In 1983, a 23-year-old woman from Gloucester, Massachusetts, Lori Jane Kearsey, vanished after dropping off her young daughter for the weekend. This departure marked the beginning of a nearly 40-year mystery that would stretch from New England to the canals of South Florida. Kearsey had recently divorced her daughter's father and had remarried, a union that connected her to a notorious Boston crime family just eight months before she went missing.
She and her new husband had traveled to Florida, a trip from which she would never return. Her family in Massachusetts was left with unanswered questions, assuming something terrible had befallen her, with some even speculating she may have entered the witness protection program.
On February 18, 1984, the body of a woman was discovered floating face-down in a canal in a rural, undeveloped area of Davie, Florida. The cause of death was determined to be strangulation. Despite the release of her description—a blonde woman, 5 feet 4 inches tall, weighing 120 pounds—authorities were unable to identify the victim. For decades, she was known only as Jane Doe, and her case grew cold, one of several unsolved murders of women found in the area's canals during that period.
The case remained dormant until 2021, when investigators reopened it, employing modern forensic technology. Using DNA extracted from bone fragments, forensic genealogists were able to build a potential family tree. This led them to Maehgan Smith, the daughter Lori had left behind in Massachusetts all those years ago. A DNA sample from Smith confirmed the match, and in early 2023, the Jane Doe found in the Florida canal was finally identified as Lori Jane Kearsey. The identification brought a bittersweet resolution to her daughter, who had grown up believing her mother would have returned if she could have.
Despite identifying Lori, her murder remains unsolved. Investigators have not made any arrests, but they have identified persons of interest who are still alive. The man Kearsey married into the Boston crime family is also still living, though police have not publicly named him or specified if he is a suspect. The identity of the crime family has also been withheld by both the police and Lori's daughter. The investigation into who killed Lori Jane Kearsey continues, with authorities urging anyone with information to come forward, offering a reward for tips that lead to an arrest.
