Do you know who murdered Diane Denise Jordan? In the early morning hours of July 18, 1985, a grim discovery was made in Portland, Oregon, that would mark the beginning of a decades-long mystery. A workman, going about his daily refuse disposal in the 6100 block of NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., stumbled upon the partially clothed body of a woman inside a dumpster. The woman was later identified as Diane Denise Jordan, a 27-year-old African-American female.
First responders at the scene could do nothing for her, and she was pronounced dead.
An autopsy would later reveal the violent end Diane had met; she died from asphyxia by strangulation. The state of her body and the scene indicated she had been involved in a violent struggle before her death. Investigators learned that she was last seen alive after midnight on the day her body was found, fully clothed in the vicinity of NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and Roselawn Street. She had been wearing a pair of white pants, which were missing when her body was discovered. This detail suggested she was accosted sometime after she was last seen.
The investigation brought forth a crucial, yet haunting, piece of information from neighbors near NE 6th and Roselawn. They reported hearing a woman's desperate cries for help emanating from the back of a white vehicle in the early morning hours of July 18th. The vehicle was described as an early model, possibly a 1976 or 1977 van, with chrome wheels. It was distinctive for having no windows on the driver's side, cargo-type back doors, and a spare tire mounted on the rear.
Despite this witness account and the physical evidence, no suspects were ever identified or apprehended in the murder of Diane Jordan. The case grew cold over the years, a painful open wound for those who knew her and the community. The investigation remains open with the Portland Police Bureau's Cold Case Homicide Unit, a silent testament to a life cut short and a plea for justice that has yet to be answered. Authorities continue to seek any information that might finally lead to an arrest in this unsolved crime.
