doe at the Doe Network
• Fairfax County Jane Doe at NamUs
• The New Detectives^{POSTMORTEM WARNING}
• Radford University article on Larry DeWayne Hall