Identified! Canada - Casselman, Ont, 'Nation River Lady' WhtFem 239UFON, 25-50, May'75 *POI charged* - Jewell Parchman Langford

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Wow! She was top on my list for identification. Kudos to all the organizations who worked together to identify Jewell and follow the trail of her suspected murderer.

It's unusual that Nichols is still in the US. If he's a snowbird wintering in Florida he'd be back in Canada by now unless he changed his residency to the US. Either that or he's being detained by the Feds until extradition is done.

I feel for her mother. Terrible to never know what happened to your child. Do we know whether Jewell was still married at the time of her disappearance? She never had children so right there, people who might have still been searching for her, would be eliminated

I can't believe she was so much older than originally thought.

Rest in Peace, Jewell.
 
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I think it is all because of the different jurisdictions, the extradition is not an easy process, he now lives in Florida, U.S., but he is charged in Canada so it can take time.

Yes, unfortunately, the process is so slow, that there is just a remote possibility that he will ever face sentencing. It's maddening to believe that he will likely get away with this horrific crime.
 
I know the area well. Even today, on the 417 highway, there is very little between Montreal and Ottawa. I would like to think that one of the first calls the OPP would have made was to the Missing Persons unit in Montreal (and the Ottawa police forces as well).

The news today is very welcome, but I really think this connection could have been made long long ago.
 
'Jul 4, 2023
According to information obtained by Radio-Canada, the victim in one of Canada's best-known cold cases has been identified as Jewell Parchman Langford, a longtime resident of Tennessee who was 48 at the time of her death in 1975.'
 
So a woman is reported missing in Montreal in late April 1975, then a woman's remains are found a 1.5 hour drive west of Montreal in early May 1975, and no link was made for 47 years???? This is baffling. I've been following the Nation River Lady case for years. Police were fixated on a man's tie she was bound with (as in where it may have been purchased) as well as her "unique" dental work, which until recently, was believed could only have been done in Europe. Just a few years ago dental experts chimed in and said there was nothing remarkable about the dental work, and it was entirely consistent with dental work done in North America during the 1970s. It goes to show how red herrings can completely derail a case. If only they had tried to match her up with known missing women from that time and that region from the start. This could have been solved years ago, if not decades ago.
 
So a woman is reported missing in Montreal in late April 1975, then a woman's remains are found a 1.5 hour drive west of Montreal in early May 1975, and no link was made for 47 years???? This is baffling. I've been following the Nation River Lady case for years. Police were fixated on a man's tie she was bound with (as in where it may have been purchased) as well as her "unique" dental work, which until recently, was believed could only have been done in Europe. Just a few years ago dental experts chimed in and said there was nothing remarkable about the dental work, and it was entirely consistent with dental work done in North America during the 1970s. It goes to show how red herrings can completely derail a case. If only they had tried to match her up with known missing women from that time and that region from the start. This could have been solved years ago, if not decades ago.

JMO, since Jewell was a US citizen, LE probably assumed she had returned to the US. In 1975, there were no cell phones, social media, internet, email, etc. LE may not have known who to contact in the US who could verify whether she returned there.
 
Wonder what happened to Jewell Langford's husband, Atlas Langford. She disappeared a month after the business was sold, did he also disappear? Feel like if that was the case it would also be mentioned in the article...?
He was born in 1929 and was still alive around 2008 (at least according to the sources on familysearch.com). I didn't find any obituaries for him or other info suggesting that he might have passed away. If alive, he would turn 94 in November of this year so it's not impossible that he's still living.
 
Interesting article which contains Jewell’s niece interview on the Jackson post website.


Canada’s ‘Nation River Lady’ identified as Jackson’s Jewell Parchman Langford​

By
Julia Ewoldt
-
July 4, 2023




The subject of one of Canada’s most famous cold case murders has finally been identified– 48 years after her body was discovered in the Nation River. A Florida man has now been charged in her murder.

The “Nation River Lady” has been identified as Jewell Parchman Langford, a well-known business woman and community member who went missing in 1975.
 
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Did she live in Canada or in Tennessee? She went on a business trip alone, and never came back? Do we know anything about her husband Atlas, or this Rodny suspect?
Jewell lived in Jackson, Tennessee. She went to Canada on a solo trip, maybe she knew someone there (her killer?). The only "new" thing I saw about Jewell's husband is that they married in 1953 and divorced in the early 1970s. I guess it must have been sometime between 1972 and April 1975. Oh, and they also had no children.
 
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