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Where We Left Off:
There was a bit of bad news here at the detective agency regarding Oliver Winchester’s health.
***Trigger Warning: There are images of a dead animal; however, there are no bloody, gory details shown.***
Jane Doe:
On a recent commute, I discovered a body up on an embankment between the highway and the field next to an auto salvage yard. The figure was a mound that almost blended in with the dead, brown winter grass. On my return trip, I pulled over where there was plenty of road shoulder and on a straightaway. The body hadn’t moved which told me it was indeed either dead or so injured, it needed help.
This location was a place where I didn’t feel comfortable bringing Gus and Ollie for on-site work. It would be up to me to do the field work.
An interesting thing happened which isn’t related to the case, but is related to the socio-political landscape. My car was out of the way with the blinking hazard lights on. I heard sirens and saw the red and blue lights approaching.
There I was. A white woman wearing a bright orange knitted winter hat with a pom-pom on top. My coat that day was a contemporary Little Red Riding Hood. I had on my big round (and scratched) sunglasses that are necessary to protect for the NJ winds and sun. Since I had been teaching a yoga class and it still felt around 14°F outside, I had on tight leggings with over-the-knee marbled socks and sturdy flat shoes. I’m emphasizing my whiteness here and explaining my unique fashion sense to illustrate that to certain people, I might have looked like I needed an escort to a facility.
Two state police SUVs were near me in seconds. They clearly had something worthy of the lights and sirens requiring their attention which was not a white woman crouched to examine a large dead animal. Hence why I was surprised when the leading officer pulled next to me, rolled down his window and actually asked if everything was OK. I explained yes, it’s fine and I was seeing if the animal was dead or needed help. He waved and they were back on their emergency response to wherever. I’m skeptical that this interaction would have happened at all or happened without incident if I weren’t a white woman.
I didn’t take hair samples. I had touched the animal to do what I’ve learned to do on humans to feel for a pulse. Her glossy black eyes never blinked either.
I took photos and returned to Ollie and Gus at the Winchester-Nabu Detective Agency. We had lunch then headed to our tiny laboratory.
Oliver rubbed his head across my ankles before jumping to the countertop. Then he was able to criticize my work closer to my eye level.
“I can’t believe you, of all people, didn’t collect physical evidence,” he said. “You always collect the evidence.”
“Ollie, I didn’t have my adventuring gear,” I said. “All I had was my phone and yoga equipment. I didn’t have my spectral detecting goggles with me or even baggies.”
Gus was at a fountain to drink water and paw at a stinkbug. He added his criticism. “You’re lucky we have that program that can filter the spectral trails in photos.”
“Yes. We’re lucky to have that.” They were acting as if I now had my own case to solve by myself. We’re a team! Besides, we developed this magical software for spectral detection together.
Victimology:
As you’ve likely deduced, this was a large animal. At first glance, the body appeared to be a sleeping female white-tailed deer. The doe was adult and fully grown at the Time of Death (TOD). The way she was curled up, there was no way for me to see visible injuries. I was not about move her body out of its peaceful position.
If there was any insect activity—and there very likely was since they take over quickly)—I didn’t see any for which I’m grateful. Insect development is sensitive to environmental temperature. It was around 15-20°F for a couple of weeks with strong winds.
There were no rodents, foxes, bobcats, vultures, crows, or other animals feasting on this large beautiful creature’s corpse.
Evidence Discovered: Approximately 09:30 AM on 18-February-2025
Evidence Photographed: 11:33 AM on 18-February-2025
I was never going to allow maggot aging and development as process for determining TOD. I mean, if Gus or Ollie had been able to be there on-site and investigate that activity, taken specimens, and done testing themselves…okay, fine. But I would not partake nor allow it inside this building—NO WAY.
Only a cursory physical exam was conducted (by the human). The body wasn’t frozen. It’s possible TOD was less than 12 hours.
Cause of Death: Vehicular homicide
Due to the location and the fact that it is not deer hunting season, it’s most probable that COD was a collision with vehicle causing leg trauma. Often deer will run off as far as they possibly can to die away from humans. This deer was close to the highway meaning it did not have the ability to run. In fact, it’s even possible that the human driver dragged the body to this location from the road and put the victim in this ritualistic, peaceful position showing respect.
Identification:
When processing the photos through our spectral detection program, we got a hit! This was no mundane white-tailed doe. This had been a majestic hybrid with our famous cryptid—a Jersey devil-deer.
We compared our surveillance footage and the photos I’ve personally taken. It was so hard trying to match a name to this victim. I didn’t think it was Deerdra, Hazel, or Mąera—the mothers with fawns who spent the most time around here last year.
Case Findings:
A Jersey devil-deer body was found on the side of the highway after a collision with a moving vehicle. It had either curled up to die or was respectfully moved away from the road and placed that position. It’s important to move a roadkill animal further away from traffic. That way the scavengers are not also in danger of collisions. Unfortunately, the victim could not be identified. We may be able to come with an ID later if there are observations of who is missing from the herd.
Case Status: Closed
Resources:
Ubelaker, D.H. and DeGaglia, C.M., “The impact of scavenging: perspective from casework in forensic anthropology.” National Library of Medicine, NIH (Accessed 22-Feb-2025 3:55 PM so don’t blame me if the US government removes it.)