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

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HP@82 said:
No, I realize you are not judging Tammy, but assuming that they Lie that she was never reported missing is true is the problem! See in 1979 and years before and after not every police department followed up on runaways... Their reports got shoved in some file somewhere and purged... To leave no record of a missing persons report! Now her mother wasn't great, but her family did report her missing! So again don't believe all the garbage you read!
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Oh I misunderstood! Thank you for clarifying
 
Remembering Tammy Jo Alexander
http://www.13wham.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/remembering-tammy-jo-alexander-19618.shtml
For 35 years she was known only as "Livingston County Jane Doe" or "Cali" for Caledonia, where she was found murdered in a cornfield in 1979.
She was buried in Greenmount Cemetery in Dansville.
"Lest we forget the unidentified girl" her headstone reads, but soon her name will be included on that stone.
Livingston County Sheriff Tom Dougherty said his brother Mike, who is a former deputy and now a funeral director for their family business, has offered to get a headstone with Tammy Jo Alexander's name on it.
To investigators, this case was personal and one they worked for decades to solve the mystery and identify this young teen. That break came last week.
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Livingston County Coroner Rob Waltman said there are people in Dansville who care for the gravesite and put flowers there. He said this has been Tammy Jo's home for 35 years and hopes she will stay here.
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more at link.
 
Dude! You're getting a lot of good publicity for yourself and the people here. :hug: You :rock: http://www.democratandchronicle.com...ander-cali-missing-person-caledonia/22420611/

...Koppelman, a certified public accountant who lives in El Segundo, California, saw the photograph in September, and quickly recognized it as a near match for the girl found dead in 1979. An autopsy photo had been released in 1979, as well as other reconstruction photos since.

"I said, 'That's her, that's Cali,' " Koppelman, 52, said about the moment he saw Alexander's photograph. "... You're surprised to be seeing somebody you're used to seeing dead, and all of a sudden you see them there with a big smile on their face.

"It's really a shock to see them alive," he said in a telephone interview....
 
Steely Dan said:
Dude! You're getting a lot of good publicity for yourself and the people here. :hug: You :rock: http://www.democratandchronicle.com...ander-cali-missing-person-caledonia/22420611/

...Koppelman, a certified public accountant who lives in El Segundo, California, saw the photograph in September, and quickly recognized it as a near match for the girl found dead in 1979. An autopsy photo had been released in 1979, as well as other reconstruction photos since.

"I said, 'That's her, that's Cali,' " Koppelman, 52, said about the moment he saw Alexander's photograph. "... You're surprised to be seeing somebody you're used to seeing dead, and all of a sudden you see them there with a big smile on their face.

"It's really a shock to see them alive," he said in a telephone interview....
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Nice pic!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
HP@82 said:
To those of you that get it... Thank you for caring about Tammy and her sister and our family! Thank you for looking when others would not. Thank you for understanding that life is not just cut and dry. I am happy that your beloved Cali has a name... I am glad that my family has closure... Though I wish all the times I looked for Tammy Jo Alexander, one of them would have come up with her beautiful face having a happy ending! This has brought on a lot of hurt and pain, because sadly people that don't know... Pass judgment and say hurtful things! That's ok though, because a child murdered so many years ago, gets a name, and a case, gets a little more information to the puzzle... I pray they keep finding answers! I pray that the people still looking for their loved ones, get their answers too... I pray that it's with less judgment!

Because YOU JUST NEVER KNOW!
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:hug:
 
I am amazed at the work that goes on behind the scenes here. I love this site. I have been coming here for around 5 or 6 years. Maybe more. This is one of the cases that has haunted me. This poor girl was so sweet looking. I never really took her for even a runaway. I figured she just hitched a ride somewhere. She did not deserve this. My sincere prayer is that we can find out who did this to her.
 
I wish I had known about websleuths prior to 2012. I would have possibly seen the info related to my brother's case. Robert Daniel Corriveau (Bobby Dan). Carl thank you for all you did in working to having him ID'D Virginia Cleary
 
Oh my. Just this morning, I was firmly telling myself that I wasn't going to get sucked into another Websleuth's case, and then I saw this lovely girl's face on the front page of the newspaper, and instantly identified with her -- just 3 years apart from me in age, and grew up just 1 hour away from me (her mother even moved to my hometown in 1980), and then she sadly ended up a murdered Jane Doe just a few miles from where I currently live. I found myself wondering how another Florida girl ended up here in the cold northlands. And I was distinctly annoyed that the newspaper gave a 2 year window as to when she went missing, so I decided to come over here to Websleuths, knowing you guys would have everything all sorted out, only to find that you guys actually made the ID! Kudos to you! And, of course, you've ferreted out when she really went missing -- just a few days before she died. I felt better hearing that -- not that she had died, but that she'd been with friends and family just a few days before she was murdered. I had imagined her wandering the country as a homeless waif for 2 years. So, anyway, a very sad story -- esp. for her family and friends who have only now had her death confirmed, but it must bring great joy (that she now has a name and an identity) to those who have been following her Caledonia case here on WS since 2005, I believe. I will certainly be tuning in here to here how the case progresses. That turquoise necklace rang a bell...don't suppose it really matters now that she's been ID'd, but something niggling at my memory. I remember having a necklace something like that, but my uncle lived out west and sold turquoise and silver and stuff like that at the rodeos. Perhaps Tammy bought it (or it was given her) when she and her friend had their cross-country trip to California in May 1979, before she died.
 
jacksonbrown said:
I wish I had known about websleuths prior to 2012. I would have possibly seen the info related to my brother's case. Robert Daniel Corriveau (Bobby Dan). Carl thank you for all you did in working to having him ID'D Virginia Cleary
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Bobby Dan was the only other missing person for whom I yelled "Bingo" (in a Websleuths post) when I saw the MP photo. Although I was the first person in the online community to connect Bobby Dan to the 1968 Downington PA John Doe, I can't claim credit for solving that one. The authorities were already on to the connection before his MP casefile went public in NamUs.
 
I lurk here occasionally but I had to tell you all how amazingly special each and every one of you are. Thank you for what you do.
Georgia
 
Cubby said:
Tammy's sister's side of the story at the following link:

http://www.whec.com/article/stories/s3688486.shtml

I have to say I am as outraged as Tammy's sister over the presumptuous comment made by retired sheriff John York. Seriously, we who work MP cases have seen time after time how MP cases were handled decades ago. For former Sheriff York to make such a comment, I'm glad he is not working on the case currently.

As far as I know, Tammy's family are still considered victims here at WS per WS TOS. Why all the presumptuous comments. To Tammy's family. I am so sorry Sheriff York and others are allowing their ignorance to make such inaccurate comments. I'm glad Tammy finally has her name back and sorry this tragedy occured to her. Now it is time to find the person responsible and make sure Tammy receives the justice she deserves.

My first questions surround the witness who provided the information for the composite of the possible suspect. Are they still around and willing to work with LE, if LE has pictures of possible perps? I know that a few were mentioned in the UID thread. I hope they are carried and discussed here. Has this thread been linked to the UID forum so they know the sleuthing is continuing here?


Sleep peacefully Tammy. We are going to keep looking until the person who did this to you is held accountable. :rose:
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Former Sheriff York might have had a statement taken out of context (or not). I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt and interpret his poorly worded statement of "It's hard to imagine that someone could just throw a child away. It's a great day to give her a name." to mean that he didn't believe anyone threw a child away. As in BBM: "It's hard to imagine that someone could just throw a child away. And now we can see that they didn't. It's a great day to give her a name." After all, Mr. York was not the sheriff in Brookesville, FL, where Tammy went missing from. He was the sheriff where an unknown body was found, with no local report to help him ID the body. In the seventies, there was no real connection between states for missing children (or murderers-can we say Ted Bundy, thank you). I can personally attest to the fact that the different states didn't even have databases that would sync with each other.
 
Abigail said:
A nice article here in the local news. Local people have been visiting Tammy's grave over the years and leaving flowers. And the Sheriff is organizing a new headstone with her name finally on it.
http://www.13wham.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/remembering-tammy-jo-alexander-19618.shtml
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Very nice gesture; but IMO they really jumped the gun. What if her family wants to pick the stone?
Carl SSA & myself have been discussing taking donations for one for the last week or so
 
Ghostwheel said:
Former Sheriff York might have had a statement taken out of context (or not). I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt and interpret his poorly worded statement of "It's hard to imagine that someone could just throw a child away. It's a great day to give her a name." to mean that he didn't believe anyone threw a child away. As in BBM: "It's hard to imagine that someone could just throw a child away. And now we can see that they didn't. It's a great day to give her a name."
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I took it to mean he was talking about her killer leaving her there to die, and remain unnamed for 35 years. Hopefully anyone else reading the transcript or watching the video could redirect the negativity towards the jerk who deserves justice for this crime.
 
I live just half hour from Caledonia, NY where Tammy was found and recently id'd-thanks to Carl and a classmate of Tammy's!
I have written here many times about Shari Lynne Ball-of West Palm Beach, Fl.,who also was a murdered Jane Doe who was recently id'd here after 31 years, in WNY in4/14.
Because i strongly suspected Shari's killer was Christopher Wilder-i was interviewed by batavia State Police, Batavia, NY-as i had met Wilder in late June 1983-in Lockport, NY(he tried to get me to do a modeling portfolio),around the time of Shari's disappearance/murder.She was found 5 mos. after she disappeared-but foul play was suspected though actual cause never determined. This is now an active cold case. I have not heard anything since my interview with Batavia State Police in June. Shari's Mom does not really want to deal with her daughter's murder now that she's been id'd. She said she's been through enough-and likely-her killer is dead anyhow.!
I immediately wondered if Wilder could be responsible for Tammy's death-given Tammy was from Florida and ended up in wny area at time of death. But the last person seen with Tammy-a male-didn't fit description of Wilder-though of course it doesn't always mean HE did the killing!

Interesting similarities though:
Wilder shot one of his victims on his killing spree-Beth Dodge near Rochester, NY-with a 38 caliber gun-same as what they think Tammy was shot with-
Wilder was known to place victims in fields/swampy watery areas-sometimes not making much effort to hide them.
Wilder stripped some of his victims of their identifying information after he killed them. Shari Lynne Ball was found nude and without any identifying info.
Tammy has similar looks to many of his victims-especially those who lived to tell-ages 15-19 he abducted and attacked in 1976-'79.Wilder's victims ages went older after those attacks. He had been arrested in Austraila for molesting 15 and 16 yr. old's.
Wilder however didn't drive a station wagon, or wear glasses like man seen last with Tammy.
My question-and a big one: How did she get to Rochester, NY area and why?
Poor girl-she had no one who really cared about her whereabouts-and why she was constantly running away from home!
 
First, I'll echo prior comment... awesome contribution toward this case. I think there's a bit of "hero" in what this website has done. Wow!

I've tried to read through this whole thing, but there's a lot so I might have missed things. Is there a timeline anywhere? For example, when was Tammy Jo Alexander 'seen' at the Lima Diner? And is there anything to indicate how she got from the diner to the cornfield?

Thanks. And, again, bravo to all of you!
 
CarlK and his team are my heroes! :cheer:

:hero:

Way to go!
 
sistershane said:
I live just half hour from Caledonia, NY where Tammy was found and recently id'd-thanks to Carl and a classmate of Tammy's!
I have written here many times about Shari Lynne Ball-of West Palm Beach, Fl.,who also was a murdered Jane Doe who was recently id'd here after 31 years, in WNY in4/14.
Because i strongly suspected Shari's killer was Christopher Wilder-i was interviewed by batavia State Police, Batavia, NY-as i had met Wilder in late June 1983-in Lockport, NY(he tried to get me to do a modeling portfolio),around the time of Shari's disappearance/murder.She was found 5 mos. after she disappeared-but foul play was suspected though actual cause never determined. This is now an active cold case. I have not heard anything since my interview with Batavia State Police in June. Shari's Mom does not really want to deal with her daughter's murder now that she's been id'd. She said she's been through enough-and likely-her killer is dead anyhow.!
I immediately wondered if Wilder could be responsible for Tammy's death-given Tammy was from Florida and ended up in wny area at time of death. But the last person seen with Tammy-a male-didn't fit description of Wilder-though of course it doesn't always mean HE did the killing!

Interesting similarities though:
Wilder shot one of his victims on his killing spree-Beth Dodge near Rochester, NY-with a 38 caliber gun-same as what they think Tammy was shot with-
Wilder was known to place victims in fields/swampy watery areas-sometimes not making much effort to hide them.
Wilder stripped some of his victims of their identifying information after he killed them. Shari Lynne Ball was found nude and without any identifying info.
Tammy has similar looks to many of his victims-especially those who lived to tell-ages 15-19 he abducted and attacked in 1976-'79.Wilder's victims ages went older after those attacks. He had been arrested in Austraila for molesting 15 and 16 yr. old's.
Wilder however didn't drive a station wagon, or wear glasses like man seen last with Tammy.
My question-and a big one: How did she get to Rochester, NY area and why?
Poor girl-she had no one who really cared about her whereabouts-and why she was constantly running away from home!
Click to expand...

You forgot to mention that Wilder also was into auto racing, and might be the source of Tammy's red jacket with the racing stripes on the arms.

The Livingston County Sheriff has said that they don't believe that she was killed by a serial murderer. They think she probably knew her killer, as evidenced by the personal nature of the murder, and her casual interaction with the male with whom she was seen at the diner.
 
Ghostwheel said:
Former Sheriff York might have had a statement taken out of context (or not). I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt and interpret his poorly worded statement of "It's hard to imagine that someone could just throw a child away. It's a great day to give her a name." to mean that he didn't believe anyone threw a child away. As in BBM: "It's hard to imagine that someone could just throw a child away. And now we can see that they didn't. It's a great day to give her a name." After all, Mr. York was not the sheriff in Brookesville, FL, where Tammy went missing from. He was the sheriff where an unknown body was found, with no local report to help him ID the body. In the seventies, there was no real connection between states for missing children (or murderers-can we say Ted Bundy, thank you). I can personally attest to the fact that the different states didn't even have databases that would sync with each other.
Click to expand...

If that is the case, he owes Tammy's family a public apology. I liken it to a doctor with poor bedside manner. An expert may be great at their job, it doesn't mean they know how to effectively deal with people. I expect someone who is seasoned with dealing with the public to be better able to communicate.

jmo and all that......
 
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