Share and Follow
Virginia law enforcement agencies suspect they have located a woman who vanished more than ten years ago, though the individual they believe might be her has once again gone missing.
Kathryn Bene Griffin was 43 years old when she went missing from Portsmouth, Virginia, on January 7, 2012.
The last sighting of her by relatives was at the barbershop where she was employed. According to police reports, she departed from work riding a brown bicycle, clad in blue jeans, a plaid jacket, and a black smock.
As the family of Griffin persist in their efforts to locate the woman who is now 57 years old, the Portsmouth police have disclosed that she could potentially be a ‘living Jane Doe’ uncovered by authorities in Wayne County, Michigan.
The woman, who was going by the name ‘China Black’ in 2018, lived in an adult foster home at the time as she needed help with amnesia and couldn’t remember her true identity.
Black, who had also gone by the names Joynez Johnson and CJ Jones, was a double amputee and was also missing her left pinky finger.
She said she lost her memory in 2014 when was hit by a drunk driver after leaving a McDonald’s on Woodward Avenue near Wayne State University.
‘It’s frustrating that you wake up in the hospital and you don’t know who you is,’ Black told news station Local 4 in 2018.
Kathryn Bene Griffin (pictured), who would now be 57-years-old, went missing from Portsmouth, Virginia, on January 7, 2012
Portsmouth police Griffin may be the ‘living Jane Doe’ who goes by China Black (pictured) in Wayne County, Michigan
She had been taken in by the Beyond Boundaries adult foster care home and had lived there for at least four years at the time of the interview.
Now, Portsmouth Police believe Black may actually be Griffin, but they have been unable to locate her.
Cops reportedly made the connection after an unidentified person saw pictures of Griffin and Black on social media and sent in a tip to the police department.
Authorities believe Black is still in the Wayne County area and are hoping to collect a DNA sample from her in order to compare it to Griffin’s mother’s DNA.
‘I work lots of unidentified remains cases. This is my first living Jane Doe,’ Michigan State Police Detective Sgt. Sarah Krebs said.
‘I feel really badly for her. I feel like there’s got to be someone out there who knows exactly who she is and we’ve just got to give her her name back.’
In 2023, Griffin’s mother, Linda Archie, spoke out about her daughter’s disappearance.
‘It’s been a long, agonizing 11 years. I’m hoping that somebody, now, will come forward with more information,’ Archie told WAVY.
‘I’m getting older now and I would like to know where my child is.’
Griffin (pictured) was last seen by a family member at the barbershop she worked at. She was riding a brown bicycle, wearing blue jeans, a plaid jacket and a black smock
Black (pictured) is a double amputee and is missing her left pinky finger. She said she lost her memory in 2014 when was hit by a drunk driver
Archie told The Virginian-Pilot at the time that Griffin is a mother of three. She said that she hopes the family can be reunited.
‘She’s a granddaughter, she’s a mother, she’s a sister, she’s a cousin. And she is loved,’ Archie said.
‘She is missed. And we would really so much like to know where she is. If anything has happened to her, what? And who?’
