Murder of Deanna Criswell

Some five to ten months before February 2015, the couple discovered the "Pima County Jane Doe" case and studied the facial reconstruction on The Doe Network. Criswell's father had given them a photo of Deanna as a teenager, and the couple thought the image of the reconstruction resembled their niece, including the space between her two top teeth. Other characteristics, such as the height and weight approximation, were also similar. After the pair contacted Pima County law enforcement, their staff took DNA samples from Criswell's parents to compare to the profile of the remains.

The match to Deanna Lee Criswell was announced on February 11, 2015, more than 27 years after her death. Her family decided to leave her buried in Pima County. In March 2015, Jerry, Donald and another of their brothers gathered at the cemetery and replaced the "Jane Doe 19" gravestone with a "Deanna L. Criswell" gravestone.

After Criswell's parents divorced, family members became estranged, and Criswell had periods of running away from home. She was never officially reported as missing. In 2014, Criswell's aunt and uncle, who had last seen her when she was only a baby, began to look for her. They began to search newly available online databases, focusing on unidentified persons in Arizona after learning that their niece had called her sister from Tucson in late 1987. They came across "Jane Doe 19"'s profile online at the Doe Network and believed the young woman's image, from a forensic facial reconstruction prepared by the FBI in 2010, resembled their niece. The aunt and uncle contacted law enforcement, who obtained DNA from family members and were able to confirm the match.

Criswell's case was one in which identification was aided by people using amateur online networks. Since the beginning of the 21st century, a number of websites and organizations have been established that post material about missing or unidentified persons, to engage the power of crowd sourcing. After long being estranged from Criswell's father, in 2014, her paternal aunt and uncle, Ellen and Donald Criswell, reconciled with him. When they learned that Deanna had not been heard from in decades and was never officially reported missing, they began to search online databases, after their hope dwindled that their niece was still alive. Although her father had tried to report her as missing in 1987, police did not accept the case because of her history of running away from each parent.

In 2011, further advances in technology enabled a partial DNA profile of a potential perpetrator to be generated from evidence collected from the victim's body at the crime scene. The profile matched that of William "Bill" Ross Knight, who had become known in the 1980s for spree robberies. In 1987 he was known to have used a .22 caliber pistol in one robbery, which was the same caliber used in Criswell's homicide. He was arrested about nine days before Criswell's body was found and was prosecuted for robbery.

At their labs at Quantico, Virginia, the FBI completed a forensic facial reconstruction of the victim in 2010, after her exhumation. Such images were publicized so that someone who knew the young woman in life could recognize her. Posters were distributed in Arizona with this image. Her DNA was also processed by the agency to establish a profile.

Because of advances in technology for DNA analysis and other forensic tests, the cold case was eventually reopened in 2009. The victim's body was exhumed to obtain additional forensic evidence, including DNA. The police still had no suspects.

Authorities strongly suspected that William Ross Knight was the killer; Criswell had been involved with him when she went to Tucson. He had died in 2005 of illness in prison, where he had been sentenced on robbery charges. He had used a .22 caliber pistol in a robbery, the same size of the gun that killed Criswell.

However, Knight had died in 2005 due to liver complications, while serving time in prison on robbery charges. Although he was identified as a suspect, the victim who had been shot with a gun of the same caliber that he used had DNA that did not match any individual in the CODIS database. Investigators feared that Knight's death left them with a blank wall, as they could not question him to identify his potential victim, and of course could not prosecute him. He was never charged with Criswell's homicide.

The Manara Police Department released details of the case, but was unable to identify the victim. Several missing females were compared to this victim, but many were excluded based on her dental characteristics. Fingerprints were also used for comparison. After the investigation stalled, the young woman, still unidentified, was buried in 1989 in the Pima County Cemetery.

The homeless man who reported her was quickly eliminated as a suspect. In 1988, a person of interest was also eliminated as a suspect: Benjamin Batson, a convicted sex offender who had been seen with an unknown teenage girl, was stopped by police for a traffic violation near the location where the body was found. The police searched his vehicle, but no trace evidence of the victim was found in it.

Six months before her death, Deanna ran away from home and lived on the streets, occasionally telephoning her father, but remaining estranged from her mother. She began a relationship with 36-year-old William "Bill" Ross Knight. After he relocated to Tucson, Arizona, Knight sent Deanna a bus ticket in September 1987 so that she could join him. Deanna did not call her father after reaching Tucson, but did call her older sister Debbie from the city. Deanna's father was not immediately concerned when he didn't hear from her, as he believed that she was able to "take care of herself." By Christmas, with no word, he attempted to file a missing person report, but local officials declined to cooperate due to Deanna's history of running away.

Deanna's body was discovered by a homeless man on November 25, 1987, in a culvert along Interstate 10 in Marana, Arizona. The man walked to the local police station to report the find. Police noted tire tracks at the scene, indicating the girl had been killed at another location and disposed out of sight after death.

Deanna Lee Criswell (officially known as "Jane Doe 19" until she was identified) (September 20, 1971 – c. November 1987) was an American girl from Washington state who was murdered by firearm at age 16 and remained unidentified for 27 years. Criswell's body was found on November 25, 1987 in Marana, Arizona, near Tucson. The Marana Police Department announced her identification on February 11, 2015, aided by the sophisticated technology of forensic facial reconstruction and DNA analysis, and by websites set up by amateurs to help identify missing and unidentified persons.

Deanna Lee Criswell was born in 1971 and grew up with her family in Spokane, Washington. She had a sister, Debbie, who was fourteen years older. Deanna's parents divorced when she was three years old. Her father Jerry Criswell was a trucker, and her mother, who had custody of Deanna, worked two jobs to support her family. A year after their parents divorced, Debbie left home at the age of 18.