New theory on how woman's embalmed head came to be found in Beaver Co.

ECONOMY, Pa. — Whatever happened to Jane Doe?

A woman's head was found in 2014 in a wooded area in Economy by a teenager, but the rest of her body was nowhere to be found.

She hasn't been identified and no one knows how she died.

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Since then, investigators have been working tirelessly, trying to identify the woman they now call "Jane Doe." They even had an anatomy professor make a clay model of her head, hoping it would trigger somebody's memory.

"She was somebody's aunt, mom; we need to figure this out," said District Attorney Anthony Berosh.

So far, no one has.

Authorities in Beaver County maintain it's among the strangest cases they've ever investigated.

But now, nearly three years later, there's a new theory on what could have happened.

Police believe all signs point to the woman's head being severed by a professional body broker. That's someone who sells parts of bodies that were donated to science.

Reuters uncovered that development in an extensive investigation published Thursday, citing experts who say her body was dismembered professionally.

The problem is, Reuters says, those sales are not really regulated, so tracking where body parts came from, or whom they belong to, is extremely difficult.

One thing that's stumping investigators is the discovery of red balls in the women's eye sockets. That's something nobody in the profession seems to have ever seen before.

Investigators previously told Channel 11 the woman may have suffered a heart attack and that she may have lived in western Pennsylvania, Ohio or Maryland.

Her head has since been buried in Beaver County out of respect.

Cox Media Group