Identified! GA - Ware Co., BlkFem Child 15UFGA, 2-4, in cement-filled suitcase, Dec'88 - Kenyatta Odom

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I cannot comprehend what this baby endured after reading the article above. The details are beyond disturbing and horrific. A heartfelt thank you and hug to all that never gave on up Kenyatta.

Didn’t someone know she was missing? No grandma, no aunts or uncles? The article mentions forensics but not in detail. Was Othram involved in the identification process? Hoping to catch the press conference today. I’m sure more information will be provided and more questions answered.

Rest in Love baby girl.
 
I really hope that if the timber truck driver who found her is still alive, someone lets him know. He showed more humanity and grief for her than those who left her there ever did. He only found her because he stopped to relieve himself and was curious about the cabinet she'd been discarded in. He could have taken off when he found her, nobody would have known. Instead, he called it in immediately, and cried openly and unashamedly in his shock and distress. I hope he's been able to get help over the years, the trauma is unthinkable - looking into a suitcase in an old cabinet, and finding a murdered toddler.

(Article I'm linking is old, it's just context for the finding of her body.)
www.jacksonville.com

Unknown girl's face still haunts former detective who never found her name

MILLWOOD, GA. | There is an image burned into Arney Herrin's mind. He first saw it just before Christmas 1988 in the woods in western Ware County. Responding to a passer-by's report, the seasoned s…
www.jacksonville.com

MOO
 
iamshadow21 said:
I really hope that if the timber truck driver who found her is still alive, someone lets him know. He showed more humanity and grief for her than those who left her there ever did. He only found her because he stopped to relieve himself and was curious about the cabinet she'd been discarded in. He could have taken off when he found her, nobody would have known. Instead, he called it in immediately, and cried openly and unashamedly in his shock and distress. I hope he's been able to get help over the years, the trauma is unthinkable - looking into a suitcase in an old cabinet, and finding a murdered toddler.

(Article I'm linking is old, it's just context for the finding of her body.)
www.jacksonville.com

Unknown girl's face still haunts former detective who never found her name

MILLWOOD, GA. | There is an image burned into Arney Herrin's mind. He first saw it just before Christmas 1988 in the woods in western Ware County. Responding to a passer-by's report, the seasoned s…
www.jacksonville.com

MOO
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I just reread that 2015 article I linked in full, and what it tells me is - someone's talking. Whether it's one of the two who've been indicted or someone else, I have no idea, but they make it clear in that article that there was no clear cause of death, they only knew she hadn't been shot or stabbed, and natural causes was potentially still an option. So for them to know she was killed by her abusers burning her lower limbs by immersion in hot water, someone had to tell LE that. Burns are hard - Gannon was potentially burned with wax or direct flame, but his body (also wrapped in blankets in a suitcase, and dead for roughly the same amount of time - 1-2 months, in winter, in the south - Florida, rather than Georgia) was decomposed enough that the medical examiners couldn't tell if his skin had been burnt before he died. So, IMO, for them to know the circumstances of Kenyatta's death, someone had to tell them.

MOO
 
SimsGuy67 said:
Rest in peace Kenyatta. Your killers, those who were supposed to protect you, are behind bars now.
I wish we had a photo of her, but I get why we don't. Either due to privacy, or there not being one.
Click to expand...
If we don't get one, I trust that Marla's recon (the one in coloured pencil or pastels) is close to what she would have looked like in life. Marla and Kelly are a mother daughter duo who do amazing recons for Georgia Does, and the ones that I have seen where the person has been identified and there is a photo are VERY good likenesses, IMO. (Marla is retired now, but her work lives on in cases like this that she helped over her career.)

MOO
 
iamshadow21 said:
If we don't get one, I trust that Marla's recon (the one in coloured pencil or pastels) is close to what she would have looked like in life. Marla and Kelly are a mother daughter duo who do amazing recons for Georgia Does, and the ones that I have seen where the person has been identified and there is a photo are VERY good likenesses, IMO. (Marla is retired now, but her work lives on in cases like this that she helped over her career.)

MOO
Click to expand...
For all who don't know about this recon:
Original

She was so precious and I'm so happy she has her name back.
 
SimsGuy67 said:
For all who don't know about this recon:
Original

She was so precious and I'm so happy she has her name back.
Click to expand...
Both Kelly and Marla do such beautiful work, and this piece of Kenyatta is no exception. Their recons usually look like a piece of art a proud parent would have on their wall, and that's important. Recons can look very cartoonish, uncanny, or masklike if they're not executed with artistic skill, and that can actually make it hard for a loved one to see their family member in them. It isn't just about getting a likeness, it's about capturing that indefinable spark of life and humanity. In a sparse field - there aren't that many recon artists, really - finding that spark is rare. Frank Bender, the sculptor, could do it. Some of the artists doing recons with photos and digital programs for places like NCMEC can do it (the recons of Bella Bond and Jason Callahan in particular are extraordinary). The handful of forensic artists who are fellow WS members are gifted with it. It truly is an area where forensics, art, knowledge, and imagination have to synergise. You need the person doing it to be the complete package. My hat is forever off to them. It's difficult, vital work.

MOO
 
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Mind your biscuits said:
Omg, that is just terrible. I don't know how anyone can live with that knowledge for 35 years. I hope they both had fear and nightmares every single night.
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Unfortunately, I think people who do this kind of thing tend to not care and sleep quite well. If it bothered them, they couldn't torture a baby to death like this in the first place.

MOO
 
Does anyone know where to look for the press conference? Whether it's going to be broadcast or livestreamed somewhere, like Facebook or a local news site? I'd like it watch it if I can, even though I think it's going to be 5am by then. The news4jax article says GBI is holding it Monday, 1pm.
 
iamshadow21 said:
Does anyone know where to look for the press conference? Whether it's going to be broadcast or livestreamed somewhere, like Facebook or a local news site? I'd like it watch it if I can, even though I think it's going to be 5am by then. The news4jax article says GBI is holding it Monday, 1pm.
Click to expand...
I was browsing as well to see where it would be streaming live. This is the only place I have found it mentioned so far.

The press conference, beginning at 1:00 p.m., will be live-streamed on the Daily Coffee Press Facebook page.

GBI to provide announcement in decades-long case of Ware County's Baby Jane Doe
GBI to provide announcement in decades-long case of Ware County's Baby Jane Doe | Daily Coffee Press | NewsBreak Original
 
35 years later: Finally identified...

Original

Kenyatta Odom, age 3, Murdered December 1988

It is good to know that this baby has been positively identified and those responsible for her murder captured. Thanks to all who have followed this case and hoped and prayed for a resolution.
 
My notes from the PC, excuse any important stuff I might have missed!

So the Albany newspaper WAS relevant! Her family was traced to Albany!

And a tipster called in. Disbelieved the story they had been told decades ago about the child being sent to her father. Never forgot it.

Kenyatta - "Kiki" - was five years old.

NCMEC recon looks ALMOST EXACTLY like her photo. Eyebrow and nose is a little different, but at the size I can see it on the feed, wow. Doesn't look as much like Marla's recon, but I think that's because Marla's recon looks more like a 2-3yo than a 5yo, not because the likeness is wrong. The NCMEC recon always looked more like a 5yo to me, which is what she was. EDIT: looking at that bigger photo Grungster put up, I take it back about Marla's recon! It still looks too 'young' but the nose is bang on, the general face shape is right, and the eyebrows are close.

Man charged was live-in boyfriend of 'mum', not step-father.

The reward donated got them the information they needed to help them solve the case.

Officer speaking now was one of the first responders. He looks like he could be 70 yo, though he's in uniform. He's speaking well, but is sniffing a little; I think rather than a cold, he's crying quietly, though his voice isn't shaking.

GBI guy back, thanking a whole lot of people now. Just called more than half a dozen people out from behind the cameras to come stand and get recognition. Specifically called out one agent (Terri?) who grew up in the area, came to the team in 2019 and asked specifically to work this case.

They are still trying to track down and identify Kenyatta's biological father.

It took so long because they had to wait for genetic genealogy. They did huge amounts of press, chased huge amounts of leads over the decades. Had very good possibilities over the years - none of those girls turned out to be the right one.

Genetic genealogy got them close, but the tipster got them her identity.

Homicide - undetermined was the original medical examiner's ruling, that will not change but they are reviewing the records from the time.
 
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