The Murder of Precious Hope
Murder Sheet
MurderSheet
3.8 • 3K Ratings
🗓️ 26 January 2026
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On February 28, 1983, two men discovered the bound, decapitated body of a little girl in an abandoned building in St. Louis, Missouri.
We still don't know her name. We call her Precious Hope.
Today, we'll have on Bob Cyphers, an author and longtime journalist who dug into her case.
Buy Bob Cyphers's latest book, 25 Frozen, 1 Thawed: Murder and Mayhem in the Midwest here on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/25-Frozen-Thawed-Murder-Midwest/dp/1958727849
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm Anya, and today we're going to talk about an infamous St. Louis child murder that remains unsolved to this day. |
| 0:08.1 | Content warning. This episode contains discussion of murder and rape, including the murder and rape of children. |
| 0:14.7 | This case is the stuff of nightmares, not only because of its brutality, but because of the tragedy it represents. A little girl lost, |
| 0:23.9 | nameless. Without any family or loved ones coming forward to claim her, it breaks your heart. |
| 0:30.1 | We are talking about precious hope. This is the name given to a Jane Doe found in St. Louis, Missouri, |
| 0:36.7 | around 3.30 p.m. on February 28, 1983. |
| 0:41.1 | Her body was discovered in an abandoned building at 5635 Clemens Avenue. She was only found because |
| 0:47.9 | two men happened to dare to go into the building to look for a piece of pipe. In the basement, |
| 0:53.6 | they made a horrifying discovery. |
| 0:56.0 | A headless body, wearing only a yellow v-neck sweater and nothing else. Her hands were bound |
| 1:02.7 | behind her back with a piece of what may have been jump rope. Investigators initially believed |
| 1:08.1 | she might have been an adult sex worker, but they found out she was actually likely between the ages of 11 and 8. |
| 1:15.1 | This young girl was likely strangled, raped, and decapitated. Her head was never found, and her name remains unknown to this day. |
| 1:24.1 | Some call her the St. Louis Jane Doe. Others call her Precious Hope. She was the subject of a well-regarded |
| 1:30.3 | documentary that you can watch. It's called Our Precious Hope, St. Louis's Little Jane Doe revisited. |
| 1:36.7 | And now her case has also been covered in a segment of a great book, 25 Frozen One Thawd, Murder and Mayhem in the Midwest by Bob Seifers. He will tell us all about |
| 1:46.4 | the ins and outs of this frustrating, tragic case. My name is Anya Kane. I'm a journalist. |
| 1:53.2 | And I'm Kevin Greenlee. I'm an attorney. And this is The Murder Sheet. We're a true crime |
| 1:58.2 | podcast focused on original reporting, interviews, and deep dives into murder cases. |
| 2:04.2 | We're The Murder Sheet. |
| 2:05.5 | And this is The Murder of Precious Hope, the St. Louis Jane Doe. |
| 2:09.4 | Music The Bob Bob Seifers, of course, is no stranger to the murder sheet. |
... |
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