Fond du lac County, Wisconsin. 13 years ago today on November 23rd, 2008, three hunters were out on an abandoned farm located close to Skyline Drive when they found something shocking in a nearby creek.
A young woman was lying there before them in the ice-coated water of the shallow creek that snaked through the abandoned farmland.
She was dressed in a strapless black and pink top that had a bow on the back of it. She had blue jeans on, but no socks or shoes on her feet.
A charm bracelet hung from one wrist, alongside a black-colored hair tie.
She was about 5′ 1″ and approximately 110 to 135 pounds. She had long, darkish blonde hair. She was as young as 15 or as old as 21.
Unfortunately, she was so decomposed that there was no way to determine how she had died, though it was clear she had been murdered before being dumped in the creek.
Although authorities worked to try to figure out who this young woman was, they simply had no idea and no concrete leads.
She was ultimately laid to rest in Cattaraugus Cemetery on December 7th, 2011, without her name.
Facebook; pictured above is the Fond du Lac County Jane Doe, who was just identified today
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The only thing on her headstone was a drawing of what she may have looked like in life, the date she was discovered dead in the creek, and the phone number for the sheriff to call in case anyone had information on her.
The Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office tried over the years to give her back her name. They even made posts on Facebook thinking it would catch the attention of someone who knew who she was.
“Every missing person is somebody’s child………This “cold” case from 2008 remains a mystery,” the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a post dated November 16th, 2015.
“Fond du Lac County Jane Doe, also known as Jane Fond du Lac Doe, is an unidentified female that was discovered by deer hunters in a creek on November 23, 2008, in the Town of Ashford, Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin.”
“The victim was found in a secluded, wooded area in rural Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin,” the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office continued.
“The location is approximately halfway between Fond du Lac and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.”
Facebook; pictured above is a post from the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office
Despite asking the public for help in solving the mystery of who this young woman was, it would be 6 years after that post that her identity would finally be revealed.
Today, the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office held a press conference announcing her identity as Amy Yeary.
13 years to the day she was found in that icy creek, Amy was given her name back. She was just 18 years old when someone took her life from her, and genetic genealogy was used to figure out who she was.
Late in the summer of 2008, Amy had called her mom to ask for a ride, but her mom wasn’t able to get there to pick her up.
That was the very last time that Amy was ever heard from, and her sister Erin went on to make a Facebook group in the hopes of finding her.
Facebook; pictured above is a photo of Amy that Erin shared to the Facebook group
“Please help us find our sister Amy Marie Yeary,” Erin wrote in the group’s about section.
“Her last known place was in Milwaukee WI when she called my mom wanting a ride and my mom had a bad transmission and could not get her.”
Apparently, Amy called her mom a name before telling her that she had gotten into some kind of trouble and that they never would see her alive again.
“There is still much work that needs to be done to determine how and why she lost her life,” Sheriff Ryan F. Waldschmidt explained at a press conference today.
“Investigators have also learned that sadly Amy was a victim of human trafficking.”
Facebook; pictured above Amy smiles
The Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office did mention that they cannot provide any further information related to Amy’s case for fear of comprising the investigation into her murder.
If you have any information related to Amy’s case, you can call the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office at 920.906.4777.