Identified: Princess Doe

Identified: Princess Doe
NCIC Case Number: U630870962
Porchlight for the Missing Case Number: NJF820715

Dawn Olanick has finally been identified, 40 years after being known only as “Princess Doe” of Blairstown New Jersey. Her badly beaten body was found behind Cedar Ridge Cemetery on July 15th, 1982. Her face was bludgeoned beyond recognition, and she had many defensive wounds. Dawn, along with her mother and sister lived in West Babylon and also in the Bohemia areas of Long Island, New York. She was just 17 years old, finishing her junior year at Connetquot High School.

Not only was Dawn identified, but her killer was brought to justice. In 2005, a man named Arthur Kinlaw confessed in writing to the Warren County Prosecutor’s Office that he was the one who killed Princess Doe. Arthur is already serving a 20-year-to-life sentence in Sullivan County, New York for the first degree murder of another woman.

Officials needed to identify Princess Doe before they could charge Arthur. She was the first unidentified crime victim to be entered into the National Crime Information Center database in 1983.

She was positively identified by the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification on April 29, 2022, and Arthur was then formally charged with Dawn’s murder.

Dawn’s brother said his sister was “told to leave” their mother’s residence in 1982 and that was the last time she was seen.

Authorities determined that Dawn was killed two days before she was found. Her body was starting to decompose from the July heat, which made it more difficult to identify her. Her skull was fractured in several spots, and the weapon was either a bat or an iron tool. In 2019 her DNA testing had suggested she may have lived in Arizona, and then on Long Island, New York. Arthur Kinlaw was identified as a Long Island pimp and was on the list of suspects. He and his wife ran a prostitution ring in the Bronx. It is believed that Mr. Kinlaw attempted to lure Dawn into prostitution and she refused, leading to her unfortunate demise. The prosecutor said that Blairstown seems to be a random dumping location that Arthur chose. Neither Dawn nor Arthur had any connection to the town, but this is still being investigated.

Blairstown’s beloved princess has finally gotten her name back.

Unidentified Deceased White Female

Princess Doe
NIC# : U630870962
Body found on July 15, 1982
Estimated date of death: July 11, 1982
Estimated age: 14-20 years (estimated)
Sex: Female
Race: Caucasian
Height: 5’2-5’4
Weight: 90-100 lbs.
Hair: Brown shoulder length
Eye color: unknown
Clothing: The individual was wearing a red V-neck pullover shirt with yellow piping on the front portion of the shoulder and blue and black piping around the neck, sleeves and waist. The victim was also wearing a red/white/blue print wrap-around skirt with a wide border print of peacocks on the lower portion.
Jewelry: Victim was wearing a gold colored chain with small white beads spaced evenly within the chain. Attached to the chain was a 14k gold cross with an ornate design.
Dental: Lower anterior teeth are crowded
Other: Red nail polish on right hand, no nail polish on left hand. Left ear double pierced, unknown right ear piercings.
Circumstances: Victim was found in a wooded area in Blairstown Cemetery, Route 94, Warren County, NJ on July 15,1982.
X-rays: Dental and body X-rays are available.
Model of what the victim may have looked like: