Blairstown NJ Elisa

The second stop today is being held at Cedar Ridge Cemetery in Blairstown NJ. It is being hosted by our 2 New Jersey State Outreach Coordinators, Lisa Valentino and Christine Washington in honor of Princess Doe, who is one of 3 unidentified missing that we are highlighting on this year's tour. Princess Doe was found deceased in this cemetery on July 15, 1982. She had been beaten to death leaving her face unidentifiable. In 1983 the town decided to lay her to rest in that same cemetery not far from where she was first found. Princess Doe is thought to be a white female between  the ages of 14 and 18 years old. She was found wearing a red short sleeved shirt and a peasant style skirt. She is tbelieved to have been killed 2-3 days prior to her discovery.

Princess Doe received a lot of media coverage when she was found including an HBO special chronicling her case. In 1983, her case was used as the driving force behind recording unidentified crime victims into NCIC (National Crime Information Center) database at the national level and she was the first case entered. Yet 32 years later she remains unidentified.

We gathered at Princess Doe's graveside. Lisa and Christine had set it up with lots of posters of the missing from NJ, their CUE table, and posters of their recovered loved ones. Both of  our NJ State Coordinators have experienced having a loved one missing. Lisa's sister, Allison Jackson Foy, went missing in 2006 and was recovered in 2008. She is included in this year's tour as one of the 5 unsolved homicides we are featuring. Christine's mother, Patricia Viola, disappeared in 2001 and was not identified until 2012. Lisa's family was there by her side. Her children were involved in planning and decorations of this vigil, her daughter actually writing a speech about the missing. It really hits home how families are affected. I wonder if they remember a time when the missing community was not a part of their family. Christine's children were born into our missing family.

I know they were both concerned about the turnout for an unidentified case from over 30 years ago and I'm sure they were both relieved and happy with the number of people who attended. The author of a novel on the story came and spoke. Christie Napurano was born in this town just weeks before Princess Doe's recovery. Other members of the community were also present. I spoke with a few and they remembered and reminisced about the case with me. This town may not know who this teenage girl is but they have adopted and love her as one of their own.

The vigil ended with all present being encouraged to lay a yellow flower on Princess Doe's grave. The flowers were each labeled with the name of a missing. I also saw one that said All Missing In USA. Janeane was given Damien's flower and I was given one In Memory for Mathew. Both Janeane and I were thrown by this  although we quickly regrouped and were thankful to have such supportive friends.

Elisa