CA CA - Sherry Pickle, 15, Long Beach, 14 May 1972

[Richard]

Sherry Jean Pickle
Missing since May 14, 1972 from Long Beach, California.
Classification: Endangered Missing
The Doe Network: Case File 1099DFCA
Agency Case Number: 7206881
NCIC Number: M-291278972

Vital Statistics
Date Of Birth: September 14, 1956
Age at Time of Disappearance: 16 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: : 5'4" (163 cm); 110 lbs (50 kg)
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian. Light brown hair; hazel eyes. She has freckles.
Marks, Scars: She has a scar on her right foot and a fractured ankle, it is unknown which ankle.
Dentals: Not available
AKA: Sonny Pickle

Circumstances of Disappearance
Pickle was last seen on May 14, 1972 in Long Beach, CA. She may have traveled to meet a male companion or hitch hiked to the Los Angeles, California area. It is feared she may be a homicide victim.

West Covina Police Department
626-814-8540

Source Information:
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
California Department of Justice

Link
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1099dfca.html

 

[kylie]

I saw this case on the Doe Network. I live in Long Beach so this haunts me a little. Whenever I look at her face or Robin Ann Graham's face, I feel like I've entered a time warp. They both have such a late 60's early 70's feel to them. it just gives me shivers. It's like we' ve left them behind and the world has gone on without them Who knows what they would have done with their lives if they were still alive. And I'm sure someone somewhere knows what happened or has information. I wish they would just ocme forward.

 

[carolina]

richard,

i was wondering if you had any additional information on this case. why do police fear she is a homicide victim rather than classifying her as a runaway?

 

[Richard]

I do not have much information on Sherry other than what I have posted here. Because this case is over 30 years old, it predates the internet and also predates nationwide coverage of this kind of story. Kylie, you would be in an excellent position (being in the LA area) to come up with some more information on this case. One of the best sources of information is microfilm files of local newspapers. Usually there is a central library for an area which has such files, and they also have printed indices for them. By going through back copies of the paper you can get a lot of information on these old cases.

 

[kylie]

Thanks Richard

 

[Richard]

It has been a year since anyone has posted on this case. I thought that I would bump it up to see if anyone might know anything further about it. Sherry was 16 when she disappeared back in 1972.

Does anyone see any similarities between her case and other missing girls? How about any possible Jane Doe Links?

 

[Richard]

I know that there is not much information posted, regarding this case, but does anyone have more information, or any ideas?

 

[kylie]

Richard. I feel so guilty for not having done any research...but the Long Beach Public Library and Cal State Long Beach have extensive microfiche collections. I will check them out next week.....

 

[HeartofTexas]

Richard, I read recently that there are over 1,200 unidentified bodies in California (possibly in Los Angeles... sorry that my memory isn't any clearer). With all of the work you do on Cold Cases, do you know of any way to access the database for their unidentified? They feature a new person every month or so, but it will take a long time to run thru all 1,200 of them at that rate.

The Rose Cole case is somewhat similar... she, too, was 16 and disappeared in late 72 or early 73 after running away from Synanon. She's never been heard from again. We're going thru the Jane Doe's to see if there's anyone that matches and have one hopeful one in Marin County. These kids that disappeared before there was nationwide coverage and before there were missing kids organizations just slipped right thru the cracks.

 

[Richard]

Richard, I read recently that there are over 1,200 unidentified bodies in California (possibly in Los Angeles... sorry that my memory isn't any clearer). With all of the work you do on Cold Cases, do you know of any way to access the database for their unidentified? They feature a new person every month or so, but it will take a long time to run thru all 1,200 of them at that rate.

The Rose Cole case is somewhat similar... she, too, was 16 and disappeared in late 72 or early 73 after running away from Synanon. She's never been heard from again. We're going thru the Jane Doe's to see if there's anyone that matches and have one hopeful one in Marin County. These kids that disappeared before there was nationwide coverage and before there were missing kids organizations just slipped right thru the cracks.

You sum up the problem very well. What you see on Doenetwork, Charley, NCMEC, and so many others is really only the tip of the iceberg. There are many more missing who remain unreported at different levels. And there are many John and Jane Does long buried and forgotten. Trying to match John/Jane Does to Missing Persons is a very admirable thing, and there have been some great sucesses. But it is frustrating that you have only a fraction of each category to work with when trying to make those matches.

California probably has the largest number of Missing/Doe cases of all the states, and they are very proactive in profiling their cases. I do not know exactly how many cases they have - but just for the sake of arguement, count the number of California cases are posted on the Doenetwork (you can do a search of cases by state) and compare that to the figure you mention of 1,200. You will see a large disparity between them.

You might also notice that the further back you go in time, the fewer cases are profiled. This is partly due to the personal computer and on line reporting. New cases appear very quickly on a website, but older cases from the mid 1980's back have to be researched in microfilm archives of local papers, then entered into the system.

 

[HeartofTexas]

Thanks for your comments, Richard.

Unfortunately, my memory didn't serve me too well! The actual number is 2,688 unidentified bodies in California:

More than 2,500 bodies — the victims of violent crime and suspicious circumstance — remain nameless entities in California, according to the state's Department of Justice. Some of the cases date back to the 1960s.

California boasts the grim distinction of having the highest number of unidentified bodies — 2,688 — in the nation, according to officials. Texas ranks a distant second with 587 anonymous remains.

The above stats are from an April, 2006 newspaper article.

http://www.insidebayarea.com/localnews/ci_3693147

 

[Richard]

In two months it will be the 35th anniversary of Sherry Jean Pickle's disappearance. If anyone can get some facts together for the news media, perhaps a reporter will take notice and write a good anniversary article. Somebody knows what happened to her. Perhaps renewed press interest will bring out more information.

 

[Gina_M]

I live in the L.A. area and have been planning to go to the library to research another old local case (Dorothy Jane Scott, missing since May 27, 1980 from Orange, CA) - hopefully I can look into Sherry's case too. It bugs me that we hardly know anything about the circumstances surrounding her disappearance. Did she run away? Did she tell her parents she was going to a friend's house? Why do they think she "may have traveled to meet a male companion or hitch hiked to the Los Angeles, California area"?

Updated links:
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1099dfca.html

http://dojapp.doj.ca.gov/missing/detail.asp?FCN=3078807630482

http://charleyproject.org/cases/p/pickle_sherry.html


ETA: I noticed that the investigating agency is the West Covina PD...I'm assuming she lived in West Covina (maybe her parents still live there?) West Covina is a good half hour drive from Long Beach (without traffic). I wonder why she was in Long Beach - hanging out with friends maybe? Hopefully I can get over to either West Covina or Long Beach and check out the library. West Covina is probably a bit closer for me, so maybe I'll check that one first.

 

[Gina_M]

Okay, I checked out the website for the West Covina Library...it's part of a network of the Los Angeles County libraries, so hopefully they will have a lot of stuff. I plan to go today and check it out.

Kylie, are you still around? Did you ever check out a library in Long Beach?

 

[Marilynilpa]

Unfortunately, in the '70's there were a lot of runaways, and lots of hitchhikers. Many teenagers of that time (myself included) thought California was THE place to hang out. That could account for some of the unidentified bodies - it seems like runaways and hitchhikers back then would have been easy targets, many would have been naive to the dangers they put themselves in.

Also in the '70's, there were unfortunately a lot of drug-related deaths. If a runaway died in that manner and no one had any idea of where this person was from, the body would remained a Jane/John Doe.

Sherry Pickle's physical description seems to be that favored by killers - just 5'4 and 110 pounds, an easy mark for a larger, stronger male.

So many missing and so many unidentified - if only there were an easy way to match them up!

 

[KarlK]

The Rose Cole case is somewhat similar... she, too, was 16 and disappeared in late 72 or early 73 after running away from Synanon.

Based on what I know about Synanon I'd say one would have good reasons to run away from such abuse and good reasons for not trusting their family who enrolled them in the program in the first place, even if they (the family) meant well, considering that she wrote after her escape but did not seem to be interested in seeing them again. In this case I'd say Rose had a very strong incentive to change her name and vanish on purpose , perhaps with the help of other former Synanon detainees. I believe her case is quite different from Pickle's in the sense that there are good chances that Rose is still alive.

 

[KarlK]

Sherry Pickle's physical description seems to be that favored by killers - just 5'4 and 110 pounds, an easy mark for a larger, stronger male.

Which makes me wonder why they age-progressed her as a heavyset woman (judging from the thickness of her neck) with wide facial features bearing so little resemblance to the pretty, high-cheekboned teenager on the photo?

 

[Marilynilpa]

Which makes me wonder why they age-progressed her as a heavyset woman (judging from the thickness of her neck) with wide facial features bearing so little resemblance to the pretty, high-cheekboned teenager on the photo?

I wondered that too. When doing age progressions, are family traits taken into consideration? Just wondering if her mother/father were heavyset, and this was factored into the age progression.

 

[smile22]

they might i know some people who are heavy set and all of the children were all normal size children. unless sherry had siblings who were heavyset or it ran in the family. one of the cases i am working on everytime i see her face in posters online or such in research its like errie its like you can feel that she is gone and her face is like asking you to help find out what happend to her . in the 70s alot of kidnapings happend

 

[Gina_M]

I did obtain a Los Angeles County Library card recently, and I plan to go back and go through their newspaper archives to look for more information about Sherry. I already looked through their online archives and didn't find anything, but they may have something on microfilm at the actual library.