Santa Cruz Police Identify Murder Victim from 1994 Known as Pogonip Jane

For almost 20 years Santa Cruz Police Officers have been working to solve a case of a teenager who was found dead in Pogonip Park. Officers have still not been able to solve the murder but they have been able to solve one piece of the mystery.

For years officers have only been able to call her Pogonip Jane. Her body was found partially buried by two hikers on January 29, 1994. The case went cold and police were never able to identify Pogonip Jane, and no family members ever came looking for her.

The late Santa Cruz Detective Butch Baker was the original investigator on the case and never stopped looking to solve this case. Following Baker’s death in February, Santa Cruz Detectives picked up the case determined to bring it to closure.

They got a break in the case when a familial DNA hit was made in October of this year. Though she went missing in 1993, her family did not file a missing person report until 2007.

The State Department of Justice lab notified the Santa Cruz Police Department of a possible familial DNA match with the Pogonip Jane sample the last October. Detective Bruce Cline flew to Washington State to meet with the family and was able to get a fingerprint card to help match it to the victim.

Pogonip Jane’s real name was Kori Joanne Lamaster and she was just 17-years-old when she was killed.

However, the case is far from over for the Santa Cruz Police. They still have a homicide to solve. Police are looking for anyone who may have had contact with Kori as she traveled through the Santa Cruz area in and around 1993.

Police have identified a father and son who were seen with Kory around the time of her death. They have been identified as Wayne White and his son Greg White. Greg is since deceased, and Wayne lives in Tennessee, said police. Detectives are especially intersted in anyone with information about these two.