Was she Charles Manson’s first victim? Jane Doe found stabbed in 1969 finally identified as Reet Jurvetson
Jurvetson had been stabbed 150 times a few miles from the site of the notorious Manson family killings.
The identification of a 19-year-old Canadian woman found savagely stabbed to death in Los Angeles in 1969 has brought some closure to her last living immediate relative but also resurrected decades-old speculation that her murder is connected to the Manson family killings.
Los Angeles police revealed on Wednesday that they had at last identified the young woman as Reet Jurvetson of Montreal, described by her sister and a friend as full of life and longing for adventure.
I am horrified to think of how terribly frightened and alone she must have felt as she died
Jurvetson’s body was found November 16, 1969, by a birdwatcher in dense brush off iconic Mulholland Drive, a few miles from the site of the Manson family killings of pregnant actress Sharon Tate, the wife of director Roman Polanski, and four others.
Jurvetson had been stabbed 150 times, wasn’t carrying identification and eventually became known as Jane Doe No. 59.
Police made the identification, first reported by People magazine, using DNA after Jurvetson’s sister recognised a photo of the young woman’s body posted online. The confirmation came in December.
“After all these years, we are faced with hard facts,” Anne Jurvetson said in a statement released on Wednesday through police. “My little sister was savagely killed ... I am horrified to think of how terribly frightened and alone she must have felt as she died.”