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Thrown Away —
But Not Forgotten
Years of Dead Ends in Decapitated Missing Girl Mystery Don’t Discourage Investigators

By Bryan Robinson

April 28 — Despite three years of little progress, investigators and the community activists in Kansas City, Mo., remain as determined as ever to solve the mystery of "Precious Doe."

Candle-lighting ceremonies and prayer vigils today mark the three years since police and local residents first became familiar with the gruesome slaying of an unidentified girl who became known as Precious Doe. On April 28, 2001, police found the girl's naked body — and later, with a citizen's help, her severed head — in a wooded area in Kansas City.

Despite extensive local media coverage, some national attention and features on America's Most Wanted, the slaying of Precious Doe remains unsolved. She has not been identified. There were times when officials believed she could have been Rilya Wilson, the 5-year-old Florida girl who was missing for more than a year before the state's Department of Children and Families even noticed, or another missing child, Brittany Williams. But DNA tests discounted those theories.

No relatives have come forward looking for Precious Doe, and no documented missing children in the Kansas City area fit her description. Officials are not even sure of her exact age at the time of her death. An examination by a forensic dentist released last September found that she was 3 or 4 years old when she was killed.

These constant dead ends in the investigation could have — and perhaps should have — discouraged authorities and Kansas City residents who have sought justice for the girl that someone killed and tossed away. But they still believe they can identify Precious Doe, find her killer and give the case some closure. Perhaps more amazing than the fact that the slain girl's real name is still unknown is the resolve of the community that has adopted her.

"This child has not been forgotten by the community here in Kansas City," said Sgt. David Bernard, who has led the investigation since its beginning. "They still hold candlelight vigils at the grave sites [the separate sites were girl's head and remains were found].

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She was so pretty.