Found Deceased FL - Tammy Alexander, 16, Brooksville, 8 Nov 1979

[Roselvr]

1979 Caledonia NY Jane Doe Unidentified Teen - posted 2/28 4PM
Here is the original flier but with Tammy's photo where Cali's was. Thank you to Carl for adjusting the original VICAP flier but with Tammy's photo where Cali's was.

SEEKING INFORMATION! MURDER VICTIM
TAMMY JO ALEXANDER - Caledonia, New York - November 10, 1979

Date(s) of Birth Used: November 2, 1963
Place of Birth: Atlanta, Georgia
Height: 5'3"
Weight: 115 pounds
Hair: Brown with frosted tips
Eyes: Brown
Sex: Female
Race: White

Remarks: Alexander was wearing the following items when she was found: tan corduroy jeans, a multi-colored plaid cotton/polyester shirt, blue knee socks, brown rippled- sole shoes, and a red nylon-lined man's windbreaker with black stripes down the arms and a collar label reading "Auto Sports Products, Inc." She was wearing a silver necklace with three small turquoise stones, one resembling a bird. She also had with her a two-piece locket keychain with one piece in the shape of a heart with a key-shaped slot cut in it and an inscription reading "He who holds the key can open my heart" and the second piece being the key that fits into the slot in the heart.

DETAILS
On November 10, 1979, the body of an unidentified 16-year-old White female was located in a cornfield off of New York State Route 20 in Caledonia, New York. The girl had been murdered with a .38 caliber weapon. She had been shot once in the head, dragged into the cornfield from the road, and then shot again in the back.

On January 26, 2015, law enforcement officials in Livingston County, New York, announced that the female had been identifed, through the use of DNA, as Tammy Jo Alexander of Brookesville, Florida. Alexander had disappeared from her home in Florida in 1979. At the time, Alexander was known to run away from the area, sometimes hitchhiking with truckers, as she lived near a truck stop.
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact the FBI's Toll-Free Tipline at 1-800-CALL- FBI (1-800-225-5324), the Livingston County Sheriff's Office at 1-844-THE-LCSO (1-844-843-5276), your local FBI office, or the nearest American Embassy or Consulate.

Flier PDF

 

[Still_Seek_Answers]

I don't know if this info is relevant or not but I thought it was worth a mention. I read about Sedley Alley yesterday. He was a convicted and executioned murderer from Tennessee (at least in 1985) who drove a wood paneled station wagon and wore glasses. His crime was horrific. I can't find anymore info on the car as of yet.

Yes his crime was horrific. He did however sexually assault his victim with a foreign object. That is generally one aspect that serial killers are consistent in. He also killed by using blunt force trauma. While it is a good find, he does wear glasses and he drove the right kind of car, his MO is most likely way to far off for him to be Tammy's killer.

 

[CarlK90245]

WSB TV Atlanta is reporting that Tammy had a connection to Rainbow Ministries in Young Harris, Georgia. Livingston County Sheriff Tom Dougherty indicated that Tammy was known to be in Young Harris during the Spring of 1979.

The FBI is now saying that they believe that Tammy may have traveled from Florida to Caledonia with long-haul truckers.

http://www.wsbtv.com/videos/news/1979-cold-case-murder-has-atlanta-connections/vDGhtM/

That would seem to indicate that they are not putting much credence in the story about a wood-paneled station wagon.

 

[Needtoid]

Oh my gosh, Carl, your last post just reminded me of something I read a long time ago. Someone was looking for a missing girl who they thought joined a religious group and changed her name. For the life of me I can't remember her name. I'm going to dig and see if I can find that article. I wonder if there is any connection. I know it is a long shot.

 

[Needtoid]

After typing that, I figured I'd start a new post about her to see if anyone recognizes the story.

 

[CarlK90245]

Oh my gosh, Carl, your last post just reminded me of something I read a long time ago. Someone was looking for a missing girl who they thought joined a religious group and changed her name. For the life of me I can't remember her name. I'm going to dig and see if I can find that article. I wonder if there is any connection. I know it is a long shot.

Yes, that is Nancy Jason.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/j/jason_nancy.html

 

[four4rock]

WSB TV Atlanta is reporting that Tammy had a connection to Rainbow Ministries in Young Harris, Georgia. Livingston County Sheriff Tom Dougherty indicated that Tammy was known to be in Young Harris during the Spring of 1979.

The FBI is now saying that they believe that Tammy may have traveled from Florida to Caledonia with long-haul truckers.

http://www.wsbtv.com/videos/news/1979-cold-case-murder-has-atlanta-connections/vDGhtM/

That would seem to indicate that they are not putting much credence in the story about a wood-paneled station wagon.

Yeah. I saw that. But didn't have time to poke around right then. Interesting... to say the least. So, am I right to assume that the "Rainbow Ministries" referenced is actually "Rainbow Prison Ministry, Inc."?? If so, that operation had (coincidental?) ties to Tammy Jo Alexander's area of Florida -- Bushnell, Tampa, and Hernando... even Panama City. Maybe it is all (similar name, dates of operation, geographic overlaps, etc) just coincidence(?).

 

[Roselvr]

WSB TV Atlanta is reporting that Tammy had a connection to Rainbow Ministries in Young Harris, Georgia. Livingston County Sheriff Tom Dougherty indicated that Tammy was known to be in Young Harris during the Spring of 1979.

The FBI is now saying that they believe that Tammy may have traveled from Florida to Caledonia with long-haul truckers.

http://www.wsbtv.com/videos/news/1979-cold-case-murder-has-atlanta-connections/vDGhtM/

That would seem to indicate that they are not putting much credence in the story about a wood-paneled station wagon.

She may have traveled there with a trucker (which I do not believe); I think the wagon is involved.

 

[Needtoid]

Yes, that is Nancy Jason.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/j/jason_nancy.html

Carl, I worded it wrong. The girl in the link is not the same girl I am thinking of, but that is a very haunting and sad case. I would recognize her pic if I saw it, but I don't remember the story 100%. I'll try to elaborate. Some girl went missing as a small child, maybe ~4-10 yrs old. There were rumors that she just grew up and had changed her name after being abducted. And then when she was an adult, I think people recognized her but even she (the new identity) had gone missing. It was a bizarre case I read about back around 2005, and I haven't seen it since. It was likely a cold case from the 60's-80's. I believe the little girl had blonde hair.

 

[Alaric]

She may have traveled there with a trucker (which I do not believe); I think the wagon is involved.

I agree that the wagon and the guy at the diner are involved. I've lived in this area my whole life and know there is a strong connection between people in W. New York and Florida. A lot of my family has either vacationed there or has bought property there so they can live there in the winter. Surprisingly, there are also many people from Florida who have moved to this area of New York. If she did come up here with long haul truckers, I find it strange that she found someone so quickly that she felt comfortable enough with to go to dinner in Lima. That is unless she already knew someone up here. It's possible that the man she was seen with was someone who stayed down in Florida with family and met her there and she came up to visit him. I think by now the police would know if she had family of her own in New York by interviewing her sister. It's possible he was also a long haul trucker from this area who met her at the truck stop near where she lived. I definitely believe that the guy at the diner is a key to what happened to her.

 

[Roselvr]

I agree that the wagon and the guy at the diner are involved. I've lived in this area my whole life and know there is a strong connection between people in W. New York and Florida. A lot of my family has either vacationed there or has bought property there so they can live there in the winter. Surprisingly, there are also many people from Florida who have moved to this area of New York. If she did come up here with long haul truckers, I find it strange that she found someone so quickly that she felt comfortable enough with to go to dinner in Lima. That is unless she already knew someone up here. It's possible that the man she was seen with was someone who stayed down in Florida with family and met her there and she came up to visit him. I think by now the police would know if she had family of her own in New York by interviewing her sister. It's possible he was also a long haul trucker from this area who met her at the truck stop near where she lived. I definitely believe that the guy at the diner is a key to what happened to her.

I feel that while he may be a trucker; they came up in the wagon. That color wagon was not typical to your area from what locals have told my group.

 

[Still_Seek_Answers]

They have not given up on locating diner guy. They would very much like to speak to him. As for feeling comfortable with people, I am told that Tammy was very comfortable with people she had only just met. She had that type of friendly outgoing personality about her.

I still think the station-wagon is a red herring. Everybody acknowledges that the road was much busier in 1979 than it is now. Yet only one person has ever said they saw that car, and that person called in and said the car was there and a couple were arguing......but that person did not give their name, and in all these years, with all of the pleas for information, not once has anybody stepped up and admitted to being the person who made that call.

Plus, the description of that car has been out there since Tammy was first found, and nobody else who might have been driving along that stretch of road that night has came forward and said they saw the car, or the couple.

 

[Alaric]

They have not given up on locating diner guy. They would very much like to speak to him. As for feeling comfortable with people, I am told that Tammy was very comfortable with people she had only just met. She had that type of friendly outgoing personality about her.

I still think the station-wagon is a red herring. Everybody acknowledges that the road was much busier in 1979 than it is now. Yet only one person has ever said they saw that car, and that person called in and said the car was there and a couple were arguing......but that person did not give their name, and in all these years, with all of the pleas for information, not once has anybody stepped up and admitted to being the person who made that call.

Plus, the description of that car has been out there since Tammy was first found, and nobody else who might have been driving along that stretch of road that night has came forward and said they saw the car, or the couple.

A friend of mine walked by there at around 11:00 pm coming back to Caledonia from a dance at the Avon high school and said he didn't see anyone there or anything odd happening. He was walking down 5&20 and should have been able to see down that far considering it is a straight stretch of road. If the guy at the diner is from this area and didn't have anything to do with it you would figure that he would have come forward by now considering the extensive coverage of this lately in the local newspapers. Her picture has been prominently featured in all the articles.

 

[Still_Seek_Answers]

A friend of mine walked by there at around 11:00 pm coming back to Caledonia from a dance at the Avon high school and said he didn't see anyone there or anything odd happening. He was walking down 5&20 and should have been able to see down that far considering it is a straight stretch of road. If the guy at the diner is from this area and didn't have anything to do with it you would figure that he would have come forward by now considering the extensive coverage of this lately in the local newspapers. Her picture has been prominently featured in all the articles.

I am sure that you or your friend have contacted LCSO and told them about the car you referred to in an earlier post, and that he was walking along that road at 11 that night? I mean even if he saw nothing, that in itself they need to know.

 

[four4rock]

Some comments about the station wagon...

I'm going to accept (for the time being at least) that 'diner guy' is believed to have been driving a "tan station wagon with side paneling." It is cited in the Federal Bureau of Investigation's ViCAP flyer (see post #309 above).

I do not know of any credible publicly available information about the alleged roadside argument that may have with it associated a paneled station wagon. Though, if that occurred, it is - at the very least - a bizarre coincidence.

Relative to how common a tan station wagon with side paneling may have been in Western New York in 1979, I'm not sure that there is enough description upon which to have confidence. The description as offered could include a vast array of makes & models... from an AMC Pacer or Hornet to a Buick Electra - and many in between.

[As a side note - and not directly related to the station wagon, I have looked through the area newspapers (Geneseo, Nunda, Livingston, Mt Morris, Warsaw, Dansville, Leroy, Pavilion, Honeoye, Avon, Caledonia, etc, etc.) for the couple weeks following Nov 9th. I could find no report of a serious/fatal automobile accident in the area on 11/9 or 11/10. I'm not saying it didn't happen... just that I've yet to isolate it.]

Finally, and also not directly associated with the station wagon, I've seen a report from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (about which I know nothing) that "witnesses" relayed that there were two white female hitchhikers at the Rt5/20 split. Presumably witness account(s) included that one of the hitchhikers was wearing a red jacket. Anyone have any info about that?

 

[Alaric]

I am sure that you or your friend have contacted LCSO and told them about the car you referred to in an earlier post, and that he was walking along that road at 11 that night? I mean even if he saw nothing, that in itself they need to know.

It wasn't the same friend. The one who saw the car was hunting not far from Route 5. My other friend was walking back from a dance that took place that evening at the Avon school. I haven't talked to the LCSO because they don't have a reputation as being the friendliest cops. Perhaps that has changed over the years but I doubt it. Might explain why they haven't received many tips in the last thirty something years.

 

[Still_Seek_Answers]

It wasn't the same friend. The one who saw the car was hunting not far from Route 5. My other friend was walking back from a dance that took place that evening at the Avon school. I haven't talked to the LCSO because they don't have a reputation as being the friendliest cops. Perhaps that has changed over the years but I doubt it. Might explain why they haven't received many tips in the last thirty something years.

I have been communicating with the LCSO for a few years over this case. I have never known them to be anything but friendly and nice. So apparently someone gave you some bad information, or else they have changed a great deal. I do not know what you define as many, but they had followed up on over 10,000 tips before Tammy was even identified.

Personally, I think both of your friends need to give them a call. (1-800-CALL-FBI )If you use this number then you do not even have to speak to anyone at the LCSO, so that should remove any fear of reaching a not friendly cop. I'd not understand any reason to withhold information in the murder of a child.

 

[Roselvr]

It wasn't the same friend. The one who saw the car was hunting not far from Route 5. My other friend was walking back from a dance that took place that evening at the Avon school. I haven't talked to the LCSO because they don't have a reputation as being the friendliest cops. Perhaps that has changed over the years but I doubt it. Might explain why they haven't received many tips in the last thirty something years.

Here are the numbers in case you have a cell

FBI's Toll-Free Tipline at 1-800-CALL- FBI (1-800-225-5324)
The Livingston County Sheriff's Office at 1-844-THE-LCSO (1-844-843-5276)

 

[Still_Seek_Answers]

Annie,
Ok, this is what I have found after going through the entire original report. The station wagon seen in the area was parked roadside with no lights on and nobody around - no argument. It appears that the boys that were walking in the area were spoken to back in 79. They saw an El Camino that was driving fast in the area - still no argument. I find no write up regarding the people arguing roadside.

Investigator Bradley J. Schneider
Livingston County Sheriff's Office
Criminal Investigations Division
4 Court St
Geneseo, NY 14454

This does match the information given to me last year by Chief Deputy Burgess. When I asked him about the car, his reply was, I do not know what car you are referring to. No vehicle has ever been linked to Cali. When I asked about the couple arguing, he also said there was no report of a couple arguing along the side of the road that night.

We obtained the information about the couple arguing from a private individual, so maybe they got the dates confused? Or perhaps as many years as it has been, they simply got the exact details confused? There is nothing in any of the original reports about a couple being seen along that road that night.

 

[four4rock]

Thank you. That is what I thought. I could find no reliable reference about "the argument" or an accident that diverted patrols from responding to it. The only reference to the station wagon is related to 'diner guy' (again, on the ViCAP notice).

Still, 'diner guy' and a "tan station wagon with side paneling" seem to be important.

And, how about the jacket... I noticed that on the original Livingston County Sheriffs poster - published in the Avon Herald - for (then unidentified) Tammy Jo Alexander, the manufacturer was cited as "Auto Sports, Inc."... not "Auto Sports Products, Inc." Is there any guidance about which it actually is? And where the firm was located? Also, there are multiple references to the jacket having been untrackable because it had been a "promotion". What was the promotion? Seems odd that a "promotional" item would have no advertising whatsoever on it(?). But even if not plastered with ads, it had to be "promoting" something, right?