A teenage girl died in La Jolla in 2018, and the San Diego County Medical Examiner is still trying to identify those remains and get 'her home to her family.'

SAN DIEGO — This story contains images and evidence from the National Missing & Unidentified Persons System and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children that some may find disturbing.

On August 9, 2018, it was a beautiful Wednesday on the border of San Clemente and Oceanside. It was sunny in the upper 70s, warming up to the low 80s. Unfortunately, it would turn out to be a nightmare for one teenage girl.

She was crossing I-5 on foot when she was struck by a car and killed. She was pronounced dead at nearby Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla in the trauma bay just after 11 a.m.

There are more questions than answers in this case. It’s unknown why she was walking across a busy freeway rather than a pedestrian-friendly street. Investigators don’t believe it’s suicide, but it is strange. One of those investigators is Tessa Lee, a medical examiner investigator and unidentified decedent coordinator for San Diego County.

“We’ll never know for sure until we talk to her family, but it seems pretty unlikely [that it was suicide] based on the circumstances,” said Lee. "We can’t speculate. We don’t know exactly what happened or what was in her head. We don’t know what might have been happening in the moment.”

Witnesses recall her running across the highway and being struck.

"She reportedly walked across the freeway from the right hand shoulder, holding her hand out to oncoming traffic. Multiple vehicles slowed down and swerved out of the way," reads the graphic autopsy report written by Vivian Synder, the Deputy Chief Examiner.

It’s a day that changed a lot of lives and ended one. Drivers did their best to rapidly slow down when they saw her, but blunt force trauma ultimately killed her, according to Synder's exam. All the drivers stayed on the scene.

“Nobody was cited for it,” said Lee.

The even bigger unknown is that investigators still have no idea who she is. She is a medical examiner mystery.

“She definitely has people who miss her, but we haven’t been able to find them or find out who she is,” said Lee.

It’s been a year and a half, and investigators have worked tirelessly to try to identify her remains. They’ve sent her fingerprints all over the world to almost every government agency you can think of, but have come up with nothing. Her DNA provided no hits in CODIS. After a series of dead ends, investigators hope someone has seen something that could help identify this Jane Doe, who likely isn’t from San Diego herself.

“Hopefully someone is going to recognize her and recognize the circumstances that she was found under,” said Lee.

However, not all hope is lost. In fact, there are some key clues that could help identify her. Thanks to a collaboration of scientists and artists, here’s what the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children believes Jane Doe looked like before the accident:

Esto es lo que el Centro Nacional para Niños Desaparecidos y Explotados cree que ella se parecía antes del accidente:

A forensic medical examiner performed an autopsy on August 10, 2018. Here’s what we know based on the autopsy report.

Height: 5’1” (61 inches)

Weight/peso: 111 pounds / 50.3 kg

Estimated age/ edad estimada: Approximately 16 years old, likely no older than 20, entre 16 y 20 años

Hair color/color de cabello: Brunette/ café

Jean size/talla de pantaló : 5, 27mx

Shoe size/zapatos: 25

Bra size/sostén: 34A

Tattoos or major scars/ tatuajes o cicatrices: none/ ninguna

Piercings/perforaciones: earlobes/orejas

Nationality/Nacionalidad: likely Mexican or a central-American country/ probablemente Mexicana o Latinoamericana

Nail polish color/ color de uñas: red/ rojo

Eye color/ color de pupilas: brown/ café

According to forensics, she has no signs of a previous heart condition. She didn't wear glasses or contact lenses.

Investigators don’t believe she was homeless, but believe she may been from a lower-socioeconomic background based on her diet. She was a healthy weight for her height.

According to the toxicology report, she had no signs of alcohol or drug abuse. Her system was completely clean.

“She’s a Hispanic girl - very likely was travelling and entered the country recently, probably from Southern Mexico or Central America, “ said Lee.

Yes, investigators have reason to believe that she is possibly from Mexico or Central America and would have family members there. It’s possible she entered the U.S. shortly before her death, and likely illegally based on the fact that her fingerprints didn't provide any leads. Her shoes were too damaged from the accident to do any soil analysis on them that might help pinpoint where she had traveled from.

Since it’s possible that this teenage girl is from a Spanish-speaking country and could have loved ones there, this story is available in Spanish.

Next, get a good look at her clothing:

Sus jeans son la marca "Emociones" y sus zapatos son de "Nitram".

Esta es la ropa que llevaba antes de morir.

Clothing found on Jane Doe's body when she died 1/7

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“From her exam, she had pretty distinctive clothing on her at the time that she passed away,” said Lee.

Her jeans are the brand “Emocions” and her shoes are from “Nitram.”

Someone knows who this girl was. Somewhere, a family is looking for a loved one. In a case with so many questions and unknowns, there's one known: that investigators need your help.

“She is certainly someone who sticks in all of our heads, who we all care about, who we just want to get her home to her family," said Lee. "We just want to tell them what happened to her and get them some answers.”

If you have any information, you can call the medical examiner's office at +1 (858) 694-2905 and reference case 2018-01951. You can email mxinvestigations@sdcounty.ca.gov referencing that same case number.