Angelica Doe facial reconstruction

Rose Doe facial reconstruction

Wood Doe facial reconstruction

Discovered July 25th, 1977

PARTIALLY SOLVED

Angelica Doe, Rose Doe and Wood Doe are three formerly unidentified bodies.

On July 22nd, a man, who used the alias James Wisetown, checked into the Angelica Rosewood hotel in San Jose, California, accompanied by three children. Two girls and one boy. He said that he was just babysitting them for his sister, as he was their uncle, and said their aunt would be there soon. He refused to name the children and the clerk allowed the children into James' room.

Three days later, James left his hotel room and as such, housekeeping went into it and found the dead bodies of the three children. They had no identification on them and had been dead for a minimum of three days. All had multiple stab wounds in their chest and their faces had been carved into, possibly in an effort to avoid further identification. They nicknamed the older girl as Angelica Doe, the younger girl as Rose Doe, and the boy as Wood Doe.

Angelica Doe was believed to be between fifteen and twenty years old, Rose Doe was believed to be between thirteen and seventeen years old, and Wood Doe was believed to be eight and thirteen years old. They were buried in Los Gatos Memorial Park, graves reading respectively;

ANGELICA DOE
DISCOVERED ALONGSIDE ROSE DOE AND WOOD DOE
BORN UNKNOWN
DIED IN SAN JOSE JULY 22, 1977

ROSE DOE
DISCOVERED ALONGSIDE ANGELICA DOE AND WOOD DOE
BORN UNKNOWN
DIED IN SAN JOSE JULY 22, 1977

WOOD DOE
DISCOVERED ALONGSIDE ANGELICA DOE AND ROSE DOE
BORN UNKNOWN
DIED IN SAN JOSE JULY 22, 1977

Over the years, several leads were followed, trying to figure out who they were, and trying to find this James Wisetown, to see if he would tell them who they were.

The Katz family, whose three children, Maria, Annie, and Joseph, had disappeared from Sacramento a few months prior, believed that the Does and Maria, Annie, and Joseph, were one in the same, though there were differences in the dental records with the children. In 1999, DNA tests were performed with the Katz children's older sister, Hannah, and it was determined that Maria, Annie, and Joseph, were not the Does.

Several other missing people were ruled out as the Does over the years.

Then, in 2020, a man named Bryan Finch came into the San Jose police department, saying he believed Angelica Doe could possibly be his missing sister. He said he had been following leads over the years and he found this the most promising.

So, on September 27th, 2020, forty-three years, two months, and two days after her discovery, Angelica Doe was officially identified as Monika Taylor Finch. She had grown up in Reno, Nevada, and had disappeared a year earlier, age seventeen, on June 1st, 1976. Monika's mother died in 2001 while the children's father was still alive. Monika was exhumed and taken home to Reno, where she was buried alongside her mother, her grave reading;

MONIKA TAYLOR FINCH
BORN IN RENO MAY 30, 1959
DIED IN SAN JOSE JULY 22, 1977
A SWEET ANGEL

As for Rose Doe and Wood Doe, Bryan said he had no idea who they could be, though he agreed to help.

The following year, in 2021, two sisters, Wilma and Ellie Boots, came forward, saying they believed Rose Doe to be their younger sister, and, again, DNA tests would be performed. October 15th, 2021, forty-four years, two months, and twenty days after her discovery, Rose Doe was officially identified as Janie Elizabeth Boots. Janie had been born and raised in Portland, Oregon, having disappeared in January of that year. She was exhumed and buried alongside her parents, her grave reading;

JANIE ELIZABETH BOOTS
BORN IN PORTLAND JUNE 26, 1964
DIED IN SAN JOSE JULY 22, 1977
A DARLING ROSE

And nobody knew who Wood Doe was, the case going almost cold for him. As such, this is when our good friend genetic genealogy comes in handy. On November 29th, 2022, forty-five years, four months, and four days after the discovery of his body, Wood Doe was officially identified as Eddie Thomas King. Eddie was given up for adoption when he was three years old and spent the majority of his life in foster care. He ran away from his Spokane foster home in January of 1977, age eleven. He was never reported as missing. His younger sister, Jodie King, who was three at the time of his death, says that she grew up with her parents telling her and her siblings about Eddie, about how they wish they could have kept him. But it just was not possible, due to the family's financial situation.

"I always dreamed about meeting him," Eunice, the youngest King sibling, said in an interview. "As an adult, I dreamed he would take a DNA test and reach out to one of us. But that never happened."

The King parents, Rosie and Thomas, died in 2012 and 2014, respectively.

His sisters decided to exhume him and reburied with his parents in Everett, Washington, his grave reading;

EDDIE THOMAS KING
FOUND ALONGSIDE MONIKA FINCH & JANIE BOOTS
BORN IN EVERETT FEBRUARY 20, 1966
DIED IN SAN JOSE JULY 22, 1977
RUNNING THROUGH THE PEACEFUL WOODS

As of Eddie's identification, Monika and Janie's graves have since been updated to read;

MONIKA TAYLOR FINCH
FOUND ALONGSIDE JANIE BOOTS & EDDIE KING
BORN IN RENO MAY 30, 1959
DIED IN SAN JOSE JULY 22, 1977
A SWEET ANGEL

JANIE ELIZABETH BOOTS
FOUND ALONGSIDE MONIKA FINCH & EDDIE KING
BORN IN PORTLAND JUNE 26, 1964
DIED IN SAN JOSE JULY 22, 1977
A DARLING ROSE

If you have any information pertaining to James Wisetown's possible whereabouts, please contact the San Jose police.

May Monika Finch, Janie Boots, and Eddie King rest in peace.

Monika's school yearbook photo

a photo of Janie, taken by her mother shortly before her disappearance

a photo of Eddie, taken by his last foster family