SHERIDAN (WNE) — On March 1, 1992, Bitter Creek Betty, an unidentified female, was discovered near Interstate 80 in Sweetwater County, about 40 miles east of Rock Springs.
Just over a month later, on April 13, 1992, the body of another unidentified female, known as I-90 Jane Doe, was discovered near milepost five on the west side of Interstate 90 in Sheridan County.
Initial investigations into both cases lasted years without a positive identification of either the victim or the suspect.
A significant breakthrough occurred in 2012, when a male DNA profile discovered on evidence in the I-90 Jane Doe case was matched to a male DNA profile developed from evidence in the Bitter Creek Betty investigation, concluding that the two Wyoming homicides were committed by the same person.
These previously unknown victims were identified using forensic genetic genealogy, a recent advancement in forensic investigations.
Bitter Creek Betty has been officially identified as Irene Vasquez. The identification was made possible by DNA matching with a family member.
Similarly, I-90 Jane Doe was identified as Cindi Arleen Estrada, as evidenced by DNA matching with her biological mother.
In 2019, the male DNA profile from the Wyoming cases was linked to DNA collected during a 1991 homicide investigation in Tennessee involving Pamela Rose Aldridge McCall.
Subsequent investigations yielded leads, ultimately identifying Clark Perry Baldwin as the unknown DNA contributor.
Baldwin was arrested in Iowa on May 6, 2020, on murder warrants from Tennessee and Wyoming. Baldwin was convicted of first-degree murder of McCall on May 5 in Maury County, Tennessee, and sentenced to life imprisonment.
He will now be extradited to Wyoming to face charges in the murders of two Wyoming women.
