Burial for Wanda Dean Kirkum aka “Valentine Jane D

On February 15, 1991, the body of a young female was found alongside US1 in the Florida Keys. She had been sexually assaulted and an strangled. The Detectives with the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office gave her the nickname “Valentines Jane Doe”. She was last seen on February 14th hitchhiking on Big Coppitt Key. For the next 29 years Detectives with Monroe County and other agencies worked relentlessly to identify her. In 2004, I began comparing our “Valentines Jane Doe” to missing persons across the United States and Canada. Every time I received a possible match, my heart would skip a beat as I said to myself “maybe, just maybe this will be a match”. On November 1, 2014 I retired without ever identifying her. Since I retired, I was now able to post her information on my Facebook page. Every February 14, I would post her information. Hoping someone somewhere might recognize her. In June of this year, with the help of genealogy DNA, she was identified and had a name. Wanda Deann Kirkum. Wanda was never reported missing to a law enforcement agency. Therefore, it was impossible to identify her by comparing computer printouts of missing and unidentified people. Wanda has a cousin, Brenda Chartraw. They were close when Wanda lived in New York. Brenda knew that her cousin had run away and when Wanda’s mom became ill, she did all she could to find her cousin. Not knowing that her cousin was deceased. Brenda Chartraw is the only family member who cares. The only family member who ever tried finding her cousin. And the only family member who wants her cousin to have a final resting place. A place close by where Brenda and her family can pay their respects and mourn the loss of a cousin who ran away from home so she could be safe. And was subsequently murdered. I am raising funds for Wanda’s burial. Along with counseling for Brenda and her Immediate family. The person who sexually assaulted and murdered Wanda was murdered in Texas in April 1992.