Identified! TX - Pecos, WhtFem, 17-20, UP13480, in motel swimming pool Jul'66 - Jolaine Hemmy

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Moonwalker9

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One of the oddest cases I read of in a while...the man couldn't ID her? Did he kill her, who was he?

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Recognizable face, no photo

Case Numbers
NCMEC Number--
ME/C Case NumberUnknown
Demographics
SexFemale
Race / EthnicityWhite / Caucasian
Possible First Name--
Possible Middle Name--
Possible Last Name--
Possible Nickname--
Estimated Age GroupAdult - Pre 20
Estimated Age Range (Years)17-20
Estimated Year of Death--
Estimated PMIMinutes
Height5' 4"(64 inches) , Measured
Weight130 lbs, Measured
Circumstances
TypeUnidentified Deceased
Date FoundJuly 5, 1966
NamUs Case CreatedJanuary 31, 2015
ME/C QA Reviewed--
Location Found Map
General Location--Pecos, Texas
CountyReeves County
GPS Coordinates--
Circumstances of RecoveryOn July 17, 1966, this female checked in to the Roper Motel in Pecos with an unidentified male. They were seen swimming together. Around 5:30 p.m. she was heard to scream and people rushed to the pool. She was pulled out, and attempts were made to save her life with no success. Her companion, meanwhile, checked out and left the motel. Her body lies in an unmarked grave in the Pecos Cemetery.
Details of Recovery


Inventory of RemainsAll parts recovered
Condition of RemainsRecognizable face
Circumstance Notes
Police | Pecos, TX

Physical Description
Hair ColorBrown
Head Hair DescriptionLong
Body Hair Description--
Facial Hair Description--
Left Eye ColorBrown
Right Eye ColorBrown
Eye Description--
Distinctive Physical Features
Item
Description
Scar/mark
4 inch burn scar on her right rib cage three inch scar on her left leg


Clothing and Accessories
Item
Description
Clothing
Wearing a bright red bathing suit
On the Body

Clothing
Also had been wearing dark shorts and a flowered blouse
Near the Body
 
Unsolved Mysteries and Scary Stuff: Bizarre Tales of the Missing and Murdered Vol. 10

Pecos Jane Doe
On July 5th of 1966 a couple who identified themselves as “Mr. and Mrs. Russell Battoun” checked into the Roper Motel in Pecos, Texas. About three hours later, the man laid down in their room to take a nap, while the girl decided to go swimming in the motel’s pool. Sometime in the next hour, the woman was heard screaming and a motel maid and another motel patron rushed to the pool side where they discovered the woman submerged under water. A teenage girl pulled the woman out and attempted CPR. An ambulance was called and the woman’s male companion was alerted to the situation. The woman was taken away to a local hospital but was pronounced dead on the trip there. Meanwhile her male counterpart went to the front desk and asked for the couple’s registration card back, in order to use at the hospital as identification. He then climbed into a late model Sedan and drove away. He never went to the hospital and was never seen again. The identity of both he and the dead girl were a mystery.

The girl was between 17 and 20 years old, with olive skin, dark hair and dark eyes. She had a burn scar on her rib cage and a scar on her leg. Her teeth were perfect, so a dental record search was determined to be fruitless. Her fingerprints were not in the FBI database and her clothes were unremarkable. The authorities best bet was for a family of a missing child to come and claim her as their own. Several families tried to do just that but the girl remained unidentified.

The name “Russell Battoun” was later found to match that of an active U.S. Marine who was stationed in North Carolina before serving in Vietnam but no link could be established between him and the unknown couple. The Jane Doe was buried in an unmarked Pecos grave in a casket paid for by the funeral director.
 
It sounds to me like maybe he was a married man having an affair with this unknown woman, and he drove off so his wife didn't find out? It's the only explanation I can think of as to why he would drive off and not tell anyone who she was or who he was. He doesn't seem to have been involved in her death after all. MOO.
 
Did somebody see any rule outs for this girl. Strange and sad there is no sketch/pm photo available. This is a quote from a newspaper, so there must have been photo's.

"WITH THE HELP of the Texas Dept. of Public Safety, Reeves County Sheriff A. B. Nail circulated pictures of the body through all 50 states, Canada and Mexico. If anybody recognized her, he has not come forward".

July 5, 1966 Pecos Texas Jane Doe - Newspapers.com

I'm not sure if it's allowed to post this link, sorry upfront if not. Here you can find all kind of paper articles about the case. From the newspapers
 
Last edited:
Marzipanda,

I think you're spot on.

Most likely scenario was that he was a married man, and she was someone possibly a bit younger he didn't want anyone to find out he was having an affair with. I think the man came from a upper middle class family and the woman was possibly somebody who worked for his family, perhaps a maid. It's possible she was Mexican. She was dark haired with olive skin afterall. When she drowned the man panicked and fled the scene. If she was Mexican, or originally from another state working in Texas it's possible that she was somehow enstrangled from her family and it was easy to explain why she "dissapeared". She had left for Mexico, or she was doing well in America and lost touch with her family.

Pecos, TX has a population of 8700 today, back then it was 12.700 and it had increased alot since the 50's. It appeares it had a minor industry that closes in the 90's which explains the population decline.

Pecos is between Forth Worth/Dallas and El Paso. My guess is that they came from the aforementioned area and that they chose Pecos because it was small and they didn't want to be recognized. Without DNA or even a photo it's gonna be hard to solve this one, I believe alot of witnesses and people that knew her are dead by now.
 
Just something scintillating about a teenage girl's unsolved death in a motel pool in west Texas, where July highs frequently break a hundred degrees, in that summer of 1966, Vietnam ablaze, the Summer of Love yet to arrive, and, on the radio, such misogynistic anthems of paranoia and despair as Paint It Black, Dirty Water, and the Syndicate of Sound's Little Girl.
 
Is it believed that the young woman drowned accidentally? Her male companion, napping alone, has no alibi, but it seems like the woman's rescuers found her alone and didn't see anyone fleeing. The man also had to be "alerted to the situation," which sounds like he wasn't close by.

I agree with the "affair" theory, and I think there has to be a connection to "Russell Battoun." I don't think he was actually responsible, but I doubt that's an alias anyone would come up with on the spot.

Russell was stationed in North Carolina, so maybe it was someone he was stationed with, that lived in Texas or was visiting family/friends there? Or, if Russell was from that area, maybe it was an old schoolmate that simply used his name as a cover? It doesn't have to be someone Russell knew well. I'm sure most of us remember the names of old classmates even if we didn't interact with them much then, or never saw them again after school ended.
 
JSolt1210 said:
Is it believed that the young woman drowned accidentally? Her male companion, napping alone, has no alibi, but it seems like the woman's rescuers found her alone and didn't see anyone fleeing. The man also had to be "alerted to the situation," which sounds like he wasn't close by.

I agree with the "affair" theory, and I think there has to be a connection to "Russell Battoun." I don't think he was actually responsible, but I doubt that's an alias anyone would come up with on the spot.

Russell was stationed in North Carolina, so maybe it was someone he was stationed with, that lived in Texas or was visiting family/friends there? Or, if Russell was from that area, maybe it was an old schoolmate that simply used his name as a cover? It doesn't have to be someone Russell knew well. I'm sure most of us remember the names of old classmates even if we didn't interact with them much then, or never saw them again after school ended.
Click to expand...

Looking from "the outside in" meaning I'm from Europe looking at the American way...it's seems like people can use aliases, false names, other identities etc. especially in those day's. I couldn't even get my own son out of the country on a holiday without being questioned...he having a different surname then me. In one way good of course....
 
Recon added
Original
 
Everything is just a bit off (age, height, timing, eye color, mentions discoloration on arm but no scar on chest) but the recon vaguely reminds me of Mary Little, who's last two credit card transactions were in her hometown of Charlotte NC and then in Raleigh NC and at least one of the receipts had appeared to match her signature... Officers at the time of her disappearance suspected the scene in her car back in Atlanta had been staged...
 
Was there a post mortem photo or any other sketches of this girl released ? There was a girl by the name of Carol Frances Norton that went missing in 1965 from California. She was married to a criminal called Harvey Arnold Norton. His car was found in Texas with blood and hair in it, but they don't state if it was hers, could have belonged to someone else. They appear to have lived a Bonny-n-Clyde-esque lifestyle. It says he was in Texas around those years and served time in federal prison, but I cant find specifics on the dates.
Carol Frances Norton – The Charley Project
 
Nate_Bro said:
Was there a post mortem photo or any other sketches of this girl released ? There was a girl by the name of Carol Frances Norton that went missing in 1965 from California. She was married to a criminal called Harvey Arnold Norton. His car was found in Texas with blood and hair in it, but they don't state if it was hers, could have belonged to someone else. They appear to have lived a Bonny-n-Clyde-esque lifestyle. It says he was in Texas around those years and served time in federal prison, but I cant find specifics on the dates.
Carol Frances Norton – The Charley Project
Click to expand...
I don't think Carol can be Pecos Jane Doe...her skin was* white not olive

* I said "was" because there's any chance this woman is still alive...I bet she was killed in 1965
 
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