Missing: Parrots Ferry Jane
On October 9th, 2015, partial remains were discovered in the water underneath the Parrots Ferry Bridge during an intense drought. The bridge is located in Calaveras County, which is in both the Gold Country and High Sierra regions of the state of California; San Andreas is the county seat.
The remains were found by locals prospecting for gold during dead pool levels of New Melones reservoir. When a reservoir reaches dead pool, it means that the water level is so low that water can no longer flow downstream.
Investigators believe the remains belong to a female victim who was between the ages of 25 and 45 years old at the time of her death. The victim was estimated to have been between 4’8” and 5’3” tall, and on the petite side.
The body had apparently been wrapped in a covering of some kind and bound in a tow-hook like chain with a hook at the end of it and weighed down.
The body remained hidden beneath the water’s surface prior to the record drought that led to the discovery of the victim. It was badly decomposed, and investigators believe it was there for a minimum of 18 months, and possibly for years.
The only clothing recovered from the body was a pair of black women's panties made of a mesh and lace velour. No tags or labels were present on what appears to be the only clothing the victim was wearing.
DNA testing is ongoing; DNA extracted from the femur bones did not result in any matches, according to Sheriff Rick DiBasilio, who noted that there are no DNA records for most members of the public. Investigators are working with a Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogist in an attempt to identify the victim.
Sheriff DiBasilio also said that the missing persons’ cases in Calaveras known to his office are all males, and told MyMotherlode that, “What is going to happen with this [Jane Doe] person, is that [the investigators] will send out a flyer throughout the United States that says, ‘hey, we have located a potential female subject, between 4’8″ and 5’5″ potentially somewhere between this poundage, if you are missing somebody, call us’.”
He also told MyMotherlode that cases like this one make him suggest that people store personal DNA samples for their loved ones and children.
“You can take a typical Q-tip cotton swab… swab the inside of your cheek, put it into a ziplock bag [marked as DNA] …and put it in the freezer,” emphasizing the importance of letting family members know it’s there.
The Parrots Ferry Jane case remains unsolved. If you have any information related to Parrots Ferry Jane, please contact the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office anonymous tip line at (209) 754-6030.
The same local newspaper cited above also reported that the circumstances resembled that of bodies that had been dumped in the same reservoir back in the early 2000s by the Russian Mafia and serial killers Jurijus Kadamovas and Iouri Gherman Mikhel.
In that case, the masterminds were the owners of Designed Water World, a fish aquarium store located on Ventura Boulevard in Los Angeles. Mikhel was an immigrant from Leningrad in the USSR, and Kadamovas, an immigrant from Vilnius, Lithuania.
In October 2001, Kadamovas and Mikhel came up with a plan to kidnap 58-year-old Meyer Muscatel, a local real-estate developer. Mikhel posed as a businessman interested in buying real estate, and Muscatel was lured to Mikhel's house in Encino where Kadamovas, Mikhel, and another accomplice lay in wait.
Muscatel was handcuffed, duct-taped and pistol whipped in the head. His wallet was taken and he was interrogated about his finances. His kidnappers attempted to pull money out of his bank account but were unable to; the bank account was frozen. Muscatel was then injected with diphenhydramine and pinned to the ground, where Mikhel placed a plastic bag over his head and suffocated him to death. Muscatel's body was taken to Parrotts Ferry Bridge and dropped into the New Melones Lake reservoir.
In December 2001, the pair abducted the financial advisor of a wealthy Russian businessman who lived in Beverly Hills, 37-year-old George Safiev. Kadamovas contacted 39-year-old Rita Pekler pretending to be interested in real estate transaction. She was lured to his home where Mikhel, armed with a handgun and stun gun, was waiting for her.
When Pekler arrived, Mikhel restrained her and told her to contact Safiev. Safiev told her he was too busy to meet, and Pekler was then injected with diphenhydramine and strangled to death. She was pregnant at the time of her murder; her body was also thrown off the Parrotts Ferry Bridge.
Later in December 2001, Mikhel posed as a customer who needed audio equipment installed into several cars, conning 35-year-old Alexander Umansky, who owned an auto shop, into meeting at Kadamovas home. He was ambushed, handcuffed to a chair, had his keys, telephone, and wallet confiscated, and was then interrogated about his finances.
Umansky was held captive in the house for three days and forced to call his brother and beg for ransom money. Kadamovas and Mikhel also sent the Umansky family a ransom note demanding over $200,000; the family contacted the FBI, who advised them to pay part of the ransom in an attempt to lure out the kidnappers. The FBI later learned that other family members were threatened, forcing them to pay the rest of the money, which was transferred to an offshore account in the United Arab Emirates.
After receiving the ransom money, Kadamovas and Mikhel decided to kill Umansky. Mikhel duct-taped Umansky's mouth shut and placed a bag over his head. Kadamovas pinned him down and pinched his nose shut, and together they twisted a rope around his neck and strangled him to death. They weighted Umansky's body down and once again threw their victim’s body off of Parrotts Ferry Bridge.
In January 2002, they targeted Safiev again through another associate, his business partner, 29-year-old Nick Kharabadze. Safiev had returned from a trip and was back in Los Angeles.
Kharabadze was lured to the aquarium store Kadamovas and Mikhel owned with an invitation to a non-existent private club. When he arrived, he was ambushed and handcuffed to a chair and then forced to call Safiev and convince him to come to the store. After securing their second hostage, both hostages were moved to Kadamovas' house, where Safiev was forced to call another business partner and beg him to transfer close to $1,000,000 to a foreign account.
During their captivity, Kadamovas had Safiev make vocal recordings for use in future extortion schemes. Kharabadze and Safiev remained imprisoned in the house for four days before they were forced to drink vodka and then taken to the Parrotts Ferry Bridge in seperate cars. Mikhel killed Kharabadze by placing a plastic bag over his head and tightening a plastic zip tie around his throat. They then weighted the body and threw it from the bridge into the reservoir, after which Safiev met the same fate.
Four other co-conspirators were also identified: Petro Krylov, Natalya Solovyeva, Ainar Altmanis, and Aleksejus Markovskis. When Petro Krylov was convicted, federal prosecutors sought a death sentence for Krylov, but his attorneys convinced the jury that he participated in the murders only out of duress; Mikhel and Kadamovas allegedly threatened his family to force his participation. Krylov was sentenced to life without parole.
Altmanis admitted to participating in the kidnappings of three victims, and to participating in the murder by suffocation of two victims. In exchange for leading the police to the bodies, and acting as a key witness against Kadamovas and Mikhel, Altmanis was instead sentenced to 23 years and 4 months in prison in February 2008. He had been facing life in prison.
During his sentencing proceedings, Altmanis apologized for his actions, saying via court translator, "I got totally confused in this life. The life of the person I have become, I do not want it. Please forgive me."
Natalya Solovyeva, the girlfriend of Jurijus Kadamovas, pled guilty to luring one victim who was then forced to contact another man, who also became a victim. In exchange for her cooperation, Solovyeva was sentenced to 15 years in prison after prosecutors recommended only 11, with the judge noting that she had been promised a new BMW if she participated in the kidnappings, and that two men would "probably be alive today" had she not been party to their murders.
During the hearing, she apologized in Russian, saying via translator "I would like to say over and over again how sorry I am for what I did. I am sorry for all the victims. I know I made a terrible choice I will regret for all my life."
Prosecutor Susan DeWitt said that Solovyeva had been controlled and manipulated by Kadamovas. The two also had a child together. Ruven Umansky, the father of victim Alexander Umansky, was unimpressed.
"She did until the end help abduct and kill people," he said. Soloyeva was released from prison on July 8, 2015, less than 8 years after being sentenced to 15 years.
Aleksejus Markovskis, who stood guard over two of the victims during their abductions, pled guilty after agreeing to cooperate with the prosecution. In exchange for his cooperation, Markovskis was sentenced to 15 years in prison. After Soloyeva received her 15-year sentence, Markovskis sentence was reduced to 12.5 years, as prosecutors felt he was less culpable in the killings than she was. He was released from prison in 2012, just 4 years after his sentencing.
A Los Angeles jury deliberated less than 10 hours before finding Kadamovas and Mikhel guilty on all counts on January 17, 2007. On March 12, 2007, both Kadamovas and Mikhel were sentenced to death. They remain incarcerated, awaiting execution.
It is unknown if Parrots Ferry Jane is somehow related to this earlier crime spree.