Q. What’s the meaning behind the title, Someone’s Daughter?
A. The title was taken from a florist’s card that accompanied red gladioli sent to Jane Doe’s original burial in 1954. The card was simply addressed “to Someone’s Daughter” as that’s all anyone knew about her at the time.

Q. How did you become interested in Jane Doe?
A. I was participating in a “Meet the Spirits” event in Columbia Cemetery in 1996. A volunteer actress portrayed Jane Doe, while standing next to her gravestone. On the grave was the inscription, “age about 20 years,” which made an impression on me because my two daughters were 19 and 23 at the time. At first, I was intrigued by the mystery of the unidentified woman, but when I learned that she had been a murder victim and her killer not only took her life but also her identity, I became indignant that Jane Doe was buried without her name.

Q. How did you find out more about her?
A. I worked, and still do, as a history columnist for the Daily Camera, Boulder’s major
newspaper, where I found a clipping file of newspaper articles from 1954 on her murder.

Q. You contacted your local Sheriff and asked that the victim be exhumed? Isn’t that a bit unusual?
A. Yes, it was definitely unusual, but not unheard of. I had been inspired by a television program that documented the exhumation of the “Tent Girl” in Tennessee. Todd Matthews, a lay person like myself, had made the request.

Q. What happened next?
A. In order to convince the Sheriff to revisit the Jane Doe case, I agreed to raise funds for her exhumation and forensic work. I started a non-profit fund through the Boulder History Museum, then I contacted forensic experts from the Vidocq Society who agreed to work for free. (The Vidocq Society is a Philadelphia-based group of forensic experts who work pro bono with local law enforcement investigators and prosecutors to help solve a death or homicide and bring perpetrators to justice.)

Q. Recently, the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office has stated that Katharine Farrand Dyer, believed to have been Jane Doe, has surfaced in Australia. How did that come about?
A. I got an email, out of the blue, from a friend of a woman named "Barbara," in Australia. The friend was moving Barbara into a nursing home and – in an old faded address book – read that it belonged to "Katharine Farrand Dyer." Unfamiliar with the name, the friend Googled it and ended up on my website (www.silviapettem.com), where I had posted articles on Katharine. The friend sent photos and documents that postdated 1954, and I took them to the Sheriff's Office for vertification.

Q. Does the discovery of Katharine in Australia change anything in the Jane Doe investigation?
A. Not really. Eliminating leads is part of the process, and now the Sheriff’s Office, the forensic experts, my fellow researchers, and I can move on and refocus our investigation solely on Jane Doe. And we’re always looking for new leads.

Q. What kept you going in your research?
A. The more I learned about Jane Doe, the more I cared for her. If one of my daughters was an unidentified murder victim, I would hope that someone would do the same for her.

Q. Did you ever get discouraged? When and why?
A. I was discouraged early on—before I contacted law enforcement—when I learned that there were no files kept by the Sheriff’s Office or the FBI. But once Jane Doe’s exhumation was behind us, and my fellow researchers and I got into the research, there was no turning back.

Q. What was the most difficult part of the quest for you?
A. It was definitely the waiting, particularly near the end when I was impatient for the results of the superimposition of Jane Doe’s skull with the photo of Katharine Dyer. But I don’t want to give away the ending.

Q. Most rewarding?
A. As a historical researcher, I was excited to find new information—much like a prospector looking for gold or a gambler hitting the jackpot. I was very fortunate to have had a team of researchers who shared my enthusiasm. Without giving away too much of the story, I’d like to say that the Jane Doe case brought closure to at least three families who least expected it, and that was very satisfying for me. I also experienced the compassion of co-workers: the sheriff’s officials, forensic experts, donors, researchers and even an 80-year-old man in Utah—himself a part of the story—who offered to help.

To book an interview or learn more about Silvia Pettem’s book SOMEONE’S DAUGHTER, contact klandow@rowman.com.