Can anyone help me identify this woman?

[JamieSaari]

I am writing from Winnipeg, Canada and have come to this forum as one of my last resorts. Can anyone on this forum give me some advice on how I can identify this woman? I have created a blog for this search at: http://identifythisgirl.blogspot.com

I have tried every NYPD precinct in Manhattan - as well as their communications/public relations department five times. Nobody has been able to help.

So I even went as far as creating a fax and faxing to every single drug rehabilitation center and prostitution reform agency I could find. No luck, although some people tried to help.

I have hired a private investigator service and they are working on the case. So I've created this blog with the hopes somebody could help.

Please don't hesitate to email me at [email protected] if you have any information or advice for me.

[Delta784]

She's probably dead, which is the eventual fate of all junkies.

Why do you care?

[cst.sb]

She's probably dead

You always beat me too it!

Jamie, Detla is probably correct in his statement. Her last arrest in the photo pack was in 97, over eight years ago. To judging her on appearance alone I would being willing to bet she's deceased.

1. Dead
2. The photo pack is incomplete and was produced in 97 (unlikely due privacy issues)
3. In prison (unlikely due privacy issues)
4. Moved out of the city or state
5. Cleaned up (unlikely due to 15 years of addiction.

If you are wanting to a story about addiction and are looking for a similar photos talk too your local police or RCMP. Trying to find a hardcore drug addict based off 8 yr old mugshots is going to be near impossible.

Good luck

[JamieSaari]

I am writing a story about how meth addiction and other hard drugs ravage the body. I am definately talking to people in my own city, but would also like to tell this woman's story as a sidebar if I can learn who she is. I will not do anything without proper permission from her (if she is still alive) or her family.

My reason for wanting to identify her is because I find these photographs to be very moving. I have never seen a set of images like this before and believe this woman probably has an unbelievably heartwrenching life story. Her image is already all over the internet, but there is no name or story to go with this set of images.

My city, Winnipeg, is only now getting hit with the crystal meth epidemic. Many dealers are getting young girls to try the drug because they tell them it is an easy way to lose weight quickly. I'm sure if young women knew that this is what the reality of what the drugs make you look like, they would never try the drug in the first place. I am also looking to get in touch with the volunteers who are part of the "Faces of Meth" campaign in Oregon.

I think since the United States has gone through the meth epidemic already - Canada can learn a lot from your experience. Many of the meth addicts in my own city are only at the level of the third picture in this woman's series of mug shots. If they continue, they have a terrible road ahead of them. That is what these images show so much more clearly than any words I could write.

I hope that helps you to understand where I am coming from.

Thanks

Jamie

[jerrymaccauley]

From what I can see in those pictures, you're not looking for a meth addict, you're looking for a heroin addict. And I hate to say it, but the coroners office would be your next call.

[JamieSaari]

Jerry: How can you tell she is a heroin addict rather than a meth addict? I'm very curious how one can tell the difference?

Even if this woman is deceased, I would like to learn her story. My first step is to learn her name so I can see if her family would be willing to talk to me.

Maybe by telling her story, I can prevent a young person from trying drugs in the first place. These images are very powerful and show the toll drugs can physically take on someone.

[jerrymaccauley]

I could be wrong, but it looks like her weight has stayed somewhat consistant over the years. Speed and Meth users tend to get skinnier every year. Also, the hollow eyes and dull expressions are more common on a sedated person rather than the wild eyes of meth. Of course, these aren't very good pictures. Hasn't the arrest number under the booking photo helped you locate her records?

A suggestion would be to contact a substance abuse clinic and get a real person to tell you their story. There are literally thousands of recovering drug addicts who could help you write a story.

[JamieSaari]

Jerry: All I have to go on is these same images featured on my blog. The numbers are not readable - and I don't have the original mug shots. I only have the jpg file from the internet.

These mugs shots are all over the internet - but none of the websites that feature this woman's images know who she is/was.

I am interviewing addicts in my own city. However I am particularly interested in telling this woman's story (if I can get proper permission) because these photographs are so powerful.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words and I don't think any writer could describe in words what is shown on this picture. Young women in my city are being enticed to try crystal meth because dealers are telling them it is a good way to lose weight. If young women see what hard drugs can actually do to them physically (like in these pictures) I'm sure they will never start in the first place. This is one of the most powerful sets of pictures I have ever seen - besides the "Faces of Meth" images from Oregon.

[RedDog4]

Hey, thats my mommy...

[ctt]

I think what you're trying to do is good. I know that when the DARE officers came to talk to our classes in elementary school, even at that age, most kids were talking on the playground about "how that cop was just trying to scare us, he didn't know what he was talking about."

The only pictures I ever remember seeing in school that made me "think" were those of auto accidents that resulted from drunk drivers. We saw pictures of people that look like this person did at her various stages, but putting everything into context makes this series a little bit more powerful. You may want to present the pictures without specifying the drugs she used because when a kid hears that she was on drug z some will translate that to "oh, ok, so as long as I don't use drug z I should be ok."

[cst.sb]

Jamie,

If you are interviewing addicts in your own city I have an idea for you.

Try working in partnership with a police officer. Try the nearest comunity police office. We have arrested frequent flyers and to look up there booking photos only takes a couple minutes. You would need a release from the subject(s) and having the police onboard as a partner.

In 1999, several Vancouver Police Officers calling themselves the Odd Squad put together an excellent video called, "Through a Blue Lens".

http://www.onf.ca/trouverunfilm/fichefilm.php?lg=en&id=33864&v=h#

I'll private message you..

[JustDontDie]

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[JamieSaari]

I looked at the website link to the documentary "Through a Blue Lens" and it looks very powerful. I will be ordering a copy of it. Thank you for the link and letting me know about it.

I've been given a tip that the woman in the series of mug shots I am trying to find is named "Maria Ramos." If this rings a bell with anyone, please let me know either pubicly or privately. Feel free to email me directly at [email protected].

I am actually aware of the woman in the "Faces of Meth" images, Theresa Baxter. I am trying to find her as well. Her images are even more powerful than the woman in the series of mugshots I am looking to find. Theresa's images are more shocking than anything I have seen before.

Crystal meth dealers are luring young girls to try the drug because they are telling them it is a quick and easy way to lose weight. If young girls can see what the drug actually does to their appearance, maybe they will avoid trying it in the first place.

[jakflak]

Keep in mind, the first picture was taken in 1983. The last one was taken in 1997. She may have just gotten ugly as she got older. She didn't lose a lot of weight; in fact it looks like she gained some. Most junkies don't live 14 years from the beginning of the addiction to the end.

[JustDontDie]

Ohh.... That's a longer stretch of time then I had thought.

It probably is a combo of drugs, getting older and most likely she just quit taking care of herself/hygiene.