Unidentified Wiki
in: Female, Homicide by stabbing, Skeletal,
and 17 more

Sharon Abbott Lane

Sign in to edit

Sharon Kay Abbott Lane was a woman who was found murdered in Virginia in 1993.

She was identified by Othram Inc in December 2022.

Background[]

Lane was raised in Indiana and had two children when she was 16 and 19 years old. She reportedly had involvement in drug use and became involved with the wrong crowd. Lane lost custody of her children at 20 years old, and they were sent to live with their father. Her children grew up not knowing much about their mother and had almost no contact with her. Lane's daughter stated her mother called her out of the blue in the mid-1980s.

She asked her daughter if she loved her and gave her number to keep in touch, but they did not stay in contact. Her son attempted to track her down over the years but found most relatives had no idea where she was. Lane was last heard from when she called her father from jail in 1987, asking him for bail money. Approximately 3 to 4 years later, her father received an anonymous phone call from a woman stating his daughter was deceased.

Case[]

Landscape workers discovered Lane buried in a shallow grave at a construction site in Centerville. Virginia, on December 6, 1993. She had been dead for at least a year before her discovery. She had been stabbed repeatedly in the lower back, shoulders, and neck. Her killer attacked her from behind during at least part of the murder. There was significant national and local interest in identifying Lane, and numerous news outlets covered her case.

Lane's case was also featured during The New Detectives episode titled "Dead Men Do Talk" in 1996. The Fairfax County Sheriff's Office displayed her reconstruction during the Cold Case Files episode titled "A Knock at the Door" in 2006. Lane's body was even sent to a Smithsonian anthropologist and examined. Despite many efforts throughout the decades, her case went cold, and her identity remained a mystery. Othram Inc later began working on her case, and they were able to identify Lane through genetic genealogy in December 2022.

Characteristics[]

  • Slim to medium build.
  • Previously maintained dental care but had reduced dental hygiene habits in the years before death.
  • Absence of five molars.
  • Evidence of fillings.
  • Teeth stains, suggesting a history of smoking.
  • Overbite.
  • Gap present between front teeth, and a cosmetic filler was in place.
  • Herniated discs in vertebrae, suggesting a job requiring heavy lifting.
  • Fingernails filed and painted a dark, glossy pink color.

Clothing and accessories[]

  • Lifesaver brand denim jeans material with zippers on the outside ankle seam.
  • Bikini underwear with synthetic material and a lace border.
  • White Gigi brand brassiere bra, size 34-B.
  • White huarache sandals with Native American designs, indicating she died during warmer months.
  • Gold earrings with aqua swirls.
  • Yellow banana clip.
  • Red hair clip.
  • Red cloth.
  • Plastic zipper cloth.
  • Quarter dated 1980.

Gallery[]

Media[]

  • Her case was documented extensively during the second episode of The New Detectives titled "Dead Men Do Talk" in 1996.
  • The victim's reconstruction was shown in the episode of Cold Case Files titled "A Knock at the Door" in 2006.

Sources[]

Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.