t/w for child death, possible rape, murder

Hello and welcome to True Crime Tuesday, where I, on the Tuesdays when I am able and I feel like it, I will tell you about crimes that actually happened.

a facial reconstruction of Princess Doe, made by Carl Koppelman
Discovered July 15th, 1982

SOLVED

Princess Doe is a formerly unidentified body.

On the morning of July 15th, 1982, in Cedar Ridge Cemetery, in Blairstown, New Jersey, the body of a teenage girl was discovered. She was lying on her back in a creek and her face had been bludgeoned beyond all recognition. Police responded to the scene, yet they were unable to identify her, and, as such, she became a Jane Doe. She was nicknamed Princess Doe by Lt. Eric Krantz, who was the first law enforcement official to respond to the scene. One source said that she was called that due to the clothes she was wearing, another said that she was called that because he didn't want her to be just another forgotten Jane Doe case. The body was believed to have been discovered after two or three days, or possibly weeks, of exposure to the elements.

A lot of things were hard to determine, due to the decomposition of Princess Doe's body. She was believed to be between fourteen and eighteen years old. Further examination to her body indicated that she had attempted to fight back against her attacker, as trauma to her arms and hands was observed. After she remained unidentified for over five months, using donated funds, she was buried in Cedar Ridge Cemetery, near where her body was found.

Her grave read;

PRINCESS DOE
MISSING FROM HOME
DEAD AMONG STRANGERS
REMEMBERED BY ALL
BORN ?-FOUND JULY 15, 1982

 For a few years, investigators believed Princess Doe to be missing girl Diane Dye, who had gone missing after running away from her home in San Jose, California in July of 1979. This theory was supported by many law enforcement officials, who apparently went as far as to hold a press conference officially identifying Princess Doe as Diane Dye. This theory, however, was not backed up by Lt. Eric Krantz, nor investigators in California. Diane's family also did not support this theory and in 2003, Diane's mother's DNA was compared to that of Princess Doe and it confirmed that Princess Doe was not Diane Dye, who is still considered missing today.

In 1999, evidence came to light that a man named Arthur Kinlaw could be responsible for Princess Doe's murder. His wife, Donna Kinlaw, was arrested in California and she began telling police about two murders her husband had committed. In one, she detailed how in the summer of 1982, her husband brought home a girl she described to be about eighteen, who she apparently believed to be a sex worker. She then says she witnessed him murdered her and it is believed Princess Doe was murdered after refusing prostitution. They were, however, unable to charge Arthur Kinlaw with her murder, as she was still unidentified at the time. He was, however, imprisoned for the other murder he committed.

Over the years, several facial reconstructions of her were made, and they made several efforts in order to identify her. 

And then, July 15th, 2022, the fortieth anniversary of her discovery, she was announced to officially have been identified as Dawn Rita Olanick from Bohemia, New York. She had been identified using genetic genealogy. Prior to her disappearance, Dawn lived with her mother and sister, after her parents divorce around 1970, and, at her mother's request, she left home in late June of 1982, and then was never seen or heard from again. She was also never reported missing. Dawn was just shy of eighteen when she was murdered. Since her identification, Arthur Kinlaw has been charged with her murder.

May Dawn Olanick rest in peace.

an undated picture of Dawn