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