Fast forward to 2006, when the remains of a woman with no identity were found near a hiking trail in Lyons. The Boulder County Sheriff's Office got a few tips after the case made headlines, but none of the leads checked out. Now the woman's remains are the custody of the coroner, and no funeral or burial is planned.

Blame it in part on a once-small community that has since grown by the tens of thousands.

What has changed over the past half-century that has made the response in these two cases so markedly different could be that there are a lot more people living here - about four times more - than there were then, said Silvia Pettem, a Boulder historian.

"Boulder was more cohesive then," Pettem said. She compared it to getting a flat tire in Wyoming and having an entire town coming out to help as compared to receiving no help in New York City.

The latest Jane Doe was discovered June 4 on the south side of South St. Vrain Creek, about 3 miles southwest of Lyons. The body had been there for several weeks, according to investigators, and is described as a Caucasian or Hispanic most likely older than 40 but possibly between the ages of 30 and 50.

The woman stood about 5 feet to 5 feet, 4 inches tall and weighed between 105 and 120 pounds. She had short to mid-length brown hair and was wearing a ring with a cross on it.

DNA has been collected from her, and when the remains are buried, the county most likely will pick up the expense, said Boulder County Coroner Tom Faure. He declined to say when that would happen, or how the remains would be disposed.

Longtime Lyons resident and former town trustee LaVern Johnson said she has been wondering what happened to the new Jane Doe. Johnson lived in Lyons in 1954 and remembers that Jane Doe's story well.

Details of the 2006 Jane Doe case, however, do not come as easily because nobody in Lyons is talking about her, Johnson said.

"I would think they should have more publicity - like the guy in Denver with amnesia," she said. "That made national news."

Boulder County sheriff's Cmdr. Phil West said a part of that may be his department's fault. Sheriff's officials are treating the woman's death as a homicide - but won't say why - so many details are being withheld by investigators, who do not want to compromise a possible murder conviction.

"The Jane Doe in 1954, a lot of the information was released to try and get an ID made," West said.

But law enforcement techniques have changed a lot since then, he said.

"Certainly, the way we investigate crimes now, we try to be very discreet about that information," he said. "With so many more people having access with the Internet, we have to be concerned where the details are going."

The 1954 Jane Doe case was resurrected after a successful donation drive by Pettem, who convinced the Sheriff's Office to exhume the body last year. Experts extracted DNA and completed a facial reconstruction.

Even after national exposure on "America's Most Wanted" television show, however, her identity also remains a mystery.