Identified! TX - Pecos, WhtFem, 17-20, UP13480, in motel swimming pool Jul'66 - Jolaine Hemmy

[MadMcGoo]

That was so beautiful and such touching words for a girl none of the mourners knew. If only the while world worked this way

Amen. If only.

 

[Mbt]

For some unknown reason I believe Jolaine didn’t meet with foul play. Maybe that’s wishful thinking, but I do I feel that way. I think this was all an awful accident. I’d also like to think “Mr. Battoun” will someday come forward. Or at least…be remorseful.

Seriously?

 

[Mbt]

I think after all these years "Mr Battoun" is rather unlikely to come forward.

 

[aThousandYearsWide]

Deathbed confession maybe? Unless he is already deceased. I feel like something like that would likely haunt someone. Reoccurring nightmares even. If not foul play he may even blame himself for not being there when she went under.

 

[MaryG12]

Pecos Jane Has a Name

Incredible! And the article is very well written, too.

RIP Jolaine

 

[MaryG12]

My goodness! Jolaine was one of fifteen children?!

 

[MadMcGoo]

Seriously?

Oh yes! There are several cases solved as of late that give me hope. A LOT of hope.

 

[Friday Fan]

I think Jolaine probably was hot and bored and waded in water too deep...
I could not swim for the longest time. Every summer, I spent hours trying until one day, I finally floated.

It probably sounded like an OK idea at first to "see the world" with this guy, but the reality was boring car rides and stuffy motel rooms.

 

[EphemerallyAya]

Excellent and well-written story by Michael Hardy. So they were together by the pool, where they had stopped on their way back from Las Vegas (after not getting married), he had been drinking and shortly after that she was at the bottom of the pool with a facial injury, broken glass was nearby and the control freak, according to Jolaine's sister, was feigning taking a nap. IMO.

He’s not gonna come forward given all the time that has already elapsed without a confession. It’s been 55 years and he was older than her… I wish we had an age range from the incident, but he’s at least 73 now. But would an 18 year old run away with his information when with a 17 yr old? Doesn’t make sense. So probably upper 70s-90s, if he’s alive.

The facial injury plus broken glass makes me think he either did something while intoxicated right before she was in the water (and maybe she fell, hence the reports of screaming?), or that he threw the glass at her. A 17 year old is pretty tall and drowning in a mere few minutes in a pool alone seems extremely odd - even for a non swimmer.

Unless she had say, a concussion or other head injury… and she did indeed have a facial injury. I wouldn’t rule out foul play. Drinking and taking a nap at 5pm right as she drowned is too suspicious to me.

And another thought that suggests he may have murdered her - the alcohol. He may have been sober when they were traveling together, and then had an angry outburst once intoxicated.

Or maybe I’m overthinking it. I’m just grateful she has been identified.

MOO.

 

[Awsi Dooger]

BTW, the excellent article by Michael Hardy that was linked on Page 12 in mid June was further updated in August. It now includes a recent photo of Jolaine's sister Joyce and also a photo of Joyce holding up the postcard stamped in Las Vegas on July 3, 1966. The wording is still legible.

I still don't understand how the postcard was postmarked on July 3, which was a Sunday. It seems even less likely to happen on a holiday weekend.

Decades After Mysteriously Drowning, Pecos Jane Has a Name

 

[Quoththeraven]

BTW, the excellent article by Michael Hardy that was linked on Page 12 in mid June was further updated in August. It now includes a recent photo of Jolaine's sister Joyce and also a photo of Joyce holding up the postcard stamped in Las Vegas on July 3, 1966. The wording is still legible.

I still don't understand how the postcard was postmarked on July 3, which was a Sunday. It seems even less likely to happen on a holiday weekend.

Decades After Mysteriously Drowning, Pecos Jane Has a Name

I see the postage stamp is missing. Taken for possible DNA testing?

 

[glamourkitty1922]

BTW, the excellent article by Michael Hardy that was linked on Page 12 in mid June was further updated in August. It now includes a recent photo of Jolaine's sister Joyce and also a photo of Joyce holding up the postcard stamped in Las Vegas on July 3, 1966. The wording is still legible.

I still don't understand how the postcard was postmarked on July 3, which was a Sunday. It seems even less likely to happen on a holiday weekend.

Decades After Mysteriously Drowning, Pecos Jane Has a Name

Las Vegas never sleeps, or at least used to be 24/7. I got married in Vegas and the county register's office was open 24/7. we went to get our license and there was about 50 people waiting to get their marriage licenses at about 11 Saturday night. Our chapel time was 1 am. I'm sure the register's office and many casinos had their own little post offices.

 

[onceuponadecember]

Okay so I know that the focus has been on the Vegas postcard as of now, but I think it was worth making a short post on the photos of Jolaine. These are the photos in chronological order and her respective age in each of them:

1962 (aged ~ 14):


1963 (aged ~ 15):


1964 (aged ~16):

 

[onceuponadecember]

I’m confused here - why is there no senior portrait for Jolaine in the 1966 yearbook nor any mention of her? Most articles reported that she graduated from SHS - were her siblings possibly confused?

 

[Susikatze]

She was so pretty

 

[onceuponadecember]

I don’t know if this was shared earlier, but this is Jolaine’s new headstone:


Source:
John Davidson for Texas Monthly | Wonderful Machine

 

[onceuponadecember]

Okay so I know most of this thread has been focusing on the idea that Jolaine died accidentally, but I wanted to explore the idea of homicide or something deeper. Here’s my timeline of events if we consider it homicide:

1. The two are seen at the pool, “Russell” drinking a beer and Jolaine a non-alcoholic soda
2. Russell and Jolaine get into a physical fight (possibly explaining the abrasion on her left cheekbone and the scream)
3. Jolaine falls in the pool and drowns or “Russell” drowns her
4. “Russell” returns to the room and takes a nap
5. Jolaine’s body is found in the pool and “Russell” is notified
6. “Russell” takes the registration card and drives away, never to be seen again

 

[onceuponadecember]

I'm so sorry for being sporadic with these posts, but I was reading an article on Jolaine, and I think this could be another point of debate: she was found in the deep end of the pool, approximately 12 feet underwater. (Also I found a better-quality image of her final yearbook portrait from around August 1964):

 

[onceuponadecember]

Another photo of Jolaine that was shared

 

[onceuponadecember]

Okay I don’t know if anyone talked about this detail from one of the newspapers, but it says that the clothes Jolaine were wearing that were found in the room were brand new with no evidence of being washed: