57 Years After She Was Murdered at 16, Police Finally Learned Her Name

#ColdCase #TrueCrime #JaneDoe In 1969, a 16-year-old girl was strangled in room 15 of a downtown Oakland hotel. For 57 years, no one knew her name. Joanne "Joanie" Yvonne Burdick — February 3, 1953 – October 2, 1969. 🔔 Subscribe to The Last Witness for cold cases solved by DNA, genetic genealogy and the evidence that refused to disappear. On October 2, 1969, witnesses saw a teenage girl in a white knit dress walk into the Hotel St. Louis on 7th Street, Oakland, with a man who had a crew cut. Less than thirty minutes later, staff heard a scream. The man was gone. The girl had no ID, matched no local missing-person report, and was buried as Jane Doe. The man police came to suspect, Taylor Morris Teaford, was already a fugitive. Wanted for killing his own grandmother in North Fork, California in 1967, he had been on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list since May 1968. According to the Oakland Tribune and the Mercury News, he was formally charged with the hotel murder in 1972. He was never arrested, never tried and never convicted. In 2020, the FBI joined a renewed investigation. Investigative genetic genealogy led to Joanie's brother, whose DNA confirmed her identity. On October 1, 2026, the Oakland Police Department gave her name back. If he's still alive, Taylor Morris Teaford is 91 years old. Oakland police say they don't know where he is. 📞 If you have information: Oakland Police Homicide, 510-238-3821. ⏱️ CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro: room 15 1:17 Room Fifteen 4:04 The Man from North Fork 6:25 The Crew Cut Killer 8:24 Charged... and Gone 10:06 A Girl Named Joanie 11:54 Fifty-Seven Years 13:36 The Announcement 15:23 Where Is He? 17:22 What She Deserved 💬 What do you think happened to Taylor Morris Teaford? Tell me in the comments. 📚 SOURCES • Oakland Police Department & FBI San Francisco — press conference and statement, Oct 1, 2026 • The Mercury News, SFGATE, San Francisco Chronicle, CBS News Bay Area, KTVU, ABC7, Desert Sun / USA Today (Oct 2026) • FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives history (No. 279) • Historical reporting: Oakland Tribune (1969–1972), The Fresno Bee (1968), as cited by the outlets above • Press conference footage: Oakland Police Department (official channel) ⚠️ This video discusses the real murder of a teenager. No graphic images are shown. Taylor Morris Teaford was named as a suspect and, according to newspaper reports, charged in 1972, but he was never arrested, tried or convicted. He is presumed innocent. #JoanieBurdick #Oakland #CrewCutKiller #ColdCaseSolved #GeneticGenealogy #FBIMostWanted #TrueCrimeDocumentary #TheLastWitness