# Looking for Info on Possibly Identifying an Injury



## JShookho (Mar 5, 2021)

Hi everyone, I'm new here, and I'm actually not here because of horse riding but because I'm trying to help identify a woman who was found in the water at Plum Beach in NY around 23 years ago, deceased. She'd been in the water for a while so identification was not possible. She did, however, have a unique tattoo of what appears to be the word "Licol". Licol (and it's variation Licou) is the French word for halter which was initially very confusing. But, when I did a query for 'Licol Tattoo' I got back many results that included horses. Apparently, there is a strong association with licol and horse halters, and specifically, equestrianism. Which is how I ended up on this forum.

Observing the tattoo I noticed that the ink looked fairly dark and the lines crisp, making me think it had been done very recently prior to death, and I suspect, if that's the case, her friends and family may have been unaware of her having gotten it. Meaning that it's use in identification is severely curtailed.

There is one more possibility that I've decided to check out, which are two injuries on her right leg: one on her inner right ankle, and the other on her anterior right leg (so, the outside front of her lower right leg, below the knee). I was wondering if anyone on this forum is aware if that's a specific or unique injury to horse riding or handling horses? I believe that the best way to identify this woman is not through her tattoo, but her tie to horses and the French language. I'd appreciate any help or insights. Sorry to go on for so long and thank you in advance!

Also, you can get some more details about her case here (although there isn't much more): The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

There's only the picture of the Licol tattoo attached and a brief description and that's it.

Again, thank you.


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

Her height and weight could be an important factor. Different disciplines if she was a competitor or professional could be eliminated based on that. As for injuries on the inside of the ankle - perhaps something caused by a stirrup. Would need to know if it is a scar which is unlikely if wearing proper foot wear unless surgery from getting hung up in the stirrup. As for the outside leg there would be nothing that unless playing something like polo would make contact or being ridden into something. Again proper gear should have offered protection. So if horse related like not to be professional or competition caused. If just a happy hacker then who knows.


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## JShookho (Mar 5, 2021)

Thank you! That is very helpful. 

Yes, both injuries are scars. Her height is 5'2" and her estimated weight is 135 lbs. I'm curious about how riding horses and playing polo could cause distinctive changes in bones over one's life. Unfortunately, the book I have, _The Bone Manual_, didn't have any specific information about sports and changes to the bones, and information at Namus is very limited. For instance, it doesn't even mention whether or not she had any children. Since her remains were fully recovered her pelvis should have been able to indicate that.

She seems to be around the right weight for a polo horse but I couldn't find anything about the average height of women polo players. I'll look more into the polo angle. Thanks again!


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

Basically not a jockey as their weight is much lower. If scar was old, perhaps she was when younger. Injuries can be significant. Polo height and weight not as restricted as racing.


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## Palfrey (May 29, 2020)

I wonder if any tattoo artists were questioned at the time of her decease? What about local to Brooklyn, NY horse riding stables? A lot of times, horse riding is a social activity, maybe someone would have seen her--rode with her, trained with her etc. You can't play polo by yourself so she would have had to be known to other riders. Perhaps, unfortunately, this tattoo has nothing to do with horses at all.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I doubt the tattoo is meant to say 'halter'. First of all, it would be very odd to just have the word 'halter' tattoo'd. Most horse enthusiasts would have an image, or the name of their horse, not just a word like , Halter, or Saddle as a tattoo.
I think you are going down a dead end. I think it is someone's name.

What is your personal interest//investment in this?


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## JShookho (Mar 5, 2021)

You make an excellent point about not playing polo alone. 

I have a feeling her ethnicity is either wrongly interpreted, since she was in the water long enough to no longer be able to easily identify her. This may contribute to the lack of identification.

When I did an internet query for 'Licol Tattoos' I got a number of results back that included horses, as licol (and it's alternate, lice) is halter in French. Interestingly, neither Creole nor French Canadian uses licol; however there are French speaking countries where it is used, and it does seem to be strongly connected to horse halters and equestrianism. 

I believe this woman was either visiting the U.S. or perhaps recently immigrated, or she has very strong ties to her ancestral country, along with a strong enough tie to horses to get "Licol" tattooed on her right arm.

Thank you for your input. I really do appreciate all insights and contributions!


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## JShookho (Mar 5, 2021)

You make excellent points, tinyliny. I did try all the variations listed for this woman's tattoo at Namus, and the only thing that came up that seemed even somewhat relevant was when I queried "Licol Tattoo".

So, my background: I have a Masters in Biochemistry from Georgetown University and prior to my 3 youngest daughter being born I did biomedical research there. Then I took some time off to raise my daughters and reflect on my life and just as I was thinking about getting back into the workforce I heard about genetic genealogy being used for identification of serious criminals or unknown deceased individuals and realized I found my calling. I received a certificate in Genealogy from Boston University in Spring 2019, with my focus being on both forensic and genetic genealogy. Just as I was starting to feel like I'd gotten enough experience to start working on cases the pandemic hit, and now I've found myself homeschooling my 3 youngest daughters (6, 8, & 9) with very little time to work on anything relevant to my training.

However, I still find myself accidentally stumbling on cases from time to time and I just can't help looking into the ones that seem like they should be easily identifiable, but for some reason aren't. I get mildly obsessed with cases that seem to have a very unique factor yet for some reason either go unsolved or the person goes unidentified. It's why I think the ethnicity of the woman in question may be incorrect.

I included a link to the case with my original post, but just in case, here it is again:




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The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)


By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.



www.namus.gov





Thanks again for all your insights!


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## gottatrot (Jan 9, 2011)

If the tattoo is actually Picol, it could refer to a village in France. Perhaps this could be a tattoo someone got after visiting there or as a young person, being an exchange student over there. It makes me wonder if there were programs around that time for a young person from the city to go as an exchange student to France. It might be worth checking into by perhaps contacting the newspaper relating to that village to put out an inquiry about exchange students around the early 90s. Or she could have been a migrant worker there that immigrated over here. Based on the ethnicity of the person and location, it would be less likely this is someone into equestrian pursuits. The location of the body is close to the Gilgo beach murders, down current from the dump sites, so potentially could this be an early victim of that serial killer?


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

her race/ethnicity could be easily determined by DNA testing, could it not? that would not be damaged by a long time in water, at least not the teeth.


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