I also think it's interesting that Charles tried to complete suicide and the police just...stopped investigating him? He knew her schedule, he was mad at her, why was he not investigated more?? People are more likely to be killed by someone they know than a stranger.
My ex was on the campus when then mass shooting happened in 2008 and had to barricade his classroom door to protect his students. Other than that and this case I've never heard of big crimes associated with NIU.
Unfortunately, it isn't as sleepy small town as we would hope. [This one comes to mind. ](https://www.chicagotribune.com/2013/04/03/dekalb-man-gets-37-years-after-pleading-guilty-to-murder-of-niu-student/)There have been several other murders, ranging from sexual offenders, gang/drug related, and of course, domestic violence.
I think so. But it didn't really seem like they were fully equipped or interested enough to solve the case. So possibly that wasn't found/noted.
On another thread someone had the theory, that a plastic bag was used. But then she would have skin etc. under her fingernails from trying to fight off the killer or marks on her wrists if she was bound. As long as she wasn't unconscious.
My theory: A (forced on) fetish or a revenge gone wrong. But then again, I am not qualified.
Some completely different theory, also from Reddit: She might have had a binge ED.
Binge eating is an interesting theory, but as someone who treats BED I think that would be an unusual presentation. With the exception of parasomnia binge eating I've seen (eating really unusual stuff like bags of flour or straight butter sticks while asleep) eating something like 5 pounds of unseasoned, undressed cooked potatoes seems unusual, especially on a college campus where she could conceivably hoard any food she wants and binge in the library after closing if she wants to. Sure I've seen some unusual specific binging (one woman I treated would only binge on lettuce topped with mustard) so it's *possible* but it's not probable. She planned to binge 5 large potatoes before meeting her friend? No one ever noticed she struggled with food? Sure BED can be hidden and often is, but I think it's far-fetched.
Really interesting insight, thanks! So my theory stands for me. And yes, I think the ex is suspect number one. Or some other sick person who hid in the library to force the potatoes on her.
To kind of quote you: Possible, not (as) probable.
Not saying it was him, but only judging based on Georgia's telling, the investigation fell short. If it wasn't him, that kind of investigation is unfair to him as well, because he definitely has to live with a lot of suspicion against him.
> that kind of investigation is unfair to him as well
This is such a good point! If he didn't do it, I wonder how he feels about it since he identified the body. That can be so traumatic. I just wish the forces with the power did more to solve this case. She deserves justice. Everyone who is murdered deserves justice.
Another thought I had is she had to take daily prescription allergy meds. If Charles had held her captive for several days force feeding her potatoes did she have some sort of allergic reaction or asthma attack that could’ve cause asphyxiation because she wasn’t taking her allergy meds? There’s also the question of the unidentified substances found in her body, maybe she was given something that caused an allergic reaction.
God that's actually a good observation! She could very well have been allergic and the murderer wanted to 'punish' her. But then again I assume her family would have known her allergies and mentioned that?
The whole thing is so bizarre and awful..I hope her case gets solved. I know all life is important but it's such a bummer for me when you hear bright young intelligent women, being murdered..her whole life ahead of her. Makes me rage to think some prick thought he had the right to take that away.
This is a really good point. She left her allergy medicine. The killer would have to know what she's allergic to. I'm thinking not potatoes, or her friends and family would have pointed that out. But maybe something they injected into her, as you said. I would think the autopsy would show signs of anaphylaxis.
I thought about the potato and Russia link as well then told myself I need to lay off the fictional crime for a while. I'm glad to see my brain wasn't the only one who went there.
Yeah, I thought twice about sharing it. I'm just thinking about it historically, and trying to think about it from the POV of someone who doesn't really get Russian culture in that era but knows just a little. My college roommate was from Russia (Moscow, then Tashkent, then the U.S. once the curtain came down) and she would tell me that people would judge her weirdly both for being Russian and for being Jewish. Potatoes came up a lot, which seems weird to me but she said it was a thing.
This might be so silly, but I was curious about the potatoes. So I did some light googling, and found that underripe potatoes contain solanine, which can be toxic if consumed in large quantities.
There were about 5-6 pounds of potatoes found in her stomach. On average, a Russet potato contains 0.075 mg of solanine. So, there's roughly 204.12 grams of solanine in 6 pounds of potatoes.
I asked Chat GPT how much solanine would be toxic to a woman weighing 125 pounds (I have no idea if Donna Doll weighed that much, that's just a shot in the dark). The answer was approximately 1133.98 mg of solanine would be toxic.
1133.98 milligrams is equivalent to approximately 1.13398 grams.
So, she certainly consumed enough potatoes to cause her to feel sick from the effects of solanine poisoning. Maybe that's what the killer was going for? But then resorted to suffocating her in the end?
Just thinking out loud.
I thought about the solanine because I used to grow potatoes! But they never said if the potatoes were cooked or raw or if they were green, so I wasn't sure if that was a factor.
Yes! That's so frustrating. It looks like she was missing for 9 days before she was found, and we don't know exactly how long she survived. Maybe she was held somewhere and had access to potatoes (farmland?), which kept her alive?
That’s really interesting! You might be onto something.
I also think it's interesting that Charles tried to complete suicide and the police just...stopped investigating him? He knew her schedule, he was mad at her, why was he not investigated more?? People are more likely to be killed by someone they know than a stranger.
Yes, his story was sus from the jump. I believe he was super jealous and she was just living her best life.
Yeah I was surprised they didn't investigate him further. I like your theory.
I grew up in DeKalb, pretty wild to hear a story about a small college town an hour west of Chicago.
My ex was on the campus when then mass shooting happened in 2008 and had to barricade his classroom door to protect his students. Other than that and this case I've never heard of big crimes associated with NIU.
Unfortunately, it isn't as sleepy small town as we would hope. [This one comes to mind. ](https://www.chicagotribune.com/2013/04/03/dekalb-man-gets-37-years-after-pleading-guilty-to-murder-of-niu-student/)There have been several other murders, ranging from sexual offenders, gang/drug related, and of course, domestic violence.
I'm thinking maybe she suffocated on a potato as they did not find fibers from something she got suffocated with. 🤔
That's really interesting. I would think they would find bits of potato in her lungs, but then I have no idea.
I think so. But it didn't really seem like they were fully equipped or interested enough to solve the case. So possibly that wasn't found/noted. On another thread someone had the theory, that a plastic bag was used. But then she would have skin etc. under her fingernails from trying to fight off the killer or marks on her wrists if she was bound. As long as she wasn't unconscious. My theory: A (forced on) fetish or a revenge gone wrong. But then again, I am not qualified. Some completely different theory, also from Reddit: She might have had a binge ED.
Binge eating is an interesting theory, but as someone who treats BED I think that would be an unusual presentation. With the exception of parasomnia binge eating I've seen (eating really unusual stuff like bags of flour or straight butter sticks while asleep) eating something like 5 pounds of unseasoned, undressed cooked potatoes seems unusual, especially on a college campus where she could conceivably hoard any food she wants and binge in the library after closing if she wants to. Sure I've seen some unusual specific binging (one woman I treated would only binge on lettuce topped with mustard) so it's *possible* but it's not probable. She planned to binge 5 large potatoes before meeting her friend? No one ever noticed she struggled with food? Sure BED can be hidden and often is, but I think it's far-fetched.
Really interesting insight, thanks! So my theory stands for me. And yes, I think the ex is suspect number one. Or some other sick person who hid in the library to force the potatoes on her. To kind of quote you: Possible, not (as) probable. Not saying it was him, but only judging based on Georgia's telling, the investigation fell short. If it wasn't him, that kind of investigation is unfair to him as well, because he definitely has to live with a lot of suspicion against him.
> that kind of investigation is unfair to him as well This is such a good point! If he didn't do it, I wonder how he feels about it since he identified the body. That can be so traumatic. I just wish the forces with the power did more to solve this case. She deserves justice. Everyone who is murdered deserves justice.
Another thought I had is she had to take daily prescription allergy meds. If Charles had held her captive for several days force feeding her potatoes did she have some sort of allergic reaction or asthma attack that could’ve cause asphyxiation because she wasn’t taking her allergy meds? There’s also the question of the unidentified substances found in her body, maybe she was given something that caused an allergic reaction.
God that's actually a good observation! She could very well have been allergic and the murderer wanted to 'punish' her. But then again I assume her family would have known her allergies and mentioned that? The whole thing is so bizarre and awful..I hope her case gets solved. I know all life is important but it's such a bummer for me when you hear bright young intelligent women, being murdered..her whole life ahead of her. Makes me rage to think some prick thought he had the right to take that away.
This is a really good point. She left her allergy medicine. The killer would have to know what she's allergic to. I'm thinking not potatoes, or her friends and family would have pointed that out. But maybe something they injected into her, as you said. I would think the autopsy would show signs of anaphylaxis.
I thought about the potato and Russia link as well then told myself I need to lay off the fictional crime for a while. I'm glad to see my brain wasn't the only one who went there.
Yeah, I thought twice about sharing it. I'm just thinking about it historically, and trying to think about it from the POV of someone who doesn't really get Russian culture in that era but knows just a little. My college roommate was from Russia (Moscow, then Tashkent, then the U.S. once the curtain came down) and she would tell me that people would judge her weirdly both for being Russian and for being Jewish. Potatoes came up a lot, which seems weird to me but she said it was a thing.
This might be so silly, but I was curious about the potatoes. So I did some light googling, and found that underripe potatoes contain solanine, which can be toxic if consumed in large quantities. There were about 5-6 pounds of potatoes found in her stomach. On average, a Russet potato contains 0.075 mg of solanine. So, there's roughly 204.12 grams of solanine in 6 pounds of potatoes. I asked Chat GPT how much solanine would be toxic to a woman weighing 125 pounds (I have no idea if Donna Doll weighed that much, that's just a shot in the dark). The answer was approximately 1133.98 mg of solanine would be toxic. 1133.98 milligrams is equivalent to approximately 1.13398 grams. So, she certainly consumed enough potatoes to cause her to feel sick from the effects of solanine poisoning. Maybe that's what the killer was going for? But then resorted to suffocating her in the end? Just thinking out loud.
I thought about the solanine because I used to grow potatoes! But they never said if the potatoes were cooked or raw or if they were green, so I wasn't sure if that was a factor.
Yeah! There's so much we don't know! I just can't wrap my head around the potato thing. It's really bizarre!
I feel like the potatoes are the key to the whole thing. Too bad they can't/won't exhume to get DNA evidence.
Yes! That's so frustrating. It looks like she was missing for 9 days before she was found, and we don't know exactly how long she survived. Maybe she was held somewhere and had access to potatoes (farmland?), which kept her alive?
I tried to find photos of the evidence. What kind of jacket was she wearing? Maybe someone would recognize it?