Sleuths Are Haunted by the Cold Case of Julie Doe

In September 1988, a man looking for cypress wood discovered a body in the marshy forests of Florida. The body was too decomposed to be recognizable, but police made note of what they could: a denim skirt, manicured nails, long dyed-blond hair, breast implants. A prominent forensic anthropologist noticed pitting in the pelvic bones, which he attributed to hormonal changes from childbirth. He proclaimed her a woman—a mother, in fact, who had likely given birth more than once. She became known as “Julie Doe.”

In 2015, however, revealed that she actually had XY chromosomes. Julie Doe was a transgender woman. The pitting in her pelvic bones was likely the result of hormone therapy, rather than childbirth. Her real name, however, remains unknown.