AVON, Ohio — More than six decades after a young woman died in an automobile crash near Cleveland, Ohio, police are making a renewed effort to learn her true identity — and investigators believe the answer could potentially lead back to Kentucky.
The woman, known to investigators only as “Janet,” died in a 1965 crash without identification in her possession. Despite an investigation at the time, authorities were unable to establish who she really was.
According to reporting from WOIO in Cleveland, investigators later learned that the woman had stayed at several hotels before her death and apparently used a number of different names. Those aliases reportedly included Janet Atkins, Janet Akenson, Janet Tralley, Janet Fralley and Janet Wycliff.
Now, the Avon Police Department is asking the public to take another look at the case.
Investigators believe Janet may have previously lived in, traveled through, or had relatives in Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia or Tennessee.
One detail in particular could make the case especially relevant to residents of our region.
Authorities say information developed during the investigation suggests Janet may have had two young sons who lived “near the river” in either West Virginia or Kentucky.
Exactly which river — or which community — investigators were referring to has not been established publicly. However, the reference raises the possibility of a connection somewhere along the Kentucky-West Virginia border region, including Eastern Kentucky communities along or near the Ohio, Big Sandy or Tug Fork river systems.
That is only a possibility, not an established fact. Investigators have not identified Eastern Kentucky specifically, and the available information is not enough to narrow the woman's connection to any particular Kentucky county or community.
Still, after more than 60 years, a seemingly insignificant family story could prove important.
Police describe Janet as having been between 18 and 30 years old, approximately 5 feet 4 inches tall and 115 pounds, with brown hair and hazel eyes.
Investigators are considering the possibility that she may have deliberately left her previous life behind and that her disappearance was never formally reported. If so, relatives may have spent decades believing she simply disappeared without ever knowing that she died in Ohio.
For Eastern Kentucky and West Virginia families, the case raises some important questions: Was there a young mother who disappeared around 1965? Were two boys suddenly left with relatives near a river community? Does anyone remember a woman who went by Janet — or one of the surnames Atkins, Akenson, Tralley, Fralley or Wycliff — who left Kentucky or West Virginia and was never heard from again?
After nearly six decades, memories have faded and many of the people who knew Janet personally may no longer be living. But their children and grandchildren may still know the family stories.
And somewhere in Kentucky, West Virginia, Ohio or Tennessee, someone may recognize the story of the woman police have known for 61 years simply as “Janet.”
The Morehead Minute will follow the case and provide additional information if investigators develop a more specific Kentucky connection.
The Morehead Minute believes important stories should reach the people who may hold the answers.
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