No human bones found at Finley Creek Jane Doe site 18 miles north of La Grande

Aug. 29—ELGIN — The Finley Creek Jane Doe case, which has taken many twists and turns over the past four decades, has taken a pivot in the wrong direction, but investigators, including the Oregon State Police, are refusing to give up.

The Oregon State Police recently led an excavation project at a site near Finley Creek, 18 miles north of La Grande, where the remains of an unidentified woman were found in August 1978.

The work was conducted Tuesday and Wednesday, Aug. 16-17, by the OSP Forensics Service Division, the State Medical Examiner's Office Forensic Anthropologist, the OSP's major crimes detectives and members of the Union County Search and Rescue team. The operation was in response to recent interest shown by cadaver dogs brought in by the Finley Creek Jane Doe Task Force involving the unidentified remains of the woman found in 1978.

Union County Search and Rescue conducted a grid search of approximately three acres around the original burial site and the recent locations of interest by the cadaver dogs. Over 50 bones were located by the search and rescue team. The State Medical Examiner's Forensic Anthropologist examined each of the bones and none of them were determined to be of human origin, according to an OSP press release.

Forensic scientists and detectives conducted excavations at the two points of interest from the cadaver dogs. They also excavated the original burial site. The three locations were examined by sifting dirt and material through screens in an attempt to locate even the smallest of bone fragments or other evidence that could be of use in determining an identity through DNA testing.

"Unfortunately, nothing of evidentiary value was discovered during the operation," the press release stated.

The OSP said the agency and other law enforcement partners will continue to stay in contact with all interested parties in hopes of successfully resolving the identity of the Finley Creek Jane Doe and bringing closure to her family, according to the press release.

Melinda Jederberg, of La Grande, a leader of the Finely Creek Jane Doe Task Force, which she founded in 2019, said she appreciates the hard work the OSP did at the site and said it has helped the investigation move forward.

"We are very thankful for the work they did," she said.

Jeberberg hopes OSP can follow up its excavation work with deeper digging at the two sites where the two cadaver dogs alerted handlers earlier that they smelled human bones underground. Jeberberg said that after 44 years, human bones at the site may be deeper than the depth excavated.

Investigators believe bones of the Finely Creek Jane Doe may remain near the burial site because when her skeletal remains were found in 1978 an arm was missing, said Suzanne Timms of Walla Walla, Washington, who is assisting with the search as a volunteer. Timms is certain the Finley Creek Jane Doe is her mother, Patricia "Patty" Otto, of Lewiston, Idaho, who has been missing since Aug. 31, 1976.

Timms also wants state police to dig deeper at the two sites the cadaver dogs alerted handlers.

"Cadaver dogs are right 95% of the time," Timms said, adding dogs can smell human bones at least 13 feet deep.

Timms said if bones cannot be found at the Finley Creek site that dental records could be used to prove that her mother was the person buried there. She said that a forensic dentist has examined photos taken of the Finely Creek Jane Doe's teeth in 1978 and says that they match the X-rays of her mother's teeth her dentist in Lewiston had.

"He is convinced that they are from the same person," Timms said, adding she is hoping Oregon's state forensic anthropologist will determine the Finley Creek Jane Doe is her mother based on the dental records.

Timms first suspected that the Finley Creek Jane Doe was her mother in 2021 when she saw an image created by a forensic artist, Anthony Redgrave, the operator of Redgrave Research Forensic Services. Redgrave, who is from Massachusetts, was assisting the Finley Creek Jane Doe Task Force, and the image he created looked very similar to Timms' mother. The images were created based on photos of the skeletal remains found in 1978 — those bones are believed to have been cremated by the state after they were found, Timms said.

Other details have contributed to Timms' belief that the Finley Creek Jane Doe is her mother. The remains were found with a white shirt and red pants, which is what Patty Otto was last seen wearing before she disappeared in 1976.

Timms believes her mother was murdered in Lewiston by her father and then taken to Finley Creek where he buried her in a shallow grave.

The OSP's autopsy records for the Finley Creek Jane Doe, however, do not match those of Patty Otto.

Timms believes the discrepancy is due to an error made by the OSP's medical examiner while doing examinations of the skeletal remains of two Jane Does in his office at about the same time in 1978. She suspects he assigned his reports to the wrong remains, because his report for the second Jane Doe matches her mother's autopsy photos and dental records.

Timms applauds the work the state police is now doing on the case, especially that of Sgt. Sean Belding.

"He wants to get this right," she said. "I have faith in him."

Dick Mason is a reporter with The Observer. Contact him at 541-624-6016 or dmason@lagrandeobserver.com.