Identified! TX - Huntsville, 'Walker County Jane Doe', WhtFem 14-16, 91UFTX, Nov'80 #4 Sherry Ann Jarvis

[rosesfromangels]

I think people also forget that life is still going on around the family, they still need to live and go to work even though tragedy struck. As you said they couldn't drop everything.
My best thoughts are with the family now <3

Great first post with a compelling perspective through the eyes of the family. Welcome to WS!

Amateur opinion and speculation

 

[Alleykins]

I was around in the 70s and 80s. I'm well aware of the limited technology we had and what a slow pace it operated with. As far as telecommunications, there were telegraphs, landline phones, and snail mail to keep in touch. If you lost a person's phone number and address, you essentially lost that person. I know from experience, as a teen, losing track of friends in the early 80s, who moved out of state. My sister read my mail and lost the envelope with one of my friend's address on it. And she was gone forever in my life. But I began searching for them with the internet as soon as it became an option, with what information I remembered. And then used social media when it became a thing. One friend I found, two I haven't. But I keep looking.
For media, there was newspapers, magazines, radios, and television. Oh, and ham radios and CBs. None very conducive to finding people, short of taking out classifieds in the print media, and news broadcasts, there wasn't much, but still there. I totally get options were limited when it came to putting the word out about a missing child, because that's what we're talking about here, a child, and staying connected, but they were there. And they were limited when it came to searching.
One of the first missing child cases I remember as a child was Adam Walsh, who went missing in 1981. It was big news, at least to me, and then shortly after, the milk cartons came out, too. Then NCMEC was created in 1984. Specifically for missing children. New resources at someone's disposal with missing children, for free, I believe. Yes, resources to search for and get the word out about a missing child were limited and slow, but not nonexistent. Not inaccessible, and, not unknown.

 

[rosesfromangels]

I was around in the 70s and 80s. I'm well aware of the limited technology we had and what a slow pace it operated with. As far as telecommunications, there were telegraphs, landline phones, and snail mail to keep in touch. If you lost a person's phone number and address, you essentially lost that person. I know from experience, as a teen, losing track of friends in the early 80s, who moved out of state. My sister read my mail and lost the envelope with one of my friend's address on it. And she was gone forever in my life. But I began searching for them with the internet as soon as it became an option, with what information I remembered. And then used social media when it became a thing. One friend I found, two I haven't. But I keep looking.
For media, there was newspapers, magazines, radios, and television. Oh, and ham radios and CBs. None very conducive to finding people, short of taking out classifieds in the print media, and news broadcasts, there wasn't much, but still there. I totally get options were limited when it came to putting the word out about a missing child, because that's what we're talking about here, a child, and staying connected, but they were there. And they were limited when it came to searching.
One of the first missing child cases I remember as a child was Adam Walsh, who went missing in 1981. It was big news, at least to me, and then shortly after, the milk cartons came out, too. Then NCMEC was created in 1984. Specifically for missing children. New resources at someone's disposal with missing children, for free, I believe. Yes, resources to search for and get the word out about a missing child were limited and slow, but not nonexistent. Not inaccessible, and, not unknown.

Back in the 80's there wasn't the immediacy or reach that we have today, which was a hindrance. However, today, we deal with the over saturation of info (digital fatigue), and this results in people being desensitized to these cases. Sadly, similar to shootings. It used to be that a shooting incident was shocking. Today, it still remains criminal, but expected in our society.

Something has gone awry.

Amateur opinion and speculation

 

[Beekarina]

In 1981, a young girl I knew was kidnapped, raped & murdered. (She was left buried alive, but horrifically wounded out in the woods...found the next day, but did not survive.) The person who killed her murdered at least 3 young girls, and attacked at least one other who survived in the 70s/80s. The main way everyone knew what was going on was word of mouth. There was mention in the news, of course, but definitely not anything like the coverage today. There were several other murders around the same time, and same general area so our parents were all terrified. I remember hearing about Adam Walsh too at some point, but we were all scared to ride our bikes down the road because there was at least one sick pervert out there grabbing girls.

We also have no idea where the young girl whose life cut so short was from. I know where I grew up--rural New England--we were always several years behind in adopting technology. So the ability to get the word out nationally, internationally, etc. might have been there, but perhaps not accessible, or not known of.

 

[FaerieDust]

RIP angel. My thoughts are with the family <3

 

[alpinepancake11]

There are so many gracious people on this thread. Thank you all for all that you did and that you do for many other cases. My thoughts are with all of you and the family of this Doe who now has a name. Have a wonderful day everyone .

 

[lonewanderer]

Serious question.

Does anyone have the resources to see if any men checked into hospitals in that area, around that time, with injuries to their sensitive areas? I ask this because I cannot stop thinking about a few aspects of this case.

From what I understand, she was SA with an object.

I think their was a strong possibility she was defending herself and may have caused serious damage to <modsnip to: a sensitive part of the of the attacker’s body>. . This could possibly explain why an object was used.

Does anyone know what direction the bite was in? It was on her left shoulder, correct? Lets say we are looking at it from a standing point. I do not want to be too graphic but I have an idea for each scenario:

Is it a regular bite on her shoulder, as if someone was right behind her? ( I have a theory for this for left and right shoulder)

Is the bite facing to the right? (This could work for both shoulders but the left shoulder makes more sense IMO)

Is the bite upside down? (both shoulders can work in this scenario)

The only scenario I can't come up with is why the bite would be facing to the left, especially if it was on the right side of her body.

 

[Tahlia Woodson]

Serious question.

Does anyone have the resources to see if any men checked into hospitals in that area, around that time, with injuries to a sensitive area? I ask this because I cannot stop thinking about a few aspects of this case.

From what I understand, she was SA with an object.

I think their was a strong possibility she was defending herself and may have caused serious damage to this person's sensitive area. This could possibly explain why an object was used.

Does anyone know what direction the bite was in? It was on her left shoulder, correct? Lets say we are looking at it from a standing point. I do not want to be too graphic but I have an idea for each scenario:

Is it a regular bite on her shoulder, as if someone was right behind her? ( I have a theory for this for left and right shoulder)

Is the bite facing to the right? (This could work for both shoulders but the left shoulder makes more sense IMO)

Is the bite upside down? (both shoulders can work in this scenario)

The only scenario I can't come up with is why the bite would be facing to the left, especially if it was on the right side of her body.

If serious damage was caused to sensitive areas, wouldn't the pain be too much to continue doing anything?

 

[Armalita]

If serious damage was caused to the genitals, wouldn't the pain be too much to continue doing anything?

I've thought of this also. Maybe she was sarcastic and belittled his man parts or it could have been a female. Either it was sick and violent.

 

[lonewanderer]

If serious damage was caused to the genitals, wouldn't the pain be too much to continue doing anything?

Depending on the person. I could see it causing some SERIOUS rage in lots of men who are already filled with rage.

 

[lonewanderer]

I've thought of this also. Maybe she was sarcastic and belittled his man parts or it could have been a female. Either it was sick and violent.

Two of my top potential theories:

If the bite is upright on her shoulder, she may have been bitten when she turned her back on the attacker. Either running away outside or while she was getting out of a car. I think this might have happened after she caused this person physical pain from an attack to their privates. Be it a twist and pull, be it a kick.

If the bite is in any other direction, I theorize that she bit the attacker first, possibly on the private area after refusing to perform oral sex. If the bite is facing right, I could see this caused after leaning over in the passengers seat, sitting side by side in a car. If the bite is upside down, I could see that occurring from her being either on her knees outside or her being forced to get underneath the drivers side seat.

I am more than likely completely wrong. This is all just speculation and brainstorming on my part.

 

[sloane7777]

Has Sam little been ruled Out? I can't remember if anyone entertained him seriously

 

[Tahlia Woodson]

Has Sam little been ruled Out? I can't remember if anyone entertained him seriously

I don't know if he's been ruled out or looked into, but just some notes I've thought about when it comes to him:
- They probably would have checked the bite mark to his teeth is they've looked into him (provided they have his dental records)
- Little usually targeted sex workers and drug users, which WCJD was most likely not
- Doesn't seem like there's a confession he made that matches her. We can't 100% trust his confessions, but there are only 2 confessions in Texas - Houston and Wichita Falls

I'm not ruling that he may have been involved, but I think that they'd need to do some deep investigating to truly make a connection between Little and WCJD

 

[JennyJukes]

<modsnip: Quoted post was removed>

A non-functioning penis may have been the reason for his impotent rage and desire to hurt girls in the
My thoughts too - if she seriously injured him then that would have given her time to get away whilst he dealt with the initial shock. There probably would have been some DNA on her if she was able to draw blood or get some skin off them. (not sure if there was any DNA?)

I agree, may have used sex toys because they don't have a penis, or a non-functioning one, or just to avoid any DNA being transferred?

 

[Curious_in_NC]

My thoughts too - if she seriously injured him then that would have given her time to get away whilst he dealt with the initial shock. There probably would have been some DNA on her if she was able to draw blood or get some skin off them. (not sure if there was any DNA?)

I agree, may have used sex toys because they don't have a penis, or a non-functioning one, or just to avoid any DNA being transferred?

bbm
In 1980 I don't think anyone, LE or criminals, was thinking much about DNA testing. It was still in its infancy (https://strbase.nist.gov/ppt/intro.pdf). But. that's a good point, if there was some left under fingernails etc. it might perhaps be possible to analyze it with today's technologies.

 

[rosesfromangels]

bbm
In 1980 I don't think anyone, LE or criminals, was thinking much about DNA testing. It was still in its infancy (https://strbase.nist.gov/ppt/intro.pdf). But. that's a good point, if there was some left under fingernails etc. it might perhaps be possible to analyze it with today's technologies.

If it was preserved....which is unclear. We've come such a long way with forensics since those days.

Amateur opinion and speculation

 

[lonewanderer]

My thoughts too - if she seriously injured him then that would have given her time to get away whilst he dealt with the initial shock. There probably would have been some DNA on her if she was able to draw blood or get some skin off them. (not sure if there was any DNA?)

I agree, may have used sex toys because they don't have a penis, or a non-functioning one, or just to avoid any DNA being transferred?

To me, this may explain exactly why she was bitten.

I imagine the assailant sitting in a drivers seat and trying to force her to have oral sex.

In one scenario, I see him trying to force her head over the armrest (if there is one) a . I can also see if she was initially going along with it to relax him, fully intending to injure him. Once he brings her to the intended spot, she takes a big bite out of him somewhere. Maybe in a very sensitive area, or maybe just the thigh (and that almost makes more sense because in this scenario she really doesn't want these sexual advances). Either ways, if her jaws were clinched in, I could see him panicking and initially hitting her. Especially if she doesn't let go of the clinch, then he may have bitten her himself as a last resort.

I have other theories but this one makes the most sense to me. Basically she was in a car or truck with someone and refused their sexual advances. She either put up a fight or relaxed him before hurting him. This may also explain why it looked like someone beat her.

I am by no means convinced this is exactly what happened, but I do think its possible.

 

[Springrain]

<modsnip: Quoted post was removed>

Women and girls in these situations get killed all the time no matter how "compliant" they are. Compliant women don't get killed any less. If a man decides he wants to kill a woman, he's not going to not because she agreed to give him (coerced, forced) oral sex instead of biting him. He'll just kill her if he can either way. Fighting back is the best option.

I hope WCJD fought back hard enough to put him in some real pain...

 

[CocoChanel]

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[Springrain]

I personally don't feel it was a female killer. I know there have been cases of very violent female killers (such as Linda LaRoche, who killed Peggy Lynn Johnson fka Racine County Jane Doe), but they generally don't target random women and kill them with such brutality in the way WCJD was killed. Women killers usually kill people close to them, instead of random teenage hitchhikers. JMO.