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St Louis’ Little Jane Doe
part 3: Suspects
The past two weeks I’ve been writing about St Louis’ Little Jane Doe. If you haven’t read those two pieces, I recommend doing so to avoid confusion.
Before we start, please be aware this case deals with the sexual abuse of a child and subsequent murder of the same. If any of this is triggering for you, please take a pass on this article.
The victim usually tells you who killed, either by the evidence left on the body or by their connections. In the immediate aftermath of Jane Doe’s grisly death detectives were looking for similar MOs across the country.
Every year on the anniversary Detective Joe Burgoon sent out a teletype to all departments across the country hoping for something. He did this for nearly ten years, when he was told that it was too expensive to continue.
The first potential suspects came to detective’s attention a little more than the year after Jane Doe was buried another decapitated child was found.
Alfred Foote Jr was found lying on top of his head a few blocks from his home in North St Louis.
His uncle was ultimately charged with the murder. It is unknown what motivated the murder. Alfred Sr. suggested that his brother was mentally disturbed and had been trying to get him help for years.
It was determined that Michael Foote had nothing to do with Jane Doe’s death the previous year. Police surmised that he had assaulted his nephew as a crime of opportunity.
A few short years later, another child was assault in St Louis, her name was Janet Perkins. She went missing on her walk home from school. She was last seen talking to Vernon Brown.
