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Murder of Sharon Lee Gallegos

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Sharon Lee Gallegos
Sharon Gallegos, c. spring 1960
BornSeptember 6, 1955
Disappeared(1960-07-21)July 21, 1960
Alamogordo, New Mexico
Diedc. July 21–24, 1960 (aged 4)
Cause of deathHomicide[1][2]
Body discoveredJuly 31, 1960
Congress, Arizona, U.S.
Resting placeMountain View Cemetery, Prescott, Arizona, U.S. (1960-2022)
Saint Francis Cemetery, Tularosa, New Mexico, U.S.
33°04′51″N 106°01′06″W / 33.08087°N 106.01829°W / 33.08087; -106.01829 (approximate)
Other namesLittle Miss Nobody
Known for
  • Formerly unidentified victim of homicide
  • Formerly missing person
  • Unsolved murder victim
Height3 ft 6 in (1.07 m) (approximate)[3]

Sharon Lee Gallegos (September 6, 1955[4] – c. July 21–24, 1960) was a formerly unidentified American murder victim known as Little Miss Nobody whose body was found in Congress, Yavapai County, Arizona on July 31, 1960. Her remains were estimated to have been discovered within one to two weeks of the date of her murder. Due to the advanced state of decomposition of the child's remains, the specific cause of death of Gallegos has never been established, although her death has always been considered to be a homicide.

On March 15, 2022, investigators in Arizona announced the identification of Gallegos's remains, almost 62 years after the discovery of her body. The child had been kidnapped from outside her grandmother's home in Alamogordo, New Mexico by two unknown individuals ten days prior to the discovery of her body.[5]

Gallegos became known as "Little Miss Nobody" after contemporary efforts to identify her proved unsuccessful and no family or friends came forward to identify or claim her body. Her 2022 identification is the oldest cold case identification in Yavapai County; efforts to identify her abductors/murderers are ongoing.[6]

Early life

[edit]

Gallegos lived in Alamogordo with her mother, Guadelupe Gallegos, along with her two older siblings, grandmother, and six other relatives, including four other children aged between five and fifteen. Her biological father, a soldier, had left the family when Gallegos was a baby, and the child had no contact with him.

Her family was not wealthy, and Gallegos's mother supported the family by working as a maid at a local motel. Despite general financial limitations, the Gallegos family was close-knit. Sharon herself has been described as a "feisty" and "happy-go-lucky" child who enjoyed performing simple errands for her mother and playing close to the family home with her siblings and other neighborhood children.[7] Due to her fair complexion by comparison to her siblings, the child was affectionately known to relatives as "La Güera."[8]

Prior stalking concerns

[edit]

Authorities believe the couple who kidnapped Gallegos had been actively stalking the child for days, if not weeks,[9] before her actual kidnapping. On Sunday, July 17, a couple were observed in a distinctive dark-green sedan car with two children (one a freckle-faced male; one a "small" female) after Gallegos and her mother had attended a church service. Following the church service, the female abductor had asked several attendees probing questions pertaining to Sharon and her mother, Guadelupe.[10]

Gallegos's mother later stated that her daughter's behavior had markedly changed in the days immediately prior to her disappearance: the child became markedly nervous and wary, and suddenly ceased wishing to retrieve groceries for the family from a local grocery store (an errand she particularly enjoyed). She also became visibly upset whenever she observed this same distinctive dark-green car near her home or places she visited, asking relatives to pick her up and carry her past the vehicle.[11]

Shortly thereafter, on or about July 19, this female abductor is known to have knocked on a neighbor's door, inquiring as to Gallegos's mother, her actual address, and her children—specifically whether she had a little girl. Other questions asked included whether Gallegos's mother had numerous children and her current financial situation. This woman then claimed to this neighbor her reason for inquiring as to Gallegos's mother's current social and financial situation was that she intended to offer Gallegos's mother a job.[12]

At the time of her disappearance, Gallegos was two months shy of her fifth birthday. She was approximately 3 ft 6 in (110 cm) in height and had light brown hair. She was last seen wearing pink shorts and white shoes.[12][n 1]

Abduction

[edit]

At approximately 3 p.m. on July 21, 1960, while playing with her two cousins (aged five and eleven), Gallegos was kidnapped in an alley at the rear of her Virginia Avenue home.[14] The couple offered to buy Gallegos some candy and new clothing if she would get in the car with them; Gallegos refused and was then dragged by the arm into the "dirty, old green car" (believed to be a dark-green 1951- or 1952-model Dodge or Plymouth sedan)[15] by the female abductor, who had exited the vehicle.[16] This woman was described by the witnesses as a short, bespectacled and heavy-set individual in her 30s, with dirty blonde hair; the man was described as a fair, thin Caucasian with a long nose and straight, sandy-colored hair. Immediately after the woman dragged the child into the car, the driver sped away; the vehicle was last seen turning west onto Fifth Street at high speed.[17]

The child witnesses to Gallegos's abduction immediately reported the incident to her mother, who in turn immediately notified authorities. Within one hour, police had set up roadblocks at the Texas-New Mexico state border, ultimately searching numerous vehicles of the description described by the eyewitnesses at the roadblocks. This tactic failed to apprehend the abductors.[10]

Motive

[edit]

Although investigators remained open-minded as to the actual motive for the child's abduction, the prospect of kidnapping for ransom was quickly discounted both due to the family's modest means and the fact no demands for money were received. Moreover, the circumstances surrounding the abduction and evident previous stalking indicated the child had been specifically targeted. One of the child witnesses to Gallegos's abduction, 11-year-old Dolores Badial, was adamant she had observed the same vehicle into which the child had been dragged parked outside the Gallegos household shortly before the actual abduction as she and Gallegos had walked toward the vehicle en route to a local grocery store. According to Badial, the female occupant had been staring intently at the Gallegos household and the actual sight of the car had greatly distressed the child, who asked to be carried as the two passed the vehicle.[18][n 2]

A friend and neighbor of the Gallegos family, Helen González, also informed investigators she had observed a dark-green vehicle matching the description provided by the eyewitnesses parked at the site of the abduction the previous Sunday.[10] However, by July 28, investigators had announced their investigation into the possibility "a relative or possible acquaintance" of the Gallegos family being the abductor(s) had failed to bear any fruit.[19]

Discovery of remains

[edit]

On July 31, 1960,[20] the partially buried body[21] of a female child was found in Sand Wash Creek Bed on Old Alamo Road in Congress, Arizona, approximately 48 kilometers from the town of Wickenburg and roughly half a mile west of Highway 93.[22][23][24] Her body was discovered by a Las Vegas schoolteacher named Russell Allen, who had been searching for rocks to decorate his garden.[25]

The body was clothed in red shorts and a buttoned blue blouse with a distinctive, vertical linear pattern.[26] The child wore a pair of adult-sized rubber thong sandals that had been cut to fit her feet and fastened with leather straps.[20][24] The child's toes and fingernails had evidently been painted bright red. Sections of the child's clothing were also recovered close to the shallow grave.[24] The child's body was taken to Widmer Funeral Home, to undergo an autopsy.[27]

The sandals worn by the decedent, cut to fit the child's feet

Investigators at the scene later stated at the inquest that the individual(s) responsible for the child's death had possibly made two separate attempts to dig an alternate grave for the child's body at the location she was subsequently discovered. This conclusion was determined by two evident disturbances in the sand close to the actual burial site.[24] In addition, evident tire impressions indicated the perpetrator(s) had driven off Highway 93 to the actual disposal location before "[turning] around" in their vehicle and driving from the actual burial location.[26]

Two sets of footprints were recovered at the crime scene, one of which had evidently been made by an adult; the other possibly by the sandal-footed child, indicating she may have walked to the site of her murder. Investigators also recovered a rusted and apparently bloodstained pocket knife near the body, but were unable to definitively determine whether this utensil held any relation to the crime scene.[27][20] The clothing, knife, and footprint impressions found upon and/or near the child's body were sent to an FBI laboratory to undergo further examination.[28]

Autopsy

[edit]

The forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy determined that the body was that of a white girl,[n 3] most likely between the ages of five and seven years old,[21] 3 feet–6 inches to 4 feet–5 inches in height, and likely weighing 50 to 60 pounds.[n 4] The child had been dead for between one and two weeks prior to the discovery of her remains.[27] Her hair color was brown, possibly having been tinted or dyed auburn,[29] and she had a full set of intact milk teeth described as being in a markedly good condition.

The actual cause of death of the child was never determined by medical examiners,[2][25] although her death was officially declared to be a homicide.[30][n 5] Although unable to determine the actual cause of death, the forensic pathologist was able to definitively state the decedent had not suffered any puncture wounds[31] or bone fractures, either at the time of her death or during her lifetime.[32] Furthermore, the contemporary autopsy report states that her remains were charred, presumably from her body having been set alight around the time of her death,[33] and none of the items of clothing recovered bore any puncture holes indicative of being penetrated by a knife.[34]

Because the decedent had been in an advanced state of decomposition at the time of her discovery, creating an actual composite drawing of the child's facial features was not possible.[27][35][n 6]

Initial investigation

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Police artist's sketch of the clothing worn by Little Miss Nobody at the time of her discovery and describing the child's estimated stature

With active assistance from the local media, private citizens, and (later) assistance from officials as eminent as individuals within the FBI, the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office worked tirelessly in their efforts to discover the decedent's identity. An all-points bulletin was initially broadcast across all sheriff radio and teletype networks following the discovery of the child's body.[36]

Numerous individuals previously convicted of various offenses involving young children were subjected to prolonged interrogations, and the sheriff's office also received dozens of letters, telephone calls, and telegrams in response to their nationwide public appeals for information in their efforts to discover the child's identity. Any possibility the decedent had been any known missing young girl was investigated, and discounted.[26][n 7]

Due to initial eyewitness accounts of a family seen walking close to where the child's body was discovered on July 27,[34] and that one of the two young girls within this troupe had been wearing similar clothing and sandals to the decedent, speculation that the child may have been a member of this family of transients was also considered. A known transient family named Davidson were subjected to over an hour of questioning in early August. The family had been seen hitchhiking close to Prescott in late-July, with a confirmed sighting occurring near Alamogordo on the date of Gallegos's abduction. Police questioning concluded that the family likely had no connection to either the unidentified child or Sharon Gallegos, and the family were released following the verification of their alibis.[28]

Discounting of Gallegos

[edit]

Investigators considered the unidentified child to potentially be Sharon Gallegos based upon her age (the decedent was initially determined to be aged between five and nine) and both the date and proximity of her disappearance. On August 2, a Yavapai County undersheriff informed the media: "It is possible that the body is that of [Gallegos], but we can't be sure."[13] Despite the fact that the clothing the decedent wore was inconsistent to that Gallegos was wearing at the time of her abduction, investigators could not eliminate Gallegos as being the decedent due to this material fact, as her clothing and footwear could have easily been changed in the intervening ten days.[37] Moreover, although the location of the unidentified child's remains was some 800 kilometers from the site of the Gallegos abduction, only ten days had elapsed between her abduction and this discovery.[15]

Shortly thereafter, police released a statement indicating they believed the unidentified child—with a revised estimated age of "around seven"—was therefore older than Gallegos, and could not be the abductee.[38]

Further investigations

[edit]

As numerous leads of inquiry were pursued and discounted in the months following the child's discovery, Yavapai County Sheriff Jim Cramer, Deputy County Attorney George Ireland and other local law enforcement personnel expanded their search radius, ultimately travelling hundreds of miles via both air and land in their efforts to discover her identity.[39]

In March 1961, a possibility arose that the decedent may have been one Deborah Jane Dudley; a four-year-old girl missing from Virginia. Investigators had failed to find the bodies of Dudley and her remaining siblings after the body of her seven-year-old sister, Carol Ann, was found wrapped in a blanket on February 9, 1961; she having died due to a combination of the malnutrition, exposure, and neglect she had endured from both her parents.[40] Deborah's remains were later found in Southern Virginia. She was later interred alongside her sister. The children's parents were later charged with both murders.[41]

On August 8, 1961, Sheriff Cramer led a party of law enforcement officers and a camera crew to film the location where the child's body had been found.[1] Later that afternoon, Sheriff Cramer and Yavapai County Attorney George Ireland presented evidence—including the adult-sized rubber sandals which had been cut to fit the child's feet[27]—to the media, with Sheriff Cramer stating: "Somewhere, there is someone who has the answer that we have been looking for; maybe this will be the thing that will bring that person forward."[35] The footage of this scene and the interview with Sheriff Cramer was later broadcast on television in the hope fresh leads toward establishing the identity of the child would ensue, although the program brought no significant new information.[1]

Despite numerous and extensive local and national efforts conducted to identify the child, all contemporary efforts to either identify the decedent, or trace any of her relatives, failed.[25]

External image
image icon The grave of Little Miss Nobody at Mountain View Cemetery

Funeral

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The funeral of the unidentified child was conducted on August 10, 1960. She was laid to rest in Mountain View Cemetery, with the campaign for funds to provide a dignified burial—as opposed to anonymous interment inside a pauper's grave—being spearheaded by local talk radio announcer Dave Palladin.[25] In interviews, Palladin stated his primary motivation was that he found the thought of a "little girl buried in Boot Hill"[25] as being "insufferable" to him; adding his insistence that the child received a decent Christian burial.[42] Prior to her funeral, the child had become colloquially known within and around Yavapai County as "Little Miss Nobody"—a name which remained affixed until her 2022 identification.[43]

The funeral service for Little Miss Nobody was conducted at the Congregational Church in Prescott, Arizona, and was officiated by Dr. Charles Franklin Parker, with over 70 mourners in attendance.[2] At this service, a placard was placed upon Little Miss Nobody's pale blue casket, with the inscription reading: "God's little child, date of birth unknown, date of death unknown."[2][35][n 8] Her headstone is inscribed with a section of a quote from St. Matthew, which reads, "Blessed are the Pure in Heart."[45]

During the eulogy at the funeral of Little Miss Nobody, Dr. Parker recited a poem entitled "For a Little Girl Unknown"[46] before addressing those in attendance with a speech in which he stated: "Here is a little wanderer who has been in our midst. We don't know her name; we can only guess her age. It occurs to me we may not know, but God knows. There are no unknowns, no orphans in God's world. ... She doesn't need a name today. She has the name of an angel somewhere in eternity[46] ... we may never know the why's and wherefores, but, somewhere, someone is going to be watching the paper to learn what happened to a little girl left on the desert. If there has been a misdeed, probably a disquieted conscience will go on and on."[2][35][23][30][n 9]

"Any detail, no matter how small [it may seem], is important in the quest to determine this child’s identity."

Yavapai County Sheriff's Office, addressing the media following the release of the composite drawing of how Little Miss Nobody may have looked in life. March 2018.[47]

2018 Forensic facial reconstruction of Gallegos, created by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Renewed efforts

[edit]

Due to recent advances in technology and DNA profiling,[48] a decision to exhume the body of Little Miss Nobody to obtain a DNA sample was made in 2018,[49] with The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children offering to pay for the exhumation and required testing. Resultingly, samples of the girl's DNA were successfully obtained from her body, and entered into both the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children databases for comparison with nationwide unsolved murders and missing person reports.[20]

A renewed forensic examination of Little Miss Nobody's remains following her 2018 exhumation determined the highest likelihood of the child's age as between 3 and 6 years, with her height most likely being 3 ft 6 in.[50][2][33] These updated estimates were based upon both the skeletal and dental conclusions from the examination of her remains.[51][52]

The University of North Texas Center for Human Identification also created a detailed forensic facial reconstruction of the decedent, depicting how she may have appeared in life, before her body was reburied at Mountain View Cemetery.[53][35]

In January 2022, samples of the child's DNA were sent to Othram Inc. in the hope advances in forensic genealogy may identify a close relative of the child and thus establish her identity.[54]

Identification

[edit]

On March 15, 2022, the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office announced that Little Miss Nobody had been identified as Sharon Lee Gallegos. The child's identification was made via the usage of genetic genealogy analysis conducted by Othram Inc.: a corporation specializing in the usage of forensic genealogy to identify unidentified decedents.[55][n 10] The child's identity had been established in February, although the official announcement of her identification was withheld pending Gallegos's surviving relatives' notification of developments.[57][n 11]

At a press conference held to announce the formal identification of Little Miss Nobody, a spokesman for the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office informed all present prior to the actual announcement of Gallegos's identity of his hope nobody would again refer to her by the media moniker by which she had been known since 1960,[58] adding the "unidentified little girl who won the hearts of Yavapai County in 1960, and who occupied the minds and time of our sheriff's office and partners for 62 years, will now, rightfully, be given her name back."[10] A nephew of Gallegos then informed the media of the compassion given to his aunt by Prescott residents in the decades she had remained unidentified, stating: "[My family] were amazed how the people rallied around her. Thank you for keeping my aunt safe and never forgetting her."[59]

Reburial

[edit]

Sharon Lee Gallegos was reburied in the grounds of Saint Francis de Paula Catholic Church in Tularosa, New Mexico, on October 25, 2022. The child was laid to rest in the same grave as her mother and grandmother following a small ceremony attended by surviving family members and relatives born after her death. The choice of her final burial place was made by family members.[60]

Ongoing investigation

[edit]

Investigations into Gallegos's abduction and murder are ongoing, with the primary focuses being upon identifying the child's abductors and determining the precise chain of events to occur in the ten days between the actual abduction and the discovery of Gallegos's body.[18]

See also

[edit]

Notes

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  1. ^ Gallegos's mother would state in a later interview her daughter was barefooted on the afternoon of her abduction, having left her shoes at home due to the hot weather.[13]
  2. ^ Dolores Badial's older sister, 16-year-old Mary Lou Badial, also informed investigators that shortly before the actual abduction, she observed the female abductor sitting inside the vehicle, intently staring at the Gallegos residence.[18]
  3. ^ The actual race of the decedent was later ruled as being indeterminable.[2]
  4. ^ Further examinations of the child's remains conducted shortly after the discovery of her body indicated she may have been as old as nine[24] or as young as two at the time of her death.
  5. ^ Within a legal context, the act of homicide refers to all killings by other people as a result of a volitional act; not just the act of murder
  6. ^ Contemporary records retained at the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System state the child's face had actually been in a "recognizable" state at the time of her discovery.[20]
  7. ^ Investigators initially speculated the child may have hailed from an impoverished background, and/or have been the child of migrants, although all investigative lines of inquiry into these theories failed to bear fruition.[33]
  8. ^ Among the several messages of condolence for Little Miss Nobody placed among the floral arrangements around her casket, one anonymous writer had written a note stating: 'Forgive us, child, for the weakness of men and, in turn, when in your final home, pray for us.'[44]
  9. ^ Within the eulogy he recited at the funeral for Little Miss Nobody, Dr. Parker predicted that the identity of this child would never be known.[47]
  10. ^ Previous genetic testing conducted upon the decedent had solely produced a mitochondrial DNA profile pertaining to the genetic background of the child's mother; the 2021 testing conducted by Othram Inc. yielded a more complete DNA profile. This profile was uploaded into the nationwide CODIS DNA database. No familial match to any relative convicted of a crime was obtained.[18][56]
  11. ^ Gallegos's mother, Guadelupe, had died of natural causes in 2011 at the age of 87.[10]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Can TV Solve Yavapai 'Little Miss Nobody' Case?". Prescott Evening Courier. August 10, 1961. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "'Little Miss Nobody' Buried by Community". Rome News-Tribune. August 11, 1960. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  3. ^ "1960 Cold Case: 'Little Miss Nobody'". Prescott News. March 28, 2018. Archived from the original on May 4, 2018. Retrieved May 4, 2018.
  4. ^ "Sharon Lee Gallegos – The Charley Project". Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  5. ^ "'Little Miss Nobody' Identified Nearly 62 Years After Girl's Body Found in Arizona Desert". NBC News. March 14, 2022. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  6. ^ "'Little Miss Nobody' Identified 62 Years After Remains Found in Arizona Desert". WLS-TV. March 16, 2022. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  7. ^ Goodman, Jessica; Whitney, Briana (March 15, 2022). "Homicide Victim Known as 'Little Miss Nobody' Finally Has a Name". KFVS-TV. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  8. ^ Bonvillian, Crystal (March 16, 2022). "'Little Miss Nobody': Arizona Authorities ID 1960 Jane Doe as 4-year-old Abducted from New Mexico". WFXT. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  9. ^ Gray, Jacqueline (March 15, 2022). "'Little Miss Nobody' Identified 62 Years After Her Burned Body is Found In Desert". crimeonline.com. Retrieved March 19, 2022.
  10. ^ a b c d e "'Little Miss Nobody': Arizona Authorities ID 1960 Jane Doe as 4-year-old Abducted from New Mexico". WOKV-FM. March 16, 2022. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  11. ^ "The Charley Project: Sharon Lee Gallegos. Resolved Case". March 15, 2022. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  12. ^ a b "3683DFNM – Sharon Lee Gallegos" (PDF). doenetwork.org. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  13. ^ a b "Knife Discovered Near Girl in Desert: Think Alamogordo Child Victim". El Paso Herald-Post. August 3, 1960. Retrieved March 22, 2022.
  14. ^ "Girl Whose Remains were Found Over 60 Years Ago in Arizona Identified". The Guardian. March 16, 2022. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
  15. ^ a b "Associated Press Release: Case File 3683DFNM" (PDF). Retrieved March 18, 2022.
  16. ^ "Abduction of Girl Told". The Arizona Republic. July 22, 1960. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  17. ^ "Missing: Sharon Lee Gallegos". locatedpersons.com. March 17, 2022 [September 3, 2021]. Archived from the original on May 13, 2022. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
  18. ^ a b c d Bonvillian, Crystal (March 16, 2022). "'Little Miss Nobody': Arizona Authorities ID 1960 Jane Doe as 4-year-old Abducted from New Mexico". WFTV. Retrieved March 19, 2022.
  19. ^ "Hundreds of Angles Checked in Kidnapping". El Paso Herald-Post. July 28, 1960. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
  20. ^ a b c d e "NamUs UP # 10741". identifyus.org. National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. November 2, 2012. Archived from the original on May 3, 2018. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
  21. ^ a b DeHoff, Faye (March 28, 2018). "Trying to Identify "Little Miss Nobody"". KVOA. Archived from the original on March 31, 2018. Retrieved March 31, 2018.
  22. ^ "Yavapai Officers Seek Identity of Body of Girl". Williams Daily News. August 1, 1960. Retrieved March 22, 2022.
  23. ^ a b "Unidentified Girl Buried". The Free-Lance Star. August 11, 1960. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  24. ^ a b c d e "Body of Small Girl Found". Prescott Evening Courier. August 1, 1960. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  25. ^ a b c d e ""Little Miss Nobody" Buried as Somebody". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. March 2, 1961. Retrieved September 24, 2015.[permanent dead link]
  26. ^ a b c "Identity of Small Victim Still Shrouded in Mystery". The Arizona Republic. August 8, 1960. Retrieved March 22, 2022.
  27. ^ a b c d e "Case File: 1202UFAZ". doenetwork.org. The Doe Network. October 25, 2014. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
  28. ^ a b "Footprints May Lead to Body ID". Prescott Evening Courier. August 5, 1960. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  29. ^ "Nine Murder Victims Whose Names Remain a Mystery". Huffington Post. December 6, 2017 [August 25, 2015]. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  30. ^ a b Someone's Daughter: In Search of Justice for Jane Doe ISBN 978-1-589-79420-7 p. 200
  31. ^ "'Little Miss Nobody': Identity of Small Victim Still Shrouded in Mystery". The Arizona Republic. August 8, 1960. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  32. ^ "Mendocino County Cold Case Identifications Made Nearly 37 Years Later". The Arizona Republic. March 28, 2018. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
  33. ^ a b c Lee, Jaime (March 23, 2011). "Little Miss Nobody". Retrieved December 27, 2015.
  34. ^ a b "Family-Type Group to be Hunted in Mystery of Girl's Body On Desert". The Arizona Republic. August 2, 1960. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
  35. ^ a b c d e Shake, Ken (November 4, 1960). "Clue To 'Little Miss Nobody' Still Sought". Prescott Evening Courier. Retrieved April 24, 2016.
  36. ^ "Clue to 'Little Miss Nobody' Still Sought". Prescott Evening Courier. November 4, 1960. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  37. ^ "Officers Still Seek Clues To Identify Body of Girl: Missing Girl in N.M. May Be New Lead". Vol. LXXVIII, no. 150. Prescott Evening Courier. August 2, 1960. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  38. ^ "New Lead is No Help in Learning Identity of Little Girl's Body". Prescott Evening Courier. August 3, 1960.
  39. ^ Shake, Kenneth (November 4, 1960). "Clue to 'Little Miss Nobody' Still Sought". Prescott Evening Courier. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
  40. ^ "Little Miss: She's 'God's Little Child'". The Milwaukee Sentinel. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. March 2, 1961. p. 20. Retrieved December 27, 2015.[permanent dead link]
  41. ^ "Debbie to Be Buried Beside Sister: Parents in Jail for Neglect as Child's Funeral Planned". The Spartanburg Herald. Spartanburg, South Carolina. Associated Press. March 16, 1961. Retrieved December 27, 2015.
  42. ^ "Clue to 'Little Miss Nobody' Still Sought". Prescott Evening Courier. November 4, 1960. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
  43. ^ "1960 Cold Case: 'Little Miss Nobody'". Prescott News. March 25, 2018. Archived from the original on May 4, 2018. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  44. ^ Someone's Daughter: In Search of Justice for Jane Doe ISBN 978-1-589-79420-7 pp. 200–201
  45. ^ "'Little Miss Nobody': Sheriff's Office Hopes Image Helps Solve 58-year-old Case". Arizona Central. March 28, 2018. Retrieved May 8, 2018.
  46. ^ a b The Long Term Missing: Hope and Help for Families ISBN 978-1-442-25680-4 p. 188
  47. ^ a b "Little Miss Nobody': Sheriff's Office Hopes Image Helps Solve 58-year-old Case". Arizona Central. March 29, 2018. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  48. ^ "Cold case: YCSO Continues to Seek Identity of Child's Skeletal Remains, aka the 'Little Miss Nobody Case'". The Daily Courier. March 30, 2018. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
  49. ^ "Investigators Reopen 50-year-old 'Little Miss Nobody' Case". Tucson News. April 6, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  50. ^ Sainty, Lane (March 16, 2022). "Found Dead in the Desert 61 Years Ago, 'Little Miss Nobody' Now Has a Name". USA Today. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
  51. ^ "Trying to Identify "Little Miss Nobody"". March 29, 2018. Archived from the original on March 31, 2018. Retrieved March 31, 2018 – via kvoa.com.
  52. ^ "Who is 'Little Miss Nobody'? What Authorities Want You to Know About Decomposed Girl Found in 1960". KPRC-TV. April 5, 2018. Retrieved May 24, 2018.
  53. ^ "1960 Cold Case: Little Miss Nobody". Prescott News. March 28, 2018. Archived from the original on May 4, 2018. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
  54. ^ "Little Miss Nobody: Investigators Hope DNA Can Help Identify Girl Whose Body was Found Over 60 Years Ago". KSAZ-TV. January 20, 2022. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
  55. ^ Loose, Ashley; Bontke, Jordan (March 14, 2022). "'Little Miss Nobody' Gets a Name Decades After Her Killing". ABC 15 Arizona. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  56. ^ "'Little Miss Nobody' Identified: For Over Sixty Years, the Identity of a Little Girl has Been a Mystery". factnewsreport.com. March 16, 2022. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  57. ^ "Yavapai County Sheriff's Office and Othram Partner to Identify "Little Miss Nobody"". dnasolves.com. March 15, 2022. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  58. ^ "'Little Miss Nobody' Case: Murdered Girl Identified 62 Years After Burned Remains Found in Arizona Desert". Sky News. March 16, 2022. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  59. ^ Snow, Anita (March 16, 2022). "Slain Girl 'Little Miss Nobody' Identified 62 Years Later With DNA". Global News. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  60. ^ Hedden, Adrien (October 26, 2022). "'Little Miss Nobody' Sharon Lee Gallegos Laid to Rest in Tularosa 62 Years After Death". Carlsbad Current Argus. Retrieved May 10, 2023.

Cited works and further reading

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