Precious Doe has a name

I cannot think of any worse fate than to die without a name, without anyone knowing who you are — or worse, for people not caring enough to step forward and identify you. It’s all the worse when it’s a 3 year old child, and “Precious Doe,” as she was known since her remains were discovered in 2001, led to a great deal of shared grief and collective anger at who would do such a thing.

But four years later, she has a name, and a very sad story:

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In a brief news release

early Thursday morning, Kansas City police said that the young girl

known for the past four years as Precious Doe has been identified.

In April 2001, a young girl’s decapitated body was found in a wooded

area near Hibbs Park at 59th Street and Kensington Avenue in Kansas

City, Mo. Her head was later found nearby. Until now, police have not

been able to identify the girl, and there were very few solid leads in

the case since that time.

The girl has now been identified as Erica Michelle Maria Green, 3.

Investigators will hold a news conference at 10 a.m. Thursday at police headquarters.

Police Captain Rich Lockhart said everyone at the police department is

“excited beyond words” by the development. Jackson County prosecutor

Mike Sanders says he’s been presented a file on the case and will be

announcing charges.

Police went to Muskogee, Okla., this week to

check out a tip that an Oklahoma woman may be the mother of the young

girl. The information came from an Oklahoma man who contacted Kansas

City activist Alonzo Washington after seeing an advertisement in a

Kansas City newspaper. The man claimed to know the identity of Precious

Doe and who killed her. The man claimed that Precious Doe’s mother went

to Kansas City in 2001 seeking a job, but became involved in drugs.

In other words it played out pretty much as I thought it would: the girl was never reported missing, her family allegedly killed her, and drugs were involved.

A sad story, indeed, but at least a completed one.