MD Cold Case Homicide Victim Identified As Alexandria Resident

BALTIMORE COUNTY, MD — An Alexandria teen was identified as the victim in a cold case killing 45 years ago. Until now, she was known as the "Woodlawn Jane Doe."

The body of Margaret Fetterolf, 16, of Alexandria, Virginia was found in the 5600 block of Dogwood Road near Lorraine Park Cemetery in Woodlawn, Maryland on Sept. 12, 1976. According to the Baltimore County Police Department, a witness said a white van dumped the body there between 9:20 and 10:20 a.m. Police say the victim was strangled and sexually assaulted.

A breakthrough in the case came this year. More DNA testing conducted through the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and Bode Technology helped to identify "Woodlawn Jane Doe." Police announced her identity Wednesday, about 45 years after the case occurred.

"By knowing Margaret's identity, detectives are now one step closer to catching the people responsible for her murder," police said.

Fetterolf went missing in 1975, family members told the Baltimore County Police Department. The teen died by asphyxiation, according to police. She had been bound, beaten and strangled with ligature and had been violently raped, officials said. Detectives thought she may have been drugged, because the sedative Chlorpromazine was in her system.

Previous breaks in the case happened in 2006 and 2015. After detectives asked for the evidence in the case to be tested in 2006, semen was discovered.

In 2015, a scientist working with the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol tested her clothes, which revealed cedar and mountain hemlock pollen, two types of pollen that are found together in only two places in the U.S.; one is in the Boston area at Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University.

Another clue that led detectives to Massachusetts was the discovery of two seed bags only available in Massachusetts at the crime scene, police said.

A cloth bag covering the girl's head and a piece of cloth used to gag her were both from lawn seed bags from the Farm Bureau Association in Massachusetts, officials reported. The bags, which were discontinued in 1974, were sold in five cities: Waltham, Greenfield, Lowell, Rochdale and South Weymouth.

Police also found two keys in her right front pocket, traced to a manufacturer in Fitchburg, Mass. One of the keys appeared to be a house key, the other a night latch key, according to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Anyone who might have information in this case is asked to contact Baltimore County detectives at 410-307-2020.