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E149: Sharon Lee Gallegos
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For over sixty years, she was known known by the nickname she had been given in 1960: Little Miss Nobody. Her charred remains had been buried in a shallow grave off of State Route 93 in Congress, Arizona. Thanks so modern genetic testing procedures being done by Othram, she has recently been identified. That part of the puzzle has now been solved. Now we must focus on the crime and who could possibly be callous enough to have committed her murder.
Thank you BetterHelp for sponsoring this episode. If you are needing help feeling whole again, needing guidance to get back to the best version of yourself, or you just need someone to listen to you unload the burdens you’ve been dealing with lately, BetterHelp is a fantastic option. When you want to be a better problem- solver, therapy can get you there. Visit BetterHelp.com/COFFEEANDCASES today to get 10% off your first month.
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Transcript
Introduction & Sponsorship
00:00:00
Speaker
This podcast episode is sponsored by BetterHelp.
New Abduction Scheme
00:00:06
Speaker
On the way to work yesterday, Rodney called to warn me. There's a new scheme going around the area in an attempt to abduct women.
Helping Nature vs. Caution
00:00:15
Speaker
The scheme itself is not a new one, though the renewed effort to use the ruse is. He told me that abductors are now using elderly women in grocery store parking lots.
00:00:27
Speaker
to ask young women to help them carry groceries to their car because their spouse, child, insert relative here is disabled and unable to help. He called because he knows I'd fall for it.
00:00:42
Speaker
I'm a helper at heart. When I see someone in need, I rush to their aid. Someone falls, I help them up. Someone is struggling to carry something and I run to help carry the load or at least open the door. I would want them to do the same for me.
00:00:59
Speaker
And I try to instill that same helpful attitude in my daughter.
Teaching Kindness in a Dangerous World
00:01:03
Speaker
Near Christmas last year, my little sleuth hound and I were out shopping for the gifts she would give to the family. As we were getting into the car and buckling in, I looked up to a house whose back faced the parking lot of the little boutique in our small town. There was an elderly woman who had a garbage bag she was struggling to get into the garbage bin.
00:01:23
Speaker
It must have been heavy because she was struggling to lift it high enough to place it inside. My daughter, seeing the same scene, without a word, jumped out of the car and ran to help. She didn't do it for the thanks. She saw someone who needed help that she could provide, and she wanted to give what she could. It's with a heavy heart that there are individuals out there who prey on the giving helper, who make that kind of heart a dangerous one to have.
00:01:54
Speaker
It's sad that now, if I want to help, I first need to look more intently at my surroundings to make sure that a woman is alone before I choose to help her or that no suspicious looking vehicles are around. It's difficult to live in a world in which my trusting nature has to question intentions instead. How do we further teach our children to be hopeful and kind and yet safe at the same time?
00:02:22
Speaker
How can we guide them to differentiate between the genuinely nice person who has a puppy, sees your child eyeing the cuddly fur baby lovingly and says, you can pet the puppy if you'd like, and the predator seeking to prey on innocent joy.
Case Introduction: Young Helper's Tragedy
00:02:39
Speaker
At the center of our case this week was a young four year old little girl who loved to help her mother run errands to make herself useful. She was a helper at heart.
00:02:51
Speaker
Then the tragic evil of this world destroyed that beautiful young girl. This is her story.
Podcast Purpose & Allen Family Discovery
00:03:34
Speaker
Welcome to Coffee and Cases where we like our coffee hot and our cases cold. My name is Allison Williams. And my name is Maggie Dameron. We will be telling stories each week in the hopes that someone out there with any information concerning the cases will take those tips to law enforcement. So justice and closure can be brought to these families.
00:03:54
Speaker
With each case, we encourage you to continue in the conversation on our Facebook page, Coffee and Cases podcast, because as we all know, conversation helps to keep the missing person in the public consciousness, helping keep their memories alive. So sit back, sip your coffee, and listen to what's brewing this week. So Maggie, July 31st, 1960,
00:04:18
Speaker
Oh, so an older one. Yes. Well, this was the day that Las Vegas school teacher Russell Allen had chosen for himself and his family to comb the Sandwash Creek bed on Old Alamo Road in Congress, Arizona, looking for decorative rocks for their family garden.
00:04:39
Speaker
Well, that just all sounds very American right there. Sandwash Creek Bed, Old Alamo Road, and Congress Arizona. I know, yeah. Looking for rocks for the family garden. Yeah. I don't have a green thumb, so about all I'd have are the rocks. Yeah, rocks. But it's fine. So it does make sense that they would look in the sand wash because a sand wash, which I had never heard of before researching this case, that I know of, have anything like a sand wash.
00:05:07
Speaker
in Kentucky, but it's a basin. It's like a stream bed that's filled with sand and rocks, and it's normally dry, free of vegetation, and it only fills up like a stream when there's an extremely heavy rainstorm.
00:05:23
Speaker
It kind of makes me think of when you go to the beach and the tide comes in and when the tide moves out, it pulls the sand away to potentially reveal previously unseen treasures right at your feet. It kind of makes me think of that. So when these heavy rains come in, it washes things out and then you might see these beautiful stones. Oh, okay. Got it.
00:05:46
Speaker
So the family had driven actually a considerable way because Las Vegas to Congress Arizona is more than a three hour drive for this outing. They were dedicated to this family garden. Definitely dedicated. And they had come to a fairly remote area for the search. And I don't know, I didn't read anywhere if the teacher or members of his family had ties to this area and maybe
00:06:13
Speaker
That's what brought them there in the first place because Congress, which is in Yavapai County itself is made up of primarily commuters and retirees. And it has a population of fewer than 2000 people. So this is a town you generally drive past and not necessarily to. Okay.
00:06:35
Speaker
But Congress Arizona is a juxtaposition. I don't want to make it sound as though the town itself is one that's difficult to get to, even though it is extremely rural. So while it may barely seem a blip on the map to some, the Sandwash Creek bed is only about a half a mile off of Arizona State Route 93. So off of a bigger road.
00:07:04
Speaker
I'm like picturing cars in my mind right now. That's the scene. Like the scenery I'm looking at. Yeah. Though this part of Arizona does have like pine trees and things too though. So I know.
00:07:19
Speaker
But now defunct, State Route 93 was a major route from 1946 to 1991, and we're smack dab in the middle of that in 1960, for commuters who were going to larger cities like Prescott or Flagstaff. And PS, I totally, before I started researching this case, would have said Prescott, Arizona, but it's pronounced Prescott. Yeah, also would have too.
00:07:47
Speaker
Well, I guess it's like Versailles and Versailles. Exactly. Yeah. Bob Ruff making fun of us, but that's how you say it. That's how you say it. That's right.
Crime Scene Details & Theories
00:07:55
Speaker
Alan and his family had stopped to find rocks to beautify their garden, but what Alan found instead would haunt the recesses of his mind for years to come, Maggie. He found the charred and decomposing body of a small child, half emerging from a shallow grave.
00:08:16
Speaker
Okay, so I first thought that it was gonna be somebody from Russell Allen's family, but this is just a, at this point, an unidentified person that we found. Correct. A child, okay. And I mean, what are the chances that he and his family come to look for rocks in this remote area that's three hours away from home and they end up finding this scene instead?
00:08:43
Speaker
Who knows how long she would have been out there had he not discovered her. And we know that she wasn't washed down because she's buried partially. We'll talk about that. Okay. So, okay. She wasn't a shallow grave and shallow graves are not that uncommon.
00:09:07
Speaker
in murder cases because generally speaking, the perpetrator who committed the crime usually doesn't want to stick around an area long enough to dig for very long. But with this little girl's body though, because she's in a sand wash, I don't know if the grave that was actually dug was shallow to begin with or if it were deeper and a heavy rain had come through and exposed more of her body as a result. Okay, I see.
00:09:37
Speaker
Yes, but she's currently in a shallow grave when she is found. Okay. Of course, Allen immediately alerted police and the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office, or YCSO for short, responded. When searching the area around the attempted burial, law enforcement identified two additional partial holes.
00:10:01
Speaker
leading them to surmise that whomever had committed the crime had attempted to dig two other holes for burial, but had likely struck ground too hard to dig. So then they moved to a new spot. Tried that. Interesting. Yeah, struck too hard, moved to this final third site where she was partially buried. Near the body, police also found a rusted knife
00:10:28
Speaker
two sets of footprints, one from an adult and one from a child, as well as tire tracks that showed the perpetrator had driven State Route 93, had just gone off the road from State Route 93 to the burial site and then turned around and driven back to the roadway.
00:10:49
Speaker
Well, that's a lot of information though. Two different footprints, the rusted knife and near the tire tracks. That's where the footprints were found. So those footprints actually indicated to law enforcement that the perpetrator as well as the child, and this is so
00:11:10
Speaker
Oh, just to think about this scene, but that the perpetrator as well as the child had likely walked to that actual burial site, meaning she was likely alive when she arrived at the Sandwash Creek bed and that she had been murdered in this location, partially buried, and then set aflame.
00:11:34
Speaker
You know, you mentioned that there was a child's set of footprints, but until you said that last little bit, it hadn't clicked that it was this child's footprints. And that makes my heart hurt and I just can't comprehend that kind of cruelness. I know. Yeah. My brain can't comprehend it either. And not just murder, but then the burning of her body, that takes it to a whole new level for me.
00:12:03
Speaker
Mm hmm. And it also tells me that the perpetrator of this crime, this crime was premeditated. Oh, yeah, definitely, because you would have to have the necessary the needed things, the necessary things to set someone ablaze. Mm hmm. Yeah. And this place is remote.
00:12:22
Speaker
So even though it's along a major road, you're right. That person had to bring something with them to dig. They had to bring an accelerant of some sort. They had to bring something to light the fire. So they knew this was going to happen at this site. They had been thinking about it. They had been planning the details. Yeah, exactly. And that's gut wrenching.
00:12:45
Speaker
Despite the body having been burned, law enforcement could still tell many details about the small child. So the small girl had been wearing red shorts with a blue and white checkered shirt. Her hair was light brown, almost blonde, but it looked as though it had Auburn tints to it or maybe had been dyed an Auburn color. Her fingernails and toenails had been painted red.
00:13:16
Speaker
on her feet were adult rubber slide sandals. I don't really know what you call them. Some people call them thong sandals. It's the kind like you buy for $2 at Old Navy, those plastics. I call those flip flops. Well, I mean, I call them flip flops too. So she had on a pair of adult rubber flip flops that had actually been cut to fit the size of her feet. So like the backs of them had been cut off.
00:13:45
Speaker
and they were fastened on her feet with brown leather straps. Okay, so had she been there very long? Well, the thought is that, so when they discovered her body, when law enforcement got there, they actually brought her body to the local Widmer funeral home for the autopsy. And they realized that because the hot desert heat during the summer,
00:14:14
Speaker
While they believed that her body had only been out there for approximately one to two weeks after her murder, her body had actually decomposed so quickly that the cause of death was impossible to determine. So she'd only been out there one to two weeks. And I mean, I guess they can tell that based on because don't your fingernails and toenails continue to grow. So that could be a contributing factor to how long they knew she was out there.
00:14:47
Speaker
but it's so decomposed that they couldn't even tell. And it's kind of sad. I feel really, I mean, of course it's sad, Maggie, but I feel bad for her with the sandals cut to fit her feet. I wonder if that was, she was just from a very poor family and it was someone in her family that did this to her if she was kidnapped. We'll talk about some theories.
00:15:11
Speaker
Okay. Pathologists who were evaluating the body discovered actually that there were no signs of skeletal trauma. So there were no broken bones, no skull fracture, not even healed bones from previous fractures. This had been a healthy child. Even her teeth were intact.
00:15:33
Speaker
clean and well taken care of. Boston 25 News even reported that her teeth were in, quote, pristine condition, end quote.
00:15:44
Speaker
So it wasn't as though, you know, this child had been like, there were obvious signs of neglect or something like that. None of those existed. And whether that knife, that rusted knife that was found at the scene was connected with the young child's death is also unclear. And I say this because even though it was found near the scene, there were no puncture wounds that were found on the body or in the clothing from what I read in my research.
00:16:14
Speaker
So it's a potential theory that she could have just been burnt alive. That is a potential because I also didn't read. You would expect to read whether there was smoke or something like that in her lungs. And I didn't see that detail whether there was or not in any of my research.
00:16:38
Speaker
So while no exact cause of death was detailed in that autopsy report because of the suspicious nature of her death, it was ruled a homicide, obviously. They determined her height to be between three foot, six inches and four foot, five inches. Her weight between 50 and 60 pounds.
00:17:00
Speaker
and her age to be between five and nine with the most likely age they agreed around seven. This just keeps getting more depressing.
00:17:12
Speaker
And All Points Bulletin was sent to all sheriff radio networks after the discovery. And from the onset, and this is wonderful actually how quickly law enforcement kind of got into action, but various avenues were checked. Law enforcement immediately began interviewing and checking with known sex offenders who targeted young children.
00:17:35
Speaker
they didn't find anything, so they quickly expanded their search. An article from August 5, 1960, and remember she's found on the 31st, July 31st, an article from August 5, 1960 published in the Prescott Evening Courier noted that law enforcement were looking for abandoned trails and abandoned cars, but they were not able to find anything.
00:17:59
Speaker
And that is pretty impressive from the 31st to the 5th. That's not a lot of time that's passed. Yeah, we're talking a week. And they'd already done conducted multiple interviews and, you know, kind of taken their search down multiple avenues. There were some theories even right away concerning her identity though.
00:18:21
Speaker
Because of the State Route 93 running through the area, this was a place frequently traveled by transients and their families. One theory was that a transient family may have had a child die while along this walk, right, along State Route 93, and that they had attempted to bury her off of the roadway. You know what this reminds me of? What?
00:18:47
Speaker
Was it the boy in the box? Mm-hmm. I'm thinking that like one of the theories was That they died of like starvation or something like that and the family buried them in this like shallow box And that's why they were never claimed. Yeah, kind of reminds me of that, but he was wasn't he really? Like no had yeah. Yeah, he had lots of bruises was malnourished and all that and this little girl had none of that and
00:19:16
Speaker
And this theory, it still doesn't explain the setting of her body on fire to me.
Identifying the Victim: Sharon Lee Gallegos
00:19:23
Speaker
It could if she had died because of the elements. I guess that could explain the death despite no evidence of trauma, because she could have died from other ailments when you're exposed to the weather, like many transient families are. Yeah, but why the burning? It doesn't fit to me.
00:19:43
Speaker
One particular transient family headed by a man with the last name Davidson was actually seen walking along State Route 93 in that very area where the body was discovered. And there had been two young girls who were seen walking with him dressed similarly to the victim. And from what witnesses could remember, they also had sandals much like those worn by Little Miss Nobody.
00:20:12
Speaker
So is that what she came to be known as? Yes. Yeah. I guess I jumped ahead a little there. But yeah, because no one immediately stepped forward to claim her, she got this moniker, Little Miss Nobody, which I am not a fan of that name. We'll talk about it here in just a second. But yeah, because she was somebody that, you know. Exactly. Exactly.
00:20:40
Speaker
But this family of transients, they had been seen around the end of July, hitchhiking near Prescott. And remember, she's found July 31st. However, when law enforcement followed up this lead, they found that the alibis of the Davidson family could be verified and that they likely were not connected to the crime.
00:21:02
Speaker
And I feel like her little outfit is probably a very popular summer choice in 1960 for little girls, especially in July. It's very patriotic. A second early theory was a little girl named Deborah Jane Dudley. In March of 1961, the theory was posited that Little Miss Nobody could be a four-year-old who had gone missing from Virginia.
00:21:29
Speaker
Deborah's seven-year-old sister Carol Ann's remains had been discovered wrapped in a blanket in February 1961, having long since died from malnutrition and exposure. Hmm. Yeah, so they're like, okay, well, her sister Deborah is also missing.
00:21:52
Speaker
could this be Carol Ann's sister? But this is a long way from Virginia. And it wasn't just Deborah's body that was missing. The other siblings of Deborah's and Carol Ann's, their bodies had not yet been discovered either. But people realized that all of these children from this family, this Dudley family were missing.
00:22:16
Speaker
So the initial thought was that even though this is a long way for Virginia, there's at least a possibility that the remains were Deborah's. However, Deborah's remains were eventually located in Southern Virginia, and she was able to be buried beside of her sister, Carol Anne, and her parents were at least charged with both of their murders.
00:22:41
Speaker
Which is I'm telling you when researching the theories even the theories in this case are unthinkable. Yes. So this one is potentially was potentially.
00:22:54
Speaker
Deborah Dudley, do not like the last name Dudley. Harry Potter people, we don't like Dudley. But okay, so she's Deborah Dudley and the little sister Carol Anne goes missing and they find one sibling's body and they think that the little miss somebody, because I don't like the word nobody, could be this other sister, but they found the sister's body. Correct.
00:23:18
Speaker
And their parents just like let them wander off? I guess. I don't know. Yeah. Okay. Well, that's disturbing. Next theory. I know. Paid for their crimes. Even though while serving, you know, being found guilty of murder and serving time obviously isn't justice for the crimes that were committed, but I guess as much as we can legally do.
00:23:48
Speaker
An article in the Prescott Evening Courier from August 2nd, 1960, so only three days after the body was found, let readers know of a third potential theory. A couple from central Arizona actually drove to Prescott to see if the body of the girl found in the Sandwash Creek bed was their granddaughter, whom they said that they had not seen in over a week. And I can't imagine what's going through your head
00:24:17
Speaker
As a parent, let alone a grandparent, if you're driving to see a body, wondering if that is your grandchild. How long have this little girl been missing, you said? A week? Yeah, one to two weeks.
00:24:33
Speaker
Luckily for the grandparents though, their granddaughter was found alive and well shortly after their trip. Oh, that is lucky for them. All of these theories, none of them are panning out. Yet another theory circulating at the time.
00:24:48
Speaker
was a little girl named Sharon Lee Gallegos, who had been abducted less than two weeks before the body was discovered. But Sharon was dressed in her little pink shorts and white shoes, and she had been playing in an alley outside of her grandmother's house in Alamogordo, New Mexico around 3 p.m. on August 21, 1960.
00:25:14
Speaker
when a car pulled up and right in front of a cousin and another young friend, another source said both of them were her cousins, but a woman tried to lure Sharon into the vehicle. Oh my God. So like your intro. Yeah. Yep. And when she refused to get in, the woman had grabbed her by the elbow and drug her in.
00:25:41
Speaker
And despite a near immediate call to law enforcement and the shutting down of roads to find her, Sharon was gone. So people were like, could this little girl be her? I mean, that's extremely traumatic to think that that kind of stuff happens. And I feel it's even more prevalent today than it was in 1960. But the problem with this theory is that law enforcement said,
00:26:08
Speaker
that Little Miss Nobody was around five to seven years old or five to nine years old, actually likely around seven. And Sharon Lee Gallegos was only four. Yeah, but some children are bigger when they're, you know, like fall into different growth percentile charts or whatever. That's true. Sharon was last seen wearing pink and white, not a red and blue outfit. And it
00:26:35
Speaker
Additionally, do you remember that I said law enforcement took footprints from the crime scene? That was actually what police ultimately used to rule out Sharon as the potential victim here. An official from YCSO told the Prescott Evening Courier for an August 5th, 1960 article,
00:26:57
Speaker
If nothing else, it'll give us definite evidence whether or not the body is the one of the girl kidnapped from Alamogordo, New Mexico on July 21st." And the footprints did not match.
00:27:12
Speaker
So, again, we're left with nothing. I know. And of course, even the distance between them. So Sharon had disappeared from Alamogordo, New Mexico, and that was about eight hours away from Congress, Arizona. Oh, wow. So we're still quite a distance, no closer to knowing the identity of this little girl and with every lead failing to produce answers. That was actually when she was given the moniker Little Miss Nobody. And I know
00:27:42
Speaker
I said it before but the name really bothers me even though I'm saying I'm saying it because that's what name she was given and I understand that nobody came to claim her but I do just feel like it that name implies that she doesn't matter and that breaks my heart yeah because she was somebody mm-hmm exactly but despite the name
00:28:11
Speaker
At least in her death, she was treated like a somebody. She was buried about a week after her discovery. She was buried on August 10th, 1960. Does her little tombstone read Little Miss Nobody on it? It does. It does. The local papers headline when she was buried read Little Miss Nobody was somebody today.
00:28:37
Speaker
Oh my God, that's heartbreaking in and of itself. So a local radio personality had actually collected money to provide a proper burial for this little girl. And around 70 citizens dressed up and attended her funeral. And they also donated money for a pale blue casket to place her in.
00:29:01
Speaker
They paid for pink and white carnations to adorn the gravesite. They paid for her interment at Mountain View Cemetery and for her headstone, which did read, Little Miss Nobody. And then a verse from Matthew in the Bible, blessed are the pure in heart. 1960. Now, my favorite, favorite part of her funeral that
00:29:32
Speaker
at least puts my soul at ease, is the words that Dr. Charles Franklin Parker, who officiated her funeral at the Congregational Church in Prescott, said during the eulogy. He stated, quote, here is a little wanderer who had been in our midst. We don't know her name. We can only guess her age. It occurs to me that we may not know
00:30:01
Speaker
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." End quote. Okay, well, I'm crying now. Is that not... I mean... That was so good. She doesn't need a name here.
00:30:28
Speaker
She has one. But then years go by Maggie with nothing. 54 years of waiting and no further steps toward identifying the young girl who was found in the sand wash. Which is crazy to me because
00:30:48
Speaker
unless the family was responsible, which we talked about, like then why the fire, unless I guess her family is just, you know, psychos. There's somewhere in the world somebody is missing a child. Like I've never understood these types of cases. I know. It wasn't until 2016. So remember, her body is found in 1960.
00:31:16
Speaker
So 2016, 56 years later, that an offer to pay for the exhumation and testing required to provide a renewed focus in the case came from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
00:31:30
Speaker
Between 2016 and 2018, researchers worked hard to complete that exhumation and what testing they could of the DNA. It was when the little girl's body was exhumed and DNA extracted from her bones and from her teeth through forensic odontology that scientists from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
00:31:53
Speaker
determined that the age of the girl was actually around three to six and not older as they had originally thought and that was one of the key reasons why they had discounted some of the theory. Yeah exactly because she was too old. Well we know teeth tell a lot from this episode. Yes they do. I know I've done a couple.
00:32:13
Speaker
where our teeth reveal a lot. In 2018, the University of North Texas Health Science Center and University of North Texas Center for Human Identification with DNA testing of the skeletal remains were able to create a mitochondrial DNA profile.
00:32:35
Speaker
And what that means is that shows traces of matrilineal ancestry. So it's the DNA that's actually passed down from a mother unchanged to all of her children, whether her children are male or female. Interesting. That is your mitochondrial DNA. So that DNA profile, along with an STR profile, which is another DNA profile, were entered into CODIS.
00:33:06
Speaker
but it didn't match anyone. I wonder if they've tried like Ancestry.com or something like that. Oh, we'll get there Maggie. It gets good. A small break happened in 2018 when NamUs identified a potential sibling, but a reference DNA test was inconclusive.
00:33:29
Speaker
Also in 2018, per an article by Chris Coppola for azcentral.com on Wednesday, March 28 of 2018, YCSO generated a sketch
00:33:43
Speaker
of what the little girl may have looked like. So after they exhume her skeleton, they're finally able, technology has advanced enough that they could create a sketch. The sheriff's office wrote in a statement that accompanied this image, quote, published efforts over the years seeking help to identify the remains have been unsuccessful. This latest effort involves sharing a facial reconstruction image, end quote.
00:34:10
Speaker
And Maggie, I'm going to go ahead and show you the image of Sleuth Hounds. I will post it on the Monday following this episode on social for you to see. But Maggie, what do you think of this precious little girl's face? She almost looks like she might have be indigenous.
00:34:36
Speaker
She has those higher cheekbones. She's so cute. I'm telling you, those dark eyes. Oh, and her sweet little cheeks. She just looks like the most precious, innocent, beautiful child you've ever seen. She's adorable.
00:35:03
Speaker
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Speaker
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00:37:12
Speaker
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00:37:38
Speaker
to get 10% off your first month. That's better, h-e-l-p.com slash coffee and cases. Maggie, you were asking about testing like Ancestry.com and familial DNA. In December 2021, so just at the end of last year,
00:38:07
Speaker
Everything changed for this case. Thanks to an offer for help from the company, Othram.
00:38:15
Speaker
Othrom is the company, by the way, that was able to, I don't know if you remember the break in the Brianna Maitland case that we talked about where there was a piece of evidence that was found on the ground and they were able through genetic testing to find a DNA sample on it. And they have actually helped in so many unsolved and unidentified persons cases that can now be deemed solved. So
00:38:43
Speaker
When Othram offered to help YCSO, this was an offer of a lifetime.
00:38:48
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. Yeah, what the team is doing at Othram is actually groundbreaking. Dr. Kristin Middleman, Othram's chief business development officer, told CNN, quote, the evidence isn't always strong enough for reconstruction and building a DNA profile, but improved technology means the lab can build DNA profiles that might not have been possible in the past, end quote.
00:39:14
Speaker
Middleman noted, and here's the difference, that CODIS, which is our general system of DNA profiling that we talk about, it looks for 20 genetic markers and then compares that with a database of known offenders. In terms of familial connection, it's generally limited to parent-child.
00:39:35
Speaker
Yeah, but the technology used at author looks at hundreds of thousands of markers. It can link to distant relatives. So like somebody's fourth cousin. And it can be built without matching with someone in a database.
00:39:54
Speaker
How interesting. Of their mission, Othram states on their website, quote, our scientists are experts at recovery, enrichment and analysis of human DNA from trace amounts of degraded or contaminated materials. We help investigators break through previously impenetrable forensic DNA barriers and close
00:40:21
Speaker
previously unsolvable cases," end quote. In fact, Maggie, using the methods that they have developed, they have been able to take degraded DNA, and this was actually one of the cases they did, degraded DNA from 1881 and create a profile almost indistinguishable from one that was just taken from swabbing like your cheek or my cheek today.
00:40:51
Speaker
This type of science fascinates me. Me too. I wish I was this smart. Oh my gosh. It's so interesting. So Othram actually gained custody of Little Miss Nobody's skeletal remains in December 2021. And they built a DNA profile using forensic grade genome sequencing.
00:41:12
Speaker
And obviously, the Middleman's, because those who are at the center of Othram's team are David and Kristen Middleman. It's a husband-wife duo. They weren't the only ones interested in solving this case. So YCSO themselves donated $1,000 toward the DNA testing. And when Othram posted about the Little Miss Nobody case on their website, DNA solves,
00:41:39
Speaker
they were able to crowdsource the remaining $4,000 of the cost within 24 hours. Wow, that's impressive. You go. Yeah. According to an article about Othram's role in this case from DNA Solves, and again, that's the website that's run by Othram, we find that, quote, Othram genealogists were able to locate a potential biological sibling.
00:42:06
Speaker
The author of used KIN-SNP rapid familial testing to confirm a biological sibling relationship, are you ready for this, between Roberto Juan Gallegos, Sharon's brother, and the remains, end quote.
00:42:26
Speaker
So potentially one of the things we ruled out. Yes. In a crime that sat unsolved for over 60 years, Othram and their advanced testing procedure solved in barely over a month. Wow.
00:42:46
Speaker
And in a case that had the potential of linking to Sharon Gallego so early on and providing closure and potentially locating a perpetrator when witnesses had stronger memories and evidence was freshly collected, but it had actually been, like you said, dismissed.
00:43:08
Speaker
I don't want to blame law enforcement back then. There was a lack of knowledge and how to collect evidence based on the techniques that we know today. And I will give credit to YCSO because they have never stopped and they still haven't in trying to solve
00:43:31
Speaker
this particular case, even though there have been lots of setbacks, especially in the past, in the investigation.
Investigation Challenges & Sharon's Background
00:43:38
Speaker
According to the podcast True Crime Arizona, host Brianna Whitney, who interviewed Lieutenant Tom Bolts.
00:43:48
Speaker
admitted that because this crime took place in 1960, detectives then didn't know a lot about how to properly store evidence for integrity, because DNA testing isn't a thing yet. So the evidence they collected in this case was actually stored in a vault in the local courthouse, a dark vault with little airflow, which led to mold.
00:44:14
Speaker
So when the evidence in the case was reexamined in the 1970s and had extensive mold growth, they had actually discarded all of that evidence. That doesn't mean that the details in the files, the information from family and from witnesses doesn't still exist though.
00:44:38
Speaker
Now that we know this little girl is Sharon Lee Gallegos, we know what happened to her in the days leading up to and the day of her abduction. So here is some more about Sharon's case now that we know this is her. Sharon Lee Gallegos was a feisty little four-year-old.
00:45:03
Speaker
She was fair skinned with light brown slash blondish hair. In fact, her family called her La Guera, which means golden haired. Often described as happy-go-lucky, she was a child who loved to play Maggie. She lived in a house with her grandmother, her mother, Guadalupe Gallegos, who was a maid at a local motel, two older siblings,
00:45:33
Speaker
and six other relatives, four of which were other children between the ages of five and 15. But Sharon was the baby. Sharon's biological father had actually been out of the picture since she was a baby. But Sharon led a happy life, and she was always outside playing with her siblings and her cousins.
00:45:53
Speaker
As much as she loved to play, Sharon was also a helper. She loved to feel like she was a big kid and wanted to help her mother out whenever she could. Oh, yeah. You hinted at that in the intro. Yes. The one thing that she loved to do was to go around the corner to the small neighborhood market to buy things for her mom. And I would just walk around the corner and be like, I need bread.
00:46:21
Speaker
you know, and then bring it back like she's a big girl. But in the days leading up to her abduction, which happened on July 21st, 1960, there was a marked change in Sharon's demeanor. Previously, Sharon had walked to the neighborhood store by herself to pick up things for her mom. But in the days right before her abduction, she was afraid to do so.
00:46:49
Speaker
Other times, she would walk to the store with a local 11-year-old named Dolores. However, in the days leading up to her abduction, when Sharon actually was walking with Dolores to the store, Sharon spotted a green car near the store and became so frightened.
00:47:10
Speaker
that she asked Dolores to carry her as they passed. So this is someone who has been basically harassing this little baby. Well, yeah, and you can tell that just from that one story. You're about to hear even more.
00:47:29
Speaker
Other information was reported to the police concerning these strangers to the area who were in this green car. One of Sharon's neighbors, Helen Gonzalez, stated that the Sunday before Sharon was taken, she had seen a dark green car just like the one all of these other people described. It had been in the same alleyway where Sharon would later be abducted.
00:47:57
Speaker
What's more, Gonzales saw a 30-something-year-old, quote, large woman, end quote, emerge from the car and actually came to Helen Gonzales' house. Okay. This woman said that she wanted to hire Mrs. Gallegos to come work for her.
00:48:21
Speaker
And so she's asking a neighbor, yeah, Sharon's mom. And so this woman is asking the neighbor, now which house is the one that belongs to Mrs. Gallegos? No. And then she started asking Helen, the neighbor, if Mrs. Gallegos had a little girl. And then she asked how many children?
00:48:44
Speaker
Lupe had. So Sharon's mom, her name is Guadalupe, but people shortened it to Lupe. This woman was asking how many children Lupe had. She was asking questions about the layout of the Gallegos' home. Okay. Yeah. Like, is this one big house? Is it divided into separate apartments? So invasive questions. That's creepy. But Helen Gonzalez wasn't the only one who sighted the green car, nor was she the only one who saw this woman.
00:49:13
Speaker
11-year-old Dolores, remember she's the one who carried Sharon past the green car, also saw this same woman who she described as quote, short and fat with dirty blonde hair, end quote. And she had seen her when she and Sharon walked to the local store in the days leading up to the abduction and had even seen the woman glaring, staring at the Gallegos' home.
00:49:42
Speaker
That's creepy. Even the abduction itself was witnessed by multiple people. As I mentioned before, also present were either two cousins of Sharon's or a cousin and a neighborhood friend, conflicting sources.
Abduction Details & Speculation
00:49:58
Speaker
But these two other children were ages five and 11. And they witnessed the kidnapping happen right in front of them.
00:50:08
Speaker
A couple in a dark green sedan, and based on their description, the car was likely a dark green 1951 or 1952 Plymouth or Dodge sedan. But the couple actually offered Sharon candy to get into the vehicle. She refused. Wow. They then made bribes of new clothing for her. Right. And they said, we'll give you these new clothes if you get into the vehicle.
00:50:39
Speaker
Again, she refused. That's when Sharon was drug by the arm into the car by the blonde female. I mean, this is so traumatic. Just reading about this and listening to it is traumatic. I cannot imagine experiencing it. Or seeing it happen right in front of you. The woman was again described as short, heavyset, dirty blonde in her mid 30s. This time her description included her wearing glasses.
00:51:09
Speaker
The man who was driving was pale skinned and thin with sandy colored hair and a long straight nose. And again, one report said that he had a mustache.
00:51:22
Speaker
And so now I'm thinking like these clothes that she was bribed with, are those the clothes they change her into? Oh, the clothes that she was in. Right. Or maybe they like kept her for a little while and changed her clothes before they killed her. Yeah. I mean, there's 10 days in between when she goes missing and when her body is found. Yeah.
00:51:41
Speaker
Still other witnesses who attended church with the Gallegos family reported seeing a woman, a man, and even possibly a young child with freckles. Another account said that there was definitely one male child with freckles in the car with them, and another quote, small female child.
00:52:01
Speaker
But these witnesses saw this family drive up in a green car on Sunday, July 17th. So days before the abduction and that the female in the car was asking them personal questions about Sharon and about Sharon's mom Lupe. So I wonder if this was another or other children they had a had abducted.
00:52:28
Speaker
Or do they have children themselves? Right. And I think that's really the call now is for those children if they're still out there to come forward because obviously they would have witnessed this as well. Right.
00:52:45
Speaker
Even Sharon's aunt, Lupe's sister, saw the abduction. She had been in the home at the time when she heard a commotion and she ran to the window just as a green car took off at high speed.
00:53:00
Speaker
She saw a white man driving the vehicle and she told the daily news in 1965, quote, my first reaction was to jump in the car and chase them. However, I suddenly remembered I don't even know how to drive. So I ran for help, end quote. Wow. And they they didn't have a home phone. So she ran so that she could access one and call the police. And this is what I said, Maggie. So impressive by law enforcement within the hour.
00:53:29
Speaker
police began searching for Sharon and had constructed roadblocks at the Texas-New Mexico border, looking for a dark green sedan like so many of these witnesses had seen. It just makes me sad that the efforts were in vain. Right, that they did everything they could and had acted so quickly and yet we still didn't have answers, I know.
00:53:52
Speaker
And within a week, local police were joined by state police and the FBI in their efforts to locate Sharon. But obviously, they found nothing. And then 10 days later, a charred and partially buried body was found in Congress, Arizona. But we heard the theory that it could be Sharon, even though it was brought to law enforcement's attention quickly, was also quickly discounted. So her family was left reeling and grieving.
00:54:22
Speaker
In that same interview with The Daily News on the five-year anniversary of Sharon's disappearance, her mother Lupe was still pleading for answers. She stated, quote, my baby loved to go to the store around the corner and buy groceries for me. The last three days, she was afraid to go to the store by herself. She begged me or her older sister to go with her. She seemed restless and nervous, end quote. She knew something was wrong.
00:54:52
Speaker
She sensed it. What had made her feel this way? That we still don't know. But combined with the witness statements about the people linked to the green car, it seems obvious that Sharon was being stalked for some time prior to her abduction.
00:55:11
Speaker
So you've got to think people had to have seen this green car. Oh, yeah. I mean, it's pretty recognizable. I would think a green sedan driving around. Right. And again, this also is not a large town. You know, the ordinary is going to stick out. Right. And I would hope that maybe there were even people who didn't come forward at the time because they didn't think they had any new information to give. But
00:55:38
Speaker
If they saw this green car driving around, I'm sure even if it might not have stood out immediately, you know, days later when you're hearing that a child was abducted by these people in the green car, then you might be like, I saw that green car. Oh yeah, I saw that.
00:55:53
Speaker
You know, it's just like we talked about when we ate at the Auntie Anne's pretzel truck that one time and there was a woman talking to us. And I didn't think anything of it. And then, you know, days later, when we saw her picture on the news for having hired someone to to kill her husband, and I was like, we just talked to that lady. Holy crap. And she had children in the car. Right. Right. And so, you know, I would think that there would be other people who noticed.
00:56:21
Speaker
the screen sedan. Yeah. But why Sharon is the big question because it seems clear that she was targeted.
00:56:29
Speaker
Yeah, because there were multiple kids playing with her. So why that specific child? Yeah, why her? And why all these questions about her? I mean, obviously she was the target, right? She's the center of so many of that woman's questions. The Gallegos family was not wealthy and there were no monetary demands. So obviously the abduction, I mean, it's clearly not for a ransom amount.
00:56:53
Speaker
Yeah, and like, I mean, I feel like their purpose was to kill her and probably abuse her because she's dead within days. Mm hmm. I know. Yeah. Because my next thought immediately is, well, did they intend to sell her? But I don't think that fits either. Because like you said, her body was found only 10 days later and they're thinking that she's
00:57:16
Speaker
already been exposed to the elements out here seven to 10 days, which means she was murdered either the day that she was abducted or within just a couple of days. And I also question where was the perpetrator from? Because I feel like they would have to be somewhat familiar with the area to know that location. And to know how remote it is, to know how unlikely it would be that her body would be found. And
00:57:45
Speaker
I mean, even they spent some time in El Magordo. You know, they spent days there leading up. Yeah, because they're pretending to offer a job and, you know, all that stuff. They were seen at the church on July 17th. So and she's not abducted until the 21st. So they're either on vacation or they don't work or they took time off of their job.
00:58:14
Speaker
You know, and like you said, they have to also be familiar with Congress Arizona or at least this state route 93 that they've taken where they've attempted to to bury her. Maybe it was like a family that kind of hops from one place to another.
00:58:31
Speaker
Maybe. And I also don't, in my head, you know, you question, could this be somebody close to Sharon? And maybe that's why the body was buried and burned, like an attempt to cover up the crime because of guilt. But then if so, how was that person not recognized by neighbors and by family? Right. So in terms of who might have committed this crime, what are these details telling Maggie? I think
00:59:01
Speaker
I'm almost leaning more towards it's like a drifter family. Maybe the dad works in a specific place for like a month or two and then travels with his business to somewhere else. Like they're not permanent residents of this neighborhood, but they're there or this area, but they're there long enough to become familiar with it and to profile out these kids. I just really hope that us covering her case will
00:59:31
Speaker
encourage people to come forward with information they might know.
Family's Gratitude & Community Support
00:59:35
Speaker
Exactly. While Sharon's mother Lupe has since passed away in 2011, as well as other family, Ray Chavez, Sharon's nephew, who has long since been invested in finding Sharon, even writing a paper about her disappearance when he was in high school, was able to speak at a press conference about her identification this year.
00:59:56
Speaker
He stated, quote, we as the family want to say thank you. Thank you for what you've done for us. Thank you for keeping my aunt safe and never forgetting her, end quote.
01:00:09
Speaker
It is because the people of Prescott took such good care of her, even when she didn't have a name, that Ray was undecided on whether to move her remains back home or to leave her in her final resting place in Prescott, where she had been loved by strangers for so long as Little Miss Nobody, and would now be loved and honored as and finally called by her name, Sharon Lee Gallegos.
01:00:38
Speaker
To illustrate the devotion she garnered, one of the original investigators in the case, now in his 90s, had requested to be one of the first people contacted if she were ever identified. When he received the call, he was overcome with emotion.
01:00:57
Speaker
but the hard work isn't yet complete. In a news release concerning the case, Sheriff David Rhodes revealed the work still left to do. Quote, those a little girl without a name now has one returned to her. The case of what happened to her in the 10 days between her abduction and the discovery of her remains is still a mystery.
01:01:18
Speaker
YCSO hopes that anyone who was either an eyewitness to the abduction or has knowledge of what happened that July day in 1960 will come forward to assist in the continuing investigation." Anyone with information is asked to call the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office Silent Witness Hotline at 1-800-932-3232.
Future Case Solving Encouragement
01:01:47
Speaker
And if you would like to help author him's mission and bring enclosure to countless numbers of future cases, please do your part. Advocate for them on your social media, follow their website, DNA solves, and submit your DNA via an ancestry or DNA kit or one of their DNA swab kits to the database.
01:02:11
Speaker
Again, please like and join our Facebook page, Coffee and Cases podcast to continue the conversation and see images related to this episode. As always, follow us on Twitter, at casescoffee, on Instagram, at coffee cases podcast, or you can always email us suggestions to coffeeandcasespodcastatgmail.com. Please tell your friends about our podcast so more people can be reached to possibly help bring some closure to these families. Don't forget to rate our show and leave us a comment as well. We hope to hear from you soon.
01:02:40
Speaker
Stay together. Stay safe. We'll see you next week.
01:03:04
Speaker
It's love notes from Allison and Maggie. Whoop, whoop. Best time. The best time. I think I say this every week, but I really needed this this week. Yes. So thank you to everyone who made our week a little brighter this past week by reaching out to us.
01:03:25
Speaker
Yeah, definitely needed after my like mental, near mental collapse in my classroom Monday afternoon. So very much appreciated. So we want to give love notes to Josie who emailed us a case suggestion and sent a super sweet note. We really loved that. So thank you, Josie. You're the best.
01:03:46
Speaker
Yeah, it was so good. And love notes are also going out to Deborah and to Tiffany, who reached out to us on Facebook. And Tiffany actually said that she was watching a Dateline episode when she heard, quote, he thought he saw a mannequin. And she immediately heard her voice is saying, it's never a mannequin. She said, quote, I always come back to your podcast. It feels like I'm hanging out with friends and people who I can relate to. I love your personalities and how real you are.
01:04:15
Speaker
Tiffany, we also feel like we're hanging out with friends. I know, that was super nice. It was good. And we also want to send out a love note to Jenny from Georgia, who gave us a five-star written review last week. Oh, this one was good. Yes, quote, I am a true crime junkie through and through. It's pretty much all my podcast library consists of. With that being said, I feel like I've heard so many of the same stories over and over.
01:04:42
Speaker
enter coffee in cases. They truly do cover the lesser known and unheard of cases. That's wonderful for a true crime junkie and even more wonderful that information is being put out there that could potentially lead to a break in one of these cases. These ladies are so detailed in the information they provide. When they cover the West Memphis 3 case, they had some details I'd never heard before.
01:05:05
Speaker
And when I say I've listened to every podcast and documentary regarding that case, I mean it. Seriously, add this podcast to your listening rotation. You won't regret it.
01:05:16
Speaker
end quote. Um, Jenny, hello. You're a queen that made our entire day. Really good. And to those who received love notes this week and to all of our listeners, all of our love is going out to every single one of you. We appreciate you and love you all so much. Absolutely. Until next week, sleuth hounds.