October 8, 1976. Benton County, Indiana. A farmer discovers a large cardboard shipping box in his cornfield which contains the body of an elderly woman who has been shot through the head. Since the victim cannot be identified, she remains a Jane Doe and is nicknamed “The Box Lady of Benton County”. Nearly 50 years later, genetic genealogy finally identifies the victim as 69-year old Jane Hart, who lived in Chicago around the time of her death, but the identity of her killer and the motive for the crime remain unknown. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore the unsolved murder of Jane Hart, a former Jane Doe whose recent identification has also brought up more questions than answers. In addition, this episode will also explore the story of a Jane Doe from Benton County, Arkansas who was found murdered in 1990, but was identified three decades later as a 28-year old victim named Donna Sue Nelton. Special thanks to listener Shane Beneke for narrating the opening of this episode.

if you have information on the murder of Jane Hart, please contact the Benton County Sheriff’s Office at (765) 884-0080. If you have any information about the murder of Donna Sue Nelton, please contact the Benton County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division at (479) 271-1009. 

Additional Reading:

https://unidentified-awareness.fandom.com/wiki/Jane_Hart

https://dnadoeproject.org/case/benton-co-jane-doe-1976/

https://www.bentonreview.com/articles/popular-podcast-discusses-benton-county-cold-case/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/105870898/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/262897187/

https://www.jconline.com/story/news/2019/07/13/body-exhumed-reopening-76-cold-case-woman-found-box-benton-co-cornfield/1702057001/

https://www.jconline.com/story/news/local/2026/07/15/benton-county-jane-doe-identified-after-almost-50-years/90932141007/

https://www.jconline.com/story/news/local/2026/07/18/dna-match-leads-to-identity-of-jane-doe-50-years-later-benton-county/90955165007/

https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/LC2F-HZJ/mary-gole%C5%A1-1888-1945

https://dnasolves.com/articles/benton-county-donna-sue-nelton/

https://unidentified-awareness.fandom.com/wiki/Donna_Nelton

https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2022/nov/01/texas-company-key-to-identifying-benton-county/

https://www.nwahomepage.com/news/benton-county-ids-three-cold-case-homicide-victims/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/207571824/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/1117407730/

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The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.

All music is composed by Vince Nitro.