February 14, 1982, Cocanino County, Arizona. The decomposing body of a young woman is found

in a remote area alongside Interstate 40 and she is believed to be the victim of a homicide.

Since all attempts to identify are unsuccessful, she becomes a Jane Doe and earns the neck name

Valentine Sally. 39 years later, the victim is identified as 17-year-old Carolyn Eaton,

who had right away from her home in Missouri. Shortly before her death,

Carolyn was seen with an older man at a truck stop and while his man is suspected of being

or killer, he is never identified and Carolyn's murder remains unsolved. After that, the trail

went cold.

Hello everyone and welcome to our latest episode of the trail went cold. I'm your host Robin

Warter and this week we're going to be exploring a crime in which the victim remained a Jane Doe

for nearly 40 years, the 1982 murder of Carolyn Eaton. As I'm sure you know, DNA testing and genetic

genealogy have led to the identification of a number of John and Jane Doe's these past few

years. In fact, we're currently at the point where it almost seems like a daily occurrence

when an announcement is made that one of these deceitants has gotten their name back.

However, since many of these deceitants were homicide victims, identifying them is sometimes

only half the battle since we still don't know who is responsible for killing them.

One example of this is the story of a Jane Doe who was found dead in Arizona

on February the 14th, 1982 and wound up becoming known by her nickname Valentine Sally.

In 2021, right after the 39-year anniversary of her discovery, it was announced that genetic genealogy

had led to Valentine's Sally being positively identified as a 17-year-old runaway named Carolyn

Eaton who somehow made a 1,400-mile trip to Arizona from her home in Missouri before she was murdered.

What sets this story apart from other cases like this is that Valentine's Sally had been identified

...