On February 19, 1971, two hitchhikers discovered a body floating underneath an overpass in Lake Panasoffkee, Florida. Police immediately came to retrieve the body, and they found that it was completely decomposed and unidentifiable. The body was of a woman and she had on a green shirt, green plaid pants, and a green floral poncho. She had on a white gold watch, a necklace, and a small golden ring with a translucent stone on her right ring finger.
She was found with a men's size 36 belt tightly strapped around her throat, which led police to believe that she was murdered. An autopsy was performed and revealed that she had been floating in the water for roughly 30 days, and they did confirm that she died of strangulation. They believed that she had been killed in another location and then thrown over the bridge and into the water, which means her body had gone unnoticed for about a month.
She had no identification on her and from what police could tell about her remains, there were no missing persons cases that matched her description. They created both an original sketch and an age progression sketch in hopes of someone claiming her. They determined that she either came from Native American or European descent.
They posted flyers everywhere, and many leads came in of parents saying that it was possibly their daughter that had gone missing. Unfortunately, because she was so decomposed, they were not able to confirm her exact age. However, she was thought to either be an older teenager or in her early 20’s. Every lead ended up with no answers, so she was then buried.
In February of 1986, her body was exhumed in hopes of gathering more information about who she was. She was then believed to be between 17 and 24 years old at the time of her death and weighed about 115 pounds. She had dark brown hair, brown eyes, and extremely prominent cheek bones. Her height was between 5 foot and 2 inches, and 5 foot 5 inches.
She had several different fillings in her teeth, and even had a porcelain crown on one of her upper right teeth. They then examined her pelvis and were able to determine they she had given birth to at least one child, possibly even two. One of her ribs was also broken, which led police to believe that her killer had knelt down on her ribcage when strangling her.
Her body was then again exhumed in 2012, and this is when they found the best information. They were finally able to determine that she was of European descent. They examined the Harris lines in her bones, which revealed that her growth had been stunted at some point in her life. It was revealed than an orthopedic surgery, called the Watson Jones Technique, had been performed on her right ankle around the age of 16.
It was determined that this surgery would not have been performed unless she had some sort of chronic instability, such as struggling with walking when she was growing up. This was amazing news for police, because this meant that someone out there would have had to take her to the doctor multiple times. They decided to put her picture in several medical journals, in hopes of her doctor recognizing her. Unfortunately, no one came forward about knowing who she was.
Her remains were then sent to a geologist at the University of Florida, where the isotopes in her teeth would then be examined. Geologist George Kamenov was examining the lead levels in her teeth, due to the fact that lead collects in your teeth as a child until the enamel eventually seals it off and leaves a fingerprint like effect. This will reveal how much lead is used in the area that you grew up in, which will also indicate where you are from.
He was able to find they she had spent her childhood and young adult life somewhere near the sea in Southern Europe. She was more than likely from Athens, Greece or one of the small villages surrounding it. Kamenov believes that she was even still living there up to a year before her death. After examining the lead patterns of other people's teeth in that area, he was able to determine that it was from the fishing port of Lavrion, which is just outside of Athens.
They determined that she had been in the United States for at least 30 days, but they didn't think that she had been there longer than two months. They realized that she more than likely came to the U.S. to attend an Epiphany ceremony, which was a Greek Orthodox celebration of the baptism of Jesus. They believed that she was attending the ceremony due to the fact that her body was found 75 miles away from the ceremony itself, and the celebration is always held within the first two weeks of January, which is close to the time that her body was discovered.
A woman on a crime show in Greece had came forward and said that the facial reconstructions of Little Miss Panasoffkee looked like a girl that she had went to school with and that her name was Konstantina. She claims that they had attended preparatory school for domestic help together in Kifisia, which is a suburb of Athens. Once students finish their education at this school, they are then sent on a two year work visa to either the United States or Australia. The woman says that they were separated when Konstantina was sent to the United States to work, and she was sent to Australia.
The timing of when this all would have occurred matches up with when Little Miss Panasoffkee's body was found. The same woman had also claimed that two other girls that they attended prep school with had gone missing as well, however one of these women were dismissed when her daughter called in and said that her mother was alive and well. This then caused the police to question the validity of this woman's claims.
Police tried to find Konstantina's family to see if this woman's statement was true, however no one was found. The woman that made these claims had said that she had a brother that was in the Navy in Lavrion, so it is evident that she does have family somewhere, but still no one had came forward.
Even though it is greatly believed that she is from European descent, geologists have said that the same results could have been given if she was from the U.S. and simply had European lead paint on her house. It is assumed that her children were given away when they were fairly young, so there is no way to locate them or for them to have any helpful information. Unfortunately, her true identity still remains unknown.
