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Dana Dodd was burned beyond recognition when her body was found by two men on October 26, 2006, in Longview, Texas. Joseph Wayne Burnette was later identified as the man behind the murder. Dodd was strangled to death.
Joseph remained scot-free for nearly twelve years as the police were unable to identify the body. Although he emerged as a suspect early on in the case, he was able to deny any involvement in the murder. When investigators questioned him why his s*men was found inside her, he admitted to having s*xual intercourse with the woman but did not reveal any further information.
However, Burnett committed another murder in 2018 and this time he could not get away with it. During the investigation into the second murder, he confessed to killing Dana Dodd.
Joseph was found guilty of murdering the two women and sentenced to 50 years imprisonment. He is currently serving his sentence at the George Beto Unit in Tennessee Colony, Texas. The offender will be eligible for parole after 25 years in 2043.
The case will be explored in Oxygen's Dateline on January 25. The episode, titled The Woman With No Name, will be a part of their true-crime series Secrets Uncovered.
The synopsis of the episode reads,
"Police are perplexed when they find the body of a young woman but are unable to identify her; with the help of amateur investigators and new DNA technology, a dogged investigator finds her killer and her identity."
Trigger warning: This article contains mentions of murder. Discretion is advised.
Read on to know the whereabouts of Joseph Wayne Burnette, where is he now, and more
What happened to Dana Dodd?
Dana Dodd was selling magazines in the parking lot of a Walmart in Texas when she met Joseph and asked if he wanted to buy them. He refused to buy them but instead solicited s*x from her. She agreed, and the two had s*x inside his car.
According to Joseph, she tried to steal money from him, so he strangled and killed her. He burned her face to the point where nobody would be able to recognize her.
How Burnette was caught through an unrelated case?
As the case was investigated, there were no solid leads that would help the investigators narrow down the perpetrator. However, the murder of Felisha Pearson in 2018 made things clearer.
Pearson was Burnette's girlfriend. While investigating her murder, the police arrested Burnette for failing to register as a s*x offender in connection to a previous case. While making a full confession about Pearson's murder, he also confessed to killing Dodd, who by then was known as Lavender Doe.
Burnette was sentenced to 50 years imprisonment
Joseph was found guilty of the two murders and was sentenced to 50 years in prison. He will be eligible for parole in 25 years. Today, he is serving his sentence at the George Beto Unit in Tennessee Colony, Texas.
Dana had a rough childhood
Dana's mother left her when she was still a baby, and her father was homeless. She was raised by her stepmother and would hop from town to town as a child.
It was at this point in her life that she got a job in sales with a magazine and landed in Texas. She was 21 at the time of her death.
Tune in on Oxygen's Dateline: Secrets Uncovered on January 25, 8 pm ET to find out more about this chilling murder case.
