Kings County Jane Doe is a woman who was killed by serial killer Joel Rifkin in 1992.
Contents
Case
The victim was discovered by sanitation workers floating in Newtown Creek at North Henry Street. The victim was discovered in a 55-gallon oil drum. Initially, police suspected she was a drug mule who died from an overdose because of the cocaine in her system and drug-filled condoms in her stomach.
However, after his capture in 1993, serial killer Joel Rifkin confessed to her murder. He told authorities she was the ninth victim out of seventeen victims he killed. He could not remember her name, but he remembered her tattoos and that she was a pickup from Manhattan. Rifkin’s victims were drug addicts and prostitutes, often both at the same time. Rifkin is now serving 203 years to life in prison for the murders of nine of his victims in the Clinton Correctional Facility. This victim and another, whose remains have not been recovered, remain unidentified.
A previous unidentified victim, Heidi Balch, was identified in 2013.
Characteristics
- Long brown hair.
- Tattoos according to Rifkin, but no description is available.
- Left ovary enlarged because of a dermoid cyst.
- Possibly a cocaine addict.
Exclusions
The following have been ruled-out as the victim per NamUs:
