On January 28, 2012, a resident called the Opelika Police Department to report skeletal remains found in Brookhaven Trailer Park, Alabama. A skull was found in the yard, and more bones were in a shallow grave nearby. Investigators also discovered a child’s pink shirt and “a small bundle of curly hair.”
Opelika Jane Doe’s remains, also called Baby Jane Doe, were sent to an FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia. Autopsy results showed that the victim was Black, aged 4 to 7 years old, and malnourished. Authorities said the remains had several “attributed to blunt force trauma.” Baby Jane Doe was also reportedly fractured in her eye socket and presumed to be mostly blind in one eye.
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Opelika Baby Jane Doe and her suspected killers are identified after 11 years. (Photo: WSFA12 News)
The Opelika Police Department said that most trauma reported occurred before she died. Her death was ruled a homicide and most likely occurred between the summer of 2010 to 2011.
There was no lead to pinpoint the crime suspects as the detectives could not take DNA samples due to the “condition of the remains.”
However, in 2022, Opelika Police worked with Othram Labs and Astrea Labs. DNA samples were retrieved from her scalp and hair. A genealogy profile was created by Othram Lab and uploaded to a National Center for Missing & Exploited Children database.
In October 2022, authorities identified Lamar Vickerstaff Jr., father of Baby Jane Doe, and his wife, Ruth Vickerstaff. The latter said that she and Lamar were married in 2006, and she did not know the identity of Jane Doe’s mother.
In December 2022, officials identified the mother of Baby Jane Doe named Sherry Wiggins, 37, in Maryland. Wiggins confirmed that she is the mother, and Baby Jane Doe was born on January 2006 as Amore Wiggins. However, she lost full custody of the child to Lamar and Ruth Vickerstaff in 2009, and she’s been paying child support since then.
According to True Crime Daily, Lamar and Ruth Vickerstaff were taken into custody by Jacksonville police on January 17. Ruth was accused of failing to report a missing kid, while Lamar was detained on suspicion of felony murder. They are currently held in Florida’s custody and will be deported to Alabama.
