The Jane Doe found dead on Interstate 25 near Cheyenne in April has been identified as Brittany Smith, a 37-year-old Wyoming woman.
Smith was struck by a northbound Kia Sportage on the on-ramp from Missile Drive on April 20, according to Aaron Brown, senior public relations specialist with the Wyoming Highway Patrol. Her home town was unavailable at publication time.
Smith had been a pedestrian standing in the roadway, Brown said in an email. She succumbed to her injuries at the scene despite life-saving efforts by troopers.
No charges or citations are pending, Brown said.
Smith was one of two unidentified people who two amateur genealogists in Cheyenne were attempting to track down by their distinctive tattoos.
Cheyenne Sisters Help With IDs
Megan McWilliams and Ashley Kroner, Cheyenne sisters who run Genetics Uncovered, identified Smith and a second man— found deceased in Cheyenne in early June — through the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) database, the country’s only national clearinghouse for missing and unidentified persons.
Neither file contained much information, but both Does had distinct tattoos. The sisters posted them on their Facebook page, hoping someone would recognize them.
Someone did.
Kroner said Smith’s mother saw the poster on their page and the appropriate contact information. Her mother commented on the post and then messaged the sisters, thanking them for their help.
This is just part of their efforts to help give the unidentified back their name.
"Too many souls are known only as 'Does' in this world, and we’re deeply grateful that she is no longer one of them — that she has found her way home,” Kroner said.
Still Trying To ID John Doe
The John Doe soon will be next.
Family members who saw the John Doe’s tattoos contacted McWilliams and Kroner, and that case is now moving toward identification as well.
Laramie County Coroner Rebecca Reid, who is overseeing both investigations, told Cowboy State Daily that her office has 180 days to complete them.
The unidentified male was found unresponsive in the 800 block of South Greeley Highway in Cheyenne on June 6.
He wasn slumped in a kneeling position alongside a commercial building with no cellphone or any other identification, according to Chance Walkama with the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office. He said the office was waiting for the coroner’s report with cause and manner of death from Reid’s office.
Walkama said in an earlier interview that foul play is not currently suspected.
Laramie County Sheriff spokesperson Brandon Warner did not respond to a request for an update on the John Doe investigation.
Jen Kocher can be reached at jen@cowboystatedaily.com.
