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"Julie Doe' photos from Lake County Sheriff's Office
Walton's body had been discovered in 1988 and remained unidentified since then.
A woman found dead in Florida in 1988, known as “Julie Doe” for decades, has now been identified as transgender woman Pamela Leigh Walton.
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Walton’s body was found September 25, 1988, in a wooded area of Clermont, near Orlando, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. She had been dead for two to four weeks. Authorities thought she was a cisgender woman, a conclusion they held until 2015. They later discovered she was a trans woman who had breast implants and probably had been undergoing hormone therapy.
With the support of District Medical Examiner Barbara Wolf, the DNA Doe Project, a nonprofit “that utilizes investigative genetic genealogy to identify unidentified remains,” looked into the case, notes a Facebook post from the sheriff’s office. The genealogists found possible relatives of Doe, and the sheriff’s office contacted them and obtained DNA samples. It turned out that Walton was born in Kentucky, assigned male at birth, and adopted at age 5.
The manner of her death remains unknown, and the sheriff’s staff is continuing to investigate, with members of the public asked to share any information they may have. The initial autopsy revealed she had cheekbone and nose fractures that had healed, along with a rib fracture, according to the DNA Doe Project.
“It was clear from the start that our Doe had strong family ties to Kentucky, but we didn’t know for sure if she was born there or if she ever lived there,” Lance Daly, investigative genetic genealogist with the DNA Doe Project, said in a press release. “While searching Fayette County [Ky.] records, we discovered the names of two key relatives who were crucial to unraveling the mystery.” The discovery of her identity came even though Facebook removed ads about the case.
“Pamela’s story includes many common themes that trans people face,” said Pam Lauritzen, executive director of media and communications for the project. “From derogatory notations left in high school yearbooks about her to a headstone pre-carved with her former male name, it’s heartbreaking to know that the community was not willing to accept her and the identity she chose.”
