TN TN - Glenda Sirmans, 13, Farragut, 29 Nov 1969

[Lillianlaw]

Her body was discovered off Lakeland Rd near the intersection of Beals Chapel Rd in Loudon County. I lived only a few miles from there.

 

[J Stanfield-Myers]

I may have some information that may help here. I am the son of the pastor of the Presbyterian church at the time that Glenda was murdered. My father is now deceased, but spoke about this case with me as I was growing up. It bothered him. I think he went with Glenda's father to identify the body. It crushed him. My mother was Glenda's Sunday School teacher. She said that she found Christ the summer before her murder. She too was affected. Our house was probably near the place that Glenda disappeared (I think it was on virtue road--it may have been a parsonage). I was a baby, born in 1969. However, I had my mother pull my fathers records to see if either Freeman or Sodka was listed as a deacon of the church or in the membership of the church. I haven't read through all of your posts, but intend to when I can. If I find out anything helpful, I will let you know. I would love to see some resolution to this case and am willing to help anyway that I can.

 

[My3LilKittens]

I may have some information that may help here. I am the son of the pastor of the Presbyterian church at the time that Glenda was murdered. My father is now deceased, but spoke about this case with me as I was growing up. It bothered him. I think he went with Glenda's father to identify the body. It crushed him. My mother was Glenda's Sunday School teacher. She said that she found Christ the summer before her murder. She too was affected. Our house was probably near the place that Glenda disappeared (I think it was on virtue road--it may have been a parsonage). I was a baby, born in 1969. However, I had my mother pull my fathers records to see if either Freeman or Sodka was listed as a deacon of the church or in the membership of the church. I haven't read through all of your posts, but intend to when I can. If I find out anything helpful, I will let you know. I would love to see some resolution to this case and am willing to help anyway that I can.

It would be fabulous to see if something comes from this!!!!!!!!

 

[J Stanfield-Myers]

I have the church records from early 1969. I was not born yet when this yearly publication was printed and my birthday is april 1969. So this happened in the early part of 1969. No mention of Sotka or freeman, however, if he had been in trouble--he might have used a different name. I did notice that Sirmans was listed on the back page in my dads handwriting, which means it was an addition after he had typed everything. My father was meticulous with church records. Not sure if that is the same Sirmans, but I would assume so. I am not sure how to attach a zip file--could share with anyone that would like to have it. I am new on here, but am still figuring out how to navigate it. I could private message it with an email address.

 

[J Stanfield-Myers]

I left out a few pages that were about the church calendar.

 

[J Stanfield-Myers]

Thanks for your help in uploading these

 

[J Stanfield-Myers]

This is the last one

 

[killarney rose]

I'm curious as to where the church would be located today. I know Virtue road turn off of Kingston Pike and make lots of twists and turns. Further back it goes under a train track? Would the church be back there?

 

[ruger_rhys]

The 1977 prison escape also coincidentally lines up with the Oklahoma girl scout murders. Very strange

 

[bhdavery]

The 1977 prison escape also coincidentally lines up with the Oklahoma girl scout murders. Very strange

Which prison escape are you referring to? The Brushy Mountain James Earl Ray escape? Was Sotka/Freeman part of that escape?

 

[Luckyzmom]

Rare to see this odd possible connection mentioned. Quite a bit of info on both cases. It is creepy . These young gals deserved to grow up and have a happy life. Thanks to all that help share their stories. Evil does live among us :'(

 

[DCaswell]

I want to thank ya'll for letting me share my thoughts in this venue. For 35 years, I have never said anything to anybody about this. My wife has no idea that I have submitted these comments. I know that she thinks about Glenda daily, but we have only spoken about it twice. My wife and I met while we were both working at Sears West Town Mall. I had no idea that she was related to the girl that I knew had been murdered. I just knew that she was the most beautiful girl that I had ever seen. It wasn't until six months later that she told me about her relationship to Glenda. Again, thank you for letting me get this off of my chest.

 

[DCaswell]

I just want to say that I am very sorry for your wife's loss of her sister, Glenda. I was living on Boyd Station Road on the Whistler place at the time of Glenda's death. (Shirley and Carlene Farrar lived on the same farm in another home.) In fact, Glenda was going to come to my house to play the weekend that she disappear. We both rode the school bus to school at Farragut School and I was in the 6th grade there. I have always suspected some of the males in that area that made me feel uneasy to be around. I don't know if your wife remembers the Beeler family? They lived just south of the Price farm and the house faced the road running east and west. (The Price family raised and trained prancing quarter horses and had a large red barn.) There was a father in the Beeler family that we never saw, but his son was very terrified of him. That son, also had mental issues and exhibited some real anger issues at times on the bus. There was also another man named Joe that lived just west of the Beelers, on the south side of the road. He was in high school but was a leather jacket wearing biker-type, he seemed to me to be older than the average high schooler, like maybe he had not passed a few grades when he was younger? We moved from the area the following June, after Glenda's death.

 

[DCaswell]

Haven’t yet confirm an address for Glenda living on Virtue Road, that she was going to a friend’s house on Evans Road when she was abducted, and exactly where she was found two weeks later.

Finding a few details on where she was discovered (WARNING: some details GRAPHIC) thus far in the Nashville newspapers:

“The girl’s badly mutilated body was shortly after noon Sunday on a wooded Hillside [sic]…”
“…officers thought the girl’s killer had carried the body about 100 yards from Lakeland Road along the ridge of the hill to the spot where it was found.”
A dog carried a shoe (with Glenda’s foot still inside) “to a house about 200 yards from where the girl was found.”
“The area in which the body was found is thinly populated with a scattering of houses and barns.
“Miss Barbara McGimsey, the owner of the dog, said the road [Lakeland Road] into the area was often used as a ‘lovers’ lane’ and cars are parked on it….
“Officers said the girl’s fingernails were badly broken, indicating she struggled with her assailant.”
Search Ends as Knox Girl Found Slain, The Nashville Banner, December 15, 1969

Her body was discovered “about 100 yards off Lakeland Road in Loudon County as officers responded to a report that a dog had returned to a nearby home earlier in the day carrying a shoe with a foot in it.”
"... it was believed they [dogs] had dragged the body about 50 feet from where it was left."
“The body was discovered about 1:15 p.m.”
“…rescue squad members from Loudon and Knox County and several other areas joined in the search near Ft. Loudon lake….”
Body of Missing Knox Girl Found in Loudon, The Tennessean, December 15, 1969

“Metro [Nashville] police said last night there is ‘little probability’ of connection between the sex slaying of 12 year old Kathy Jones here and the murder in Knoxville of Glenda Marie Sirmans, 13.”
“Glenda Sirmans reportedly left home ‘about 3:30 p.m.’ on a way to a friend’s house to study. She did not complete the 20-minute walk.
“Kathy Jones left home about 7:45 p.m. for a 20-minute walk to a Thompson Lane skating rink. She never got there, either.”
“’There are many similarities in the two cases,’ said [a] Nashville officer,’ but they are coincidences.’”
No Likely Link in 2 Murders, The Tennessean, December 15, 1969

“The preliminary autopsy report established that Glenda died of a slash wound across the throat, Waggoner said, and that she had not been molested sexually.
“’This is one of the most baffling cases I’ve run across in 40 years as an officer,’ said [Sheriff Bernard] Waggoner, who served more than 30 years with the Knoxville Police Department before his election as sheriff.”
Knox Officers Check Rumors in Girl Slaying, The Tennessean, December 17, 1969

This whole story on Glenda just rips at my heart. I am now 64 years old and it still hasn't gotten any easier. I lived on Boyd Station Road, Concord, Tn. when Glenda went missing. We rode the school bus together and went to Farragut School. I was a sixth grader that school year. It just literally makes me sick to think about her death at such a young age and probably for no real reason except some clown wanting to get his kick out of overpowering a young girl that had no chance of fighting back and defending herself. What a d**n coward! Ok, I have said my piece and hopefully it will make me feel better to know that I am speaking up for her. She did not deserve what happened to her in any way, shape, nor form.

 

[Mrs. Marple]

Thank you so much, boathaul! It's a shame that Glenda's murder received so little attention in the media. I've searched and searched, and was only able to find a few small reports in archived newspapers from the time her body was found. After December 14-15, 1969, there's nothing. (I believe she's mentioned in one of the more recent articles from Nashville.)

Slayings of two young girls on the same day in nearby towns, at a time when such occurrences were very uncommon, naturally had me wondering if they were killed by the same person. I couldn't understand why the police in Nashville, when talking about Kathy Jones, seemed to overlook a possible connection to Glenda. It makes sense now, because apparently there was a strong local suspect in each case. Yet, sadly, lack of evidence has left both murders unsolved.

I'm sorry her father died without answers. I feel better, though, knowing Glenda had a family who didn't forget her.

Out of curiosity, do you remember anything about the man? I don't mean specific information -- nothing that would identify him -- but his age range, occupation, and whether he was married and had children. What kind of person he was, in general. Thanks in advance if you can answer.

This case has haunted me all my life. I was 8 years old when Glenda was murdered. She was my sister's age. We lived very close to where her body was found, and as I remember, it was a teacher whose dog found the foot bone. I wonder who's house she was walking to.

 

[CastlesBurning]

Bumping for Glenda...