‘Princess Doe’ identified 40 years after remains found in Warren County cemetery; suspect charged

BLAIRSTOWN TOWNSHIP, NJ (Warren County) – A young girl who was dubbed Princess Doe after she was found dead 40 years ago in a Blairstown Township cemetery has been identified and her alleged killer has been charged.

At a press conference Friday, the Warren County Prosecutor’s Office identified Princess Doe as 17-year-old Dawn Olanick from West Babylon, New York and announced that 68-year-old Arthur Kinlaw, who is currently incarcerated in Sullivan County, New York, on two other first-degree murder convictions from 2000, has been charged with her murder.

George Kise, a worker at Cedar Ridge Cemetery, discovered her body on July 15, 1982 at the north end of the cemetery which is a heavily wooded area near a very steep embankment leading down to a stream. The body was determined to be a white female who was wearing a red and white print skirt and a red pull over short sleeve shirt. No undergarments were on the victim or found in the vicinity and she was wearing no socks, shoes or stockings.

On July 16, 1982, an autopsy was performed by Dr. Oraciela Linares, Assistant New Jersey State Medical Examiner at the Edwin Albano Institute of Forensic Science in Newark. The cause of death was determined to be blunt trauma to the face and head with multiple fractures.

Multiple agencies including the Blairstown Police Department, the New Jersey State Police and the Warren County Prosecutor’s Office launched an intensive investigation into this horrific murder.

Fingerprints were obtained at the autopsy and checked through the Records and Identification Section of the New Jersey State Police and additionally taken to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Washington, D.C. At the F.B.I., the fingerprints were checked against the National Fingerprint File of criminal, civil, and military records. All of the fingerprint checks proved negative for any identification of the victim.

Dental charts and x-rays of the victim’s teeth were prepared by Dr. Haskell Askin, Forensic Odonatologist in Brick Township for future comparison to missing females.

A composite sketch of the victim was drawn and distributed nationwide on an unidentified murder victim flier. Additionally, all missing persons teletype messages were collected and checked. Case detectives utilized extensive press coverage attempting to determine the identity of the victim. This media coverage included a national telecast about missing persons in which this unidentified murder victim, who was dubbed “Princess Doe”, was profiled, all attempts were met with negative results.

Then on January 22, 1983, the body of Princess Doe was laid to rest in Cedar Ridge Cemetery, yards from where her body was found the previous summer. The citizens of Blairstown paid for her burial and headstone. The community has never forgotten the terrible crime that occurred and there have been numerous memorials throughout the years since her death.

On June 30, 1983, Princess Doe becomes the first unidentified person case entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database by FBI Director William H. Webster.

Then on May 5, 2005, a written letter was received from Arthur Kinlaw, an inmate at the Sullivan Correctional Facility in Fallsburg, New York.

Kinlaw indicated that he wished to be interviewed and confess to the murder of the unidentified female that was found in Blairstown Township, Warren County in 1982. A formal statement was then taken by Lieutenant Spiers of the Warren County Prosecutor’s Office and Detective Howard Brown of the NJSP Troop “B” Criminal Investigations Office.

Kinlaw had previously written an affidavit of facts pertaining to the murder which he provided. He allegedly stated that he was physically responsible for the death of the unidentified female found in Cedar Ridge cemetery.

Since that time, Kinlaw has made various admissions indicating that he was responsible for the murder. However, because the victim remained unidentified, his confession could not be sufficiently corroborated.

Princess Doe was positively identified as Olanick, on April 29, 2022 after various forensic testing.

The process began in 2007, when the University of N. Texas Center for Human Identification tested skeletal remains for DNA.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children contacted the Warren County Prosecutor’s Office on May 19, 2021 offering financial assistance to have the DNA re-tested for purposes of developing a genealogical profile.

In June of 2021, Astrea Forensics accepted the investigation and agreed to perform a new extraction and DNA profile. In February 2022, the updated profile was forwarded to Innovative Forensic Investigations, who agreed to unlimited pro bono assistance.

Innovative Forensics completed a genealogical profile and identified Dawn Olanick as a possible contributor and identified potential living relatives.

Based on this information, investigators met with her brother, who confirmed Dawn was his sister, who has been missing since 1982. Dawn Olanick’s sister provided DNA samples for comparison purposes.

Those samples were profiled by Milotyping Technologies, which developed a mitochondrial DNA profile. The Union County Prosecutor’s Office volunteered to assist and developed a STR (short tandem repeat) profile from the sister’s sample, which was forwarded to the University of N. Texas Laboratory.

University of N. Texas analyzed these profiles on April 29, 2022 and positively identified Princess Doe as Dawn Olanick.

Dawn grew up in West Babylon, NY with her mother, her brother, her sister, and her Father. After her
parents divorced, she lived with her mother and sister in Bohemia, NY. At the age of 16 or 17 she left her mother’s residence. Dawn was enrolled in the Connetquot Central School District up until the final marking period of her Junior year in 1982.

Witness accounts indicate that Kinlaw had met Dawn Olanick and attempted to lure her into prostitution. When she refused, he drove her to New Jersey where he ultimately killed her.

On July 13, 2022, detectives from the New Jersey State Police issued an arrest warrant for Kinlaw charging him with one count of first-degree murder.

Kinlaw’s has an extensive criminal record beginning in 1971 and includes robbery, assault, weapons, forgery, fraud, perjury, conspiracy, and criminal mischief.

Kinlaw is currently serving a sentence in New York State on two 2000 first-degree murder convictions.