They have not released a picture of the matchbook. Grants truck stop did have an unusual spelling, because it did not use an apostrophe before the "S". There were 3 Grants truck stops in the US; Nebraska, New Mexico and Idaho; A mechanic at the Grants truck stop in York, NE claimed to have worked on the Jane and John Doe's vehicle. He remembered the vehicle having Oregon or Washington plates. This was reported in the newspapers; however, there was no mention of the vehicle description. I am currently trying to track down this elusive mechanic. Detectives believe the couple was driving a van based on the wheel base. (The Mcminn's were from Oregon. See my other posts).
I have never heard any cigarettes being recovered from the crime scene. It would be interesting to know if they had. The John Doe tested positive for nicotine and the Jane Doe did not (This is true for the Mcminns as well).
The only witness to have reportedly talked to the John Doe was David Batson who had supposedly shot pool with the John Doe. His statement never mentioned an accent. His statement was that he had seen the couple in 1975 not 1976 which is a full year before their death. He also stated they were from Canada so that means either they went back to Canada(or somewhere else) in 1975 and came back in 1976, or they were in the Sumter area the entire year, or they were never there and he is mistaken about the couple he saw as being the couple in the photos. I tend to believe that he was mistaken. The first two seem very unlikely. I don't want to down Sumter, but it is not a place where I would think people go to vacation two years in a row considering they are from such a far distance away. Also, it took him 6 months after their death before he came forward with this info. This makes it even less likely that the information is reliable (see my previous posts about David Batson). On the other hand, what if they were in the area for some other reason criminal or otherwise and not on vacation. He might be with an IMSA racing team or a race fan. I think if they would have had an accent the police report would have contained that info..
Swamp Fox will appreciate this nugget. I have heard of an account of a lady who owned a supermarket having seen the couple, and she recalled seeing the couple with a Federal Agent, but could not remember the specific agency. She only recalled that they were polite and the Federal agent paid for everything with a federally issued credit card. Her account does not mention an accent either.