Doreen C. Picard was born on October 22, 1959 to Ronald and Simone Picard in Massachusetts. Doreen was the oldest of four children of the Picards.
Her younger sister Catherine Sawicki later described Doreen as a “selfless, […] strong-willed, and confident” person.
She was homecoming queen at her high school and was preparing for a career in childhood development before she was murdered.
In 1982, she was 22 years old and lived in Woonsocket, Rhode Island.