Mary Jane Vangilder

Shelby, Ohio Cold Case Detective Adam Turner is a graduate of FG4LE and a forensic genetic genealogy intern with Redgrave Research. He has been finding and ruling out Jane Does as potential matches to Mary Jane Vangilder, a woman who went missing in 1945. As Jane Does get ruled out, we can then offer our assistance with forensic genetic genealogy to discover the identity of those unidentified individuals. With Detective Turner, we will be able to bring closure to several families via our combined efforts. Our hope is that the Vangilder family will also get their answers.

From the description on the Facebook group run by Mary Jane’s family:

Mary left her family in West Virginia to move to Ohio. She worked at the Wilkins Army Air Force Depot in Shelby, Ohio, but lived in Plymouth, Ohio. Mary had filed for divorce from her husband but withdrew the petition on 02/14/1945. She was in touch with her children via mail but all contact abruptly stopped. She has not been seen or heard from since.

Detective Turner provides updates directly at this Facebook group.

Detective Turner is an example to be looked up to when it comes to doing everything it takes to identify a Doe or find a missing person. We are honored to assist him in his search for Mary Jane Croft Vangilder and his continued dedication to the Jane Does that he rules out, but still deserve to be named and remembered.