"Midtown Jane Doe," a body found encased in a cement floor in a Hell's Kitchen building in 2003, has officially been identified as 16-year-old Patricia Kathleen McGlone.
NYPDA facial composite of “Midtown Jane Doe” created using her DNA.
For more than 20 years, the New York Police Department (NYPD) referred to the unidentified young woman whose remains a construction crew found in a Hell’s Kitchen basement in 2003 as “Midtown Jane Doe.” The girl was likely murdered in 1969.
Now, genetics experts have connected DNA from the mother of a 9/11 victim to Jane Doe — and identified her as 16-year-old Patricia Kathleen McGlone.
A Gruesome Discovery In A New York Basement
In February 2003, a construction crew working on a demolition project in Hell’s Kitchen discovered a human skull in the building’s floor.
NYPDA construction crew discovered a human skull when demolishing a building in Hell’s Kitchen in 2003.
Authorities arrived at the scene and began an excavation that uncovered the remains of a 16-year-old girl encased in the cement. She’d been hog-tied with electrical wire and wrapped in carpet. Someone had strangled her and buried her with a toy soldier.
The only clue as to her identity was a ring engraved with the initials “PMcG.” For years, the NYPD listed her as “Midtown Jane Doe.”
The NYPD reopened her case in 2017 to test her DNA using new technology, and genetic experts were able to create a family tree and track down Jane Doe’s parents. Both of them had died, however, so they couldn’t confirm Jane Doe’s identity using their DNA. However, they determined that one maternal cousin would be able to provide the genetic material they needed to crack the case wide open.
Tragically, that cousin died on Sept. 11, 2001. However, her mother had submitted a DNA swab in the aftermath of the terrorist attack in an effort to match it to her remains. This DNA was still in storage at the medical examiner’s office, and police were able to use it to officially identify Midtown Jane Doe as 16-year-old Patricia Kathleen McGlone.
What Happened To Patricia Kathleen McGlone?
With the real identity of Midtown Jae Doe revealed, the NYPD got to work on solving the mystery of how her remains ended up in a building in Hell’s Kitchen.
Using public records, police discovered that she was born on April 20, 1953, and had once lived in Brooklyn.
“She was Catholic and lived in Sunset Park,” NPYD Detective Glas told CBS. “She was baptized, received communion and ultimately had confirmation. She went to public school, and she went to Catholic school.”
Her school attendance records show that McGlone frequently missed class and often ran away from home. Public records reveal that she married a man in his 30s in 1968 or 1969, shortly before her death. She stopped contacting her family after her marriage. At this point, investigators have not been able to track down a missing persons report, and it seems that her husband never filed one. What’s more, her husband did indeed have a connection to the building in Hell’s Kitchen where construction crews uncovered McGlone’s body.
NYPDThe carpet Patricia McGlone was found wrapped inside.
“We’re still working on getting information on him, trying to verify what his situation was with her,” Glas told the New York Post. “At this point in the investigation, what I can say is, he does have a connection to where she was found.”
As for the toy soldier found alongside McGlone’s body, investigators believe that it may have belonged to a child she birthed. Currently, the NYPD is collecting more evidence to hopefully bring justice to Patricia McGlone.
“Now we can start the next phase of the investigation — finding the killer,” said Glas.
After learning how police finally identified “Midtown Jane Doe” as Patricia McGlone 50 years after her death, dive into seven baffling cold cases that remain unsolved. Then, read the gruesome story of the Black Dahlia, Hollywood’s most infamous cold case murder.
