After more than five decades of being known only as the “Midtown Jane Doe,” Patricia Kathleen McGlone, a victim of a cold case murder, has been identified, thanks to DNA matching. McGlone’s remains were discovered in 2003 inside a building on 46th Street in Manhattan, where she had been murdered and left behind.
Detective Ryan Glas of the NYPD’s cold case unit described the grim discovery, stating that McGlone was found hogtied with an electrical cord, her remains in the fetal position. Despite efforts to identify her over the years, McGlone remained nameless until this year.
The breakthrough in identifying McGlone came when a genealogy tree led investigators to a match with a relative who had tragically perished on 9/11. Detective Gerard Gardner, the lead investigator on the case, played a crucial role in connecting the dots.
McGlone, who was only 16 at the time of her death in 1969, had her origins traced to Sunset Park. She had a Catholic upbringing, attended both public and Catholic schools, including Charles Dewey Middle School.
Now that McGlone has been identified, the focus of the NYPD’s cold case unit shifts to finding her killer. Glas emphasized the importance of having a victim’s name as a starting point in investigations.
In addition to her identification, McGlone’s body bore personal items, including a ring inscribed with her initials and a toy soldier, possibly belonging to a child she had. These details offer glimpses into McGlone’s life and add layers of complexity to the investigation.
As the NYPD continues its pursuit of justice for McGlone, her identification brings closure to a decades-long mystery and offers hope for resolution in her case.