Identified! TX - Huntsville, 'Walker County Jane Doe', WhtFem 14-16, 91UFTX, Nov'80 #5 - Sherri Ann Jarvis

[EllieFox]

I hadn't realized how common it is for females to write to prison inmates as pen pals, I read that some prisoners on death row or with long term sentences spend most of their time writing to women. Here in the UK it's what some notorious prisoners do with most of their time incarcerated. Some of them marry their pen pals. If Sherry was attracted to 'naughty' boys as her family have indicated it could follow that she would be interested in writing to a prisoner if she was no longer free to see local friends once removed from home. This could have been her incentive for her huge journey down to Texas.
I think it's possible that rather than a trucker she was attacked by one of the couple of men in the car she was seen talking to / entering the last time she was seen. It could be more likely that she was attacked by a couple as there were no restraint marks on her wrists to indicate they had been bound, she could have been held down by an accomplice and her body could more easily have been disposed of if there were two assailants. Her body was further from the road but there were no drag marks and this could be achieved easily with two people carrying her. It is less likely than a lone killer but sadly there have been pairs of killers usually one sadistic killer with an accomplice.
My heart goes out to Sherry and her family, she had a wonderful smile and such beautiful eyes.

 

[Hockeyfan158]

Now I’m confused who was her dad exactly on to find a grave it’s listed as Melvin Lloyd Bremer Jr but there is also another man named Donald Eugene “Don” Jarvis Sr.

Sherri Ann Jarvis (1966-1980) - Find A Grave...

 

[mastiphal25]

Now I’m confused who was her dad exactly on to find a grave it’s listed as Melvin Lloyd Bremer Jr but there is also another man named Donald Eugene “Don” Jarvis Sr.

Sherri Ann Jarvis (1966-1980) - Find A Grave...

Don was her stepfather

 

[Hockeyfan158]

Don was her stepfather

Thank you

 

[Kiranerys]

Or she may have formed connections before she was removed? I mentioned chatting to people on the CB as one possible way to have talked with, and possibly met or formed some sort of association with people without those close to her being aware.

We also do not know anything about the sisters who left her in Wisconsin. Why did they all go to Wisconsin initially? And then, why did Sherry (likely) go to Denver?

I personally find the places Sherry ran to odd. When I think of an impulsive kid running away, I think NYC, I think California. Denver? Ok, maybe....maybe if you grew up with some idea of Denver as a nearby metro or had a personal connection. But the others? They do not make sense as an attractive destination in and of themselves.

I feel there has to be some sort of personal connection to ALL of the places Sherry was known/thought to have been.

I am from the UK so I don't have any knowledge of this,but do Colorado and Texas have a big presence of horse ranches?. Sherry's family said she loved horses and I wonder if she travelled to these places maybe thinking she could find work as a stable hand or similar?.

Re her killer,if not a trucker maybe a prison guard who happened upon her walking along his route either to or from work. Do prison guards carry batons?

 

[Friday Fan]

I am from the UK so I don't have any knowledge of this,but do Colorado and Texas have a big presence of horse ranches?. Sherry's family said she loved horses and I wonder if she travelled to these places maybe thinking she could find work as a stable hand or similar?.

Re her killer,if not a trucker maybe a prison guard who happened upon her walking along his route either to or from work. Do prison guards carry batons?

Horses and ranches are very cliche..LOL

Kids from up north would often run away to southern states because the weather was perceived as "more desirable".

Places like AZ, CO and TX became popular road trip destinations in the late 70's.
In 1977, me and 2 other girlfriends drove from Wisconsin to Arizona. We camped at a hippy, new age, art scene campground. We planned to stop in Colorado on the way back home, but ran short of time. It was sorta the "cool" thing to do..

 

[Alleykins]

Horses and ranches are very cliche..LOL

Kids from up north would often run away to southern states because the weather was perceived as "more desirable".

Places like AZ, CO and TX became popular road trip destinations in the late 70's.
In 1977, me and 2 other girlfriends drove from Wisconsin to Arizona. We camped at a hippy, new age, art scene campground. We planned to stop in Colorado on the way back home, but ran short of time. It was sorta the "cool" thing to do..

I had a couple of classmates who took off to TX and AZ in the 80s. It was the "in" place to jump into adulthood at the time. Most came back or landed in the Boston area, the nearest big city to home, because they had extended family there. But at my 30th class reunion I was surprised to find quite a lot of them had moved to NC.

 

[Beekarina]

I just noticed from the links above that Sherry's biological father was from Wisconsin. I wonder if the two sisters may have been somehow related to Sherry? Or if they may have known biological cousins in Wisconsin or something along those lines?

Someone mentioned the possibility of Sherry traveling to see relatives previously, so this could possibly explain why she went to Wisconsin. Perhaps also unrelated and coincidence. Interesting though.

 

[Beekarina]

I could see the appeal of a hippie artist enclave--or say heading for Taos, NM or somewhere out in the desert? Vegas? I'm just flummoxed by why a kid would be attracted to Aransas Pass, to Huntsville, etc as destinations? I do not want to insult anyone who lives there, but they do not sound like places a teenager would run TO, unless they were running to SOMEONE.

They sound more like a place where teens would be "so bored, so need to get outta this place" or just happy to hang out and party.

I might be way off base though. My opinion only!

 

[Friday Fan]

I could see the appeal of a hippie artist enclave--or say heading for Taos, NM or somewhere out in the desert? Vegas? I'm just flummoxed by why a kid would be attracted to Aransas Pass, to Huntsville, etc as destinations? I do not want to insult anyone who lives there, but they do not sound like places a teenager would run TO, unless they were running to SOMEONE.

They sound more like a place where teens would be "so bored, so need to get outta this place" or just happy to hang out and party.

I might be way off base though. My opinion only!

LOL....Huntsville just ain't on my travel destination. Especially when I see the number of prisons..LOL It's actually an infamous place..LOL

Port Aransas is the beach town. Port Aransas is across the bay from Aransas Pass.

TBH, I live only 100 miles from Corpus Christi, Port Aransas, Aransas Pass etc. If someone said they were from Aransas Pass or Port Aransas, I would not notice the difference. Port Aransas, Padres Island are our closest beaches.

Hubby is born and raised Tejano and I asked him, "Do you know the difference between Aransas Pass and Port Aransas?"
He replied, "No".

Unless the waitress herself was familiar with Corpus area, she may not have remembered correctly.

Sherry grew up quite close to Wisconsin. Both her bio parents were from Wisconsin. Sherry may have been familiar enough with Wisconsin, but it certainly wasn't on the way to Colorado! I personally feel, she met people along with the way and she may have run away with no specific plan when she took off from the court house.

No one knows why Tammy Jo Alexander was in Caledonia, New York.

Her dad was originally from Central Wisconsin, but Sherry did not have parental grandparents living in the area at time. (Passed away in 1963 and 1978). Her maternal grandparents were up near Lake Superior, which was in the opposite direction.

Attached image: Port Aransas and Aransas Pass. (Ferry is the quickest route)

 

[MissTressNine]

Reading about the speculation about why Sherry/Sherri was visiting a prison, at 14 years old when we are inexperienced and often romantic I think she may have been a pen pal of an inmate at the prison and may have only started writing to them when she was in the reform home away from home and maybe had a curfew and was lonely or bored. That Cathy was also possibly visiting a prisoner pen pal at Sugarland Prison could show that this practice was fairly common for teens at the time. In fact someone else commented on Facebook that they saw an ad in a newspaper around this time and did the same, becoming a prisoners pen pal. Her journey from Minnesota to Texas could have been to visit her penpal if they had formed a romantic 'relationship' with each other and she felt he was her 'boyfriend'. The prisoner may not have known what Sherry/Sherri looked like as they had never met or if they'd only seen a photo they may not have recognized her autopsy photo as it didn't look that much like her anyway. She may have even been planning to surprise him so may not have expected a visit from her.

Here are some screenshots from some Ellis prisoners wanting penpals. I take no credit for finding these.

 

[rosesfromangels]

Here are some screenshots from some Ellis prisoners wanting penpals. I take no credit for finding these.

Good grief! Prisoners communicating with minors (most especially those incarcerated for S.A.) should be illegal! I never knew this was a thing. Shivering...

Amateur opinion and speculation

 

[Beekarina]

As an aside, discussing relatives, this case motivated me to finally do the whole DNA/genealogy thing. If you guys have never done it, super fascinating, and potentially helpful. Her stepfather is a distant cousin of mine.

LOL....Huntsville just ain't on my travel destination. Especially when I see the number of prisons..LOL It's actually an infamous place..LOL

Port Aransas is the beach town. Port Aransas is across the bay from Aransas Pass.

TBH, I live only 100 miles from Corpus Christi, Port Aransas, Aransas Pass etc. If someone said they were from Aransas Pass or Port Aransas, I would not notice the difference. Port Aransas, Padres Island are our closest beaches.

Hubby is born and raised Tejano and I asked him, "Do you know the difference between Aransas Pass and Port Aransas?"
He replied, "No".

Unless the waitress herself was familiar with Corpus area, she may not have remembered correctly.

Sherry grew up quite close to Wisconsin. Both her bio parents were from Wisconsin. Sherry may have been familiar enough with Wisconsin, but it certainly wasn't on the way to Colorado! I personally feel, she met people along with the way and she may have run away with no specific plan when she took off from the court house.

No one knows why Tammy Jo Alexander was in Caledonia, New York.

Her dad was originally from Central Wisconsin, but Sherry did not have parental grandparents living in the area at time. (Passed away in 1963 and 1978). Her maternal grandparents were up near Lake Superior, which was in the opposite direction.

Attached image: Port Aransas and Aransas Pass. (Ferry is the quickest route)

Ha! I feel better about confusing them earlier now!

I think the closest I have been is Houston and Galveston, so I will just claim confused Yankee over here.

Was not aware it was still unknown about Tammy Jo. Hmm.

 

[Beekarina]

Good grief! Prisoners communicating with minors (most especially those incarcerated for S.A.) should be illegal! I never knew this was a thing. Shivering...

Amateur opinion and speculation

Did you ever read the classifieds as a kid? I know we did. Maybe blame The Pina Colada song, or growing up in a boring small town, but I can sort of see how an innocent teen could stumble on something like this. I remember reading the personals ads with friends and giggling. We never answered any, but I could see it happening.

Definitely chilling!

 

[EllieFox]

Good grief! Prisoners communicating with minors (most especially those incarcerated for S.A.) should be illegal! I never knew this was a thing. Shivering...

Amateur opinion and speculation

It was really common to have pen pals from all over in the 70's and 80's and yes writing to prisoners is very attractive to some people. Psychologists report it's more common in women and girls who have lacked a male figure in their childhood or have had an abusive relationship with males. Both of these may have been the case for Sherri as her biological mom and dad split up when she was 6 or so I believe, and as a teen she hung out with a 'bad' crowd and may possibly have met some abuse there. I think writing to a prisoner is the strongest possibility to link her to Huntsville prison and to take her to Texas.

 

[Alleykins]

I'm aware of the prison pen pal phenomenon, hence Love After Lockup, has been around for a long time, but what I'm trying figure out is how many women actually visit? If they're local, I'm sure they do it all the time, but if they're hundreds of miles away, and a teen, how likely would that be to happen? I tried to look up the stats, but there were so many websites and "how to" sites on how to hook up with an inmate, I got bogged down wading through it all and had to stop.
What I've learned in that short amount of time is inmates are an incarcerated version of the Nigerian prince scam, going so far as using templates to write to each woman, only changing the names they're addressing.

 

[Tahlia Woodson]

Some may have left intending never to return, and wrote to assuage guilt? Or maybe they thought they were safe at that point in leaving, and then things went horribly wrong? It's so hard to know, but it's interesting.

There was an interesting comment on one of the posts on WWWCJD fb page about letters being sent like that. It mentions a topic prohibited in the thread so I'm not going to post it here, but summarised it stated that it was to persuade familes not to look for them. I'm not 100% convinced that that was the case with Sherri or if that's even true, but some food for thought.

 

[rosesfromangels]

I'm aware of the prison pen pal phenomenon, hence Love After Lockup, has been around for a long time, but what I'm trying figure out is how many women actually visit? If they're local, I'm sure they do it all the time, but if they're hundreds of miles away, and a teen, how likely would that be to happen? I tried to look up the stats, but there were so many websites and "how to" sites on how to hook up with an inmate, I got bogged down wading through it all and had to stop.
What I've learned in that short amount of time is inmates are an incarcerated version of the Nigerian prince scam, going so far as using templates to write to each woman, only changing the names they're addressing.

I guess it’s a good thing (for the prisoners) that I’m not in charge of prison reform.
Chain gang anyone….?

amateur opinion and speculation

 

[Sneaker33]

I have known several females attracted to "bad boys" but none experienced divorce or separation from their dads. I do know penpal were common before the internet but I never knew anyone who had one with a prisoner. I don't know how many letters could come into a home postmarked from a prison or faraway town unnoticed by a parent. It would be difficult to communicate without a permanent address.

 

[Alleykins]

I have known several females attracted to "bad boys" but none experienced divorce or separation from their dads. I do know penpal were common before the internet but I never knew anyone who had one with a prisoner. I don't know how many letters could come into a home postmarked from a prison or faraway town unnoticed by a parent. It would be difficult to communicate without a permanent address.

Good point. Plus, with siblings, privacy can be at a premium. If I were getting letters from a prison pen pal, my nosy older sister would've definitely found out about them after snooping in my room, and then told our mum. One summer, I worked at an away camp, and she opened and read every piece of mail I received while I was away, throwing away the envelopes. She lost the address of my bf, who moved to OH, so I couldn't write her back. Never heard from that friend again.