Barbara Rose Rotella recently created these life-like images of a woman whose body was found in December 1983 in the town of Ellery. To date, the woman has not been identified. Photos by Barbara Rose Rotella

Newly generated images have brought to life a woman whose identity has remained a mystery for 40 years.

The life-like photographs of who is known locally as “Ellery Jane Doe” were created by Barbara Rose Rotella and recently were shared by the Unsolved Crimes Unit with the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office.

Rotella runs an organization that specializes in highlighting missing person cases. She first heard of Jane Doe almost two decades ago.

“I created these photos of her because I wanted to utilize modern technology to show people how she may have appeared when she was alive, in hopes someone may recognize her,” she told The Post-Journal. “Her post-mortem photos show a recognizable face; however, since it is not socially acceptable to share post-mortem photos online, I figured I would make her photos look as life-like as possible. I just did the same thing for a few other cases.”

A truck driver with Niagara Mohawk Power Corp. discovered a woman’s body along the Southern Tier Expressway the morning of Dec. 6, 1983. The woman — found face up and partially clad without shoes, jewelry or personal belongings — had no purse or identification.

At the time, police believed “Jane Doe” may have been in the ditch between 24 to 36 hours before she was found. Snow cover would have buried her from view until rain showers revealed her body.

According to investigators, the unidentified woman was shot four times, twice in the chest, once in the back and once inside the mouth, with .38-caliber or .357-caliber bullets.

The victim was believed to be 30 to 37 years old, 5 feet, 4 inches tall and weighing about 128 pounds. She had brown eyes, a mark above her left eye, a mole behind her left ear and a scar on her throat. She also was believed to have had a child earlier in her life.

Using genetic testing, the woman is thought to have origins in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium.

At the time of her death, she was wearing a V-neck camisole originating in Italy as well as a high-quality, multi-colored trench coat that was reversible to olive drab wool. She also had expensive dental work with gold fillings that led police to believe she wasn’t local; and she also had an IUD, a form of birth-control, that was foreign made and available in Canada at the time but not for distribution in the United States.

To date, the woman has not been identified and her homicide remains unsolved. Her case is among several under review by the Unsolved Crimes Unit.

“I love the fact that the police department is so invested in her identification,” Rotella said. “I have spoken with the detectives handling her case, and they have been working tirelessly to bring back her name. They have already had her DNA extracted and processed, and it is currently being analyzed by a forensic investigation company. I created photos and have been sharing her story.”

She added, “Because Ellery Jane Doe’s genealogy analysis shows that she is possibly foreign to the USA, a language barrier may be making it difficult for people she may have known to find her story online.”

Rotella runs a website — undergroundmysteries.com — and shares her posts on Facebook at “Underground Mysteries: Unreported & Underrepresented Missing People.” On some occasions, someone will reach out to her about highlighting a missing person case,

“I learn of other unreported missing person cases by word of mouth, social media posts, attempting to identify a Doe, old newspaper articles, old online forums and threads and more,” she said. “Some of these missing people had been unreported for many years. Some cases had been reported years ago, but many of the older reported cases have fallen through the cracks.

“Oftentimes, the case files themselves over time may get lost or destroyed, or they may never make it to the newer computerized systems. Oftentimes, a missing person’s report has to be re-filed. I always urge the loved ones of the missing people to file a police report promptly.”

Anyone with information regarding Ellery Jane Doe is asked to call the Sheriff’s Office at 716-753-2131.