The Stories of Selena Notes:

Header Image Source: Photo by Kane Reinholdtsen on Unsplash 

"Selena Quintanilla-Pérez was a Mexican-American singer who achieved international fame as a member of Selena y Los Dinos and for her subsequent solo career in both Spanish and English. Her father and manager, Abraham Quintanilla Jr, appointed Yolanda Saldívar president of Selena's fan club in 1991 after Saldívar had repeatedly asked permission to start one. In January 1994, Saldívar was promoted to manager of the singer's boutiques. Soon Selena's employees, fashion designer, and cousin began complaining about Saldívar's management style. In January 1995, Quintanilla Jr. began receiving telephone calls and letters from angry fans who had sent membership payments and had received nothing in return. He began investigating their complaints and found evidence that Saldívar had embezzled $60,000 from the fan club and the boutiques using forged checks. After the Quintanilla family confronted her about this, Saldívar bought a gun and fatally shot Selena on the morning of March 31, 1995. Although the healthcare team tried to revive Selena, she was ultimately pronounced dead due to hypovolemic shock and cardiac arrest.

The Latino community was deeply affected by the news of Selena's death; some people traveled thousands of miles to visit her home, boutiques, and the crime scene, while churches with large congregations of Latinos held prayers in her name. All major television networks in the United States interrupted their regular programming to break the news. The public's reaction to Selena's death was compared to those that followed the deaths of John Lennon, Kurt Cobain, and John F. Kennedy. Some Americans who were unaware of the singer and her popularity criticized the attention she and her murder received from both the media and the Latino community. Radio personality Howard Stern mocked Selena's murder, burial, and her mourners and criticized her music, playing her songs with gunshots in the background, causing an uproar among the Latino population. On April 12, 1995—two weeks after her death—then-Texas governor George W. Bush declared her birthday Selena Day in Texas, offending some Americans because Selena Day that year coincided with Easter..."

— Source: Murder of Selena Wikipedia

The Lady of the Dunes Notes:

Header Image Source: Photo by Mitchel Lensink on Unsplash 

"Lady of the Dunes (also known as Lady in the Dunes) is the nickname for an unidentified murder victim discovered on July 26, 1974, in the Race Point Dunes in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Her body was exhumed in 1980, 2000, and 2013 in efforts to identify her and her killer; to date, these efforts have been unsuccessful.

On July 26, 1974, a 9-year-old girl walking her dog found the decomposing body of an unidentified woman in the Race Point Dunes of Provincetown, Massachusetts. The remains were just yards away from a road, and had a significant amount of insect activity. Two sets of footprints led to the body, and tire tracks were found 50 yards (46 m) from the scene. The woman may have died two weeks before her body was found.

The victim was laid face-down on half of a beach blanket. There was no sign of a struggle; police theorized she either knew her killer or had been asleep when she died. A blue bandanna and pair of Wrangler jeans were under her head. She had long auburn or red hair, pulled back into a ponytail with a gold-flecked elastic band. Her toenails were painted pink.

Police determined the woman was approximately 5 feet 6 inches (168 cm) tall (initially believed to have been 5'8"), weighed 145 pounds (66 kg), and had an athletic build. She also had dental work – including crowns – worth $5,000-$10,000; dentists call it the "New York style" of dental work. Several of her teeth had been removed. Both hands and one forearm were missing. Most sources say she was between 25 and 40 years old. However, she could have been as young as 20 or as old as 49.

The woman was nearly decapitated, possibly from strangulation; one side of her head had been crushed with (possibly) a military-type entrenching tool. This head injury was what killed her. There were also signs of sexual assault, likely postmortem.

Some investigators feel the missing teeth, hands, and forearm indicate the killer wanted to hide either the victim's identity or their own.

The woman was buried in October 1974 after the case went cold. In 2014, one of the case investigators raised funds for a new casket, because the original thin metal casket was rusted and deteriorated..."

— Source: Lady of the Dunes Wikipedia