Identified! FL - Clermont, WhtMale UP6030, 24-32, transgender, breast implants, Sep'88 Pamela Leigh Walton

[JoeMas]

Here is one from Harrodsburg, KY (not far from Lexington), about 4 months before her death.

 

[holidayhouse]

View attachment 570433Here is one from Harrodsburg, KY (not far from Lexington), about 4 months before her death.

View attachment 570433Here is one from Harrodsburg, KY (not far from Lexington), about 4 months before her death.
I'm not American and not really sure about how it works in Kentucky, but would there be any way to find out more details about her arrest with this information?

 

[reasonableguess]

IMO The best way to find people who knew Pamela as herself in KY are going to be "old timers" from The Bar on Main in Lexington. Pretty sure it opened in 1980. I lived in the region in the 90s and it was still a very popular place and not exclusive to the LGBTQ community, but definitely for their community. The rest of KY, even a few blocks away, NOT accepting at all IMO even through the 2000s. MOO etc
ETA Lexington for clarification

 

[GravityHurts]

IMO The best way to find people who knew Pamela as herself in KY are going to be "old timers" from The Bar on Main in Lexington. Pretty sure it opened in 1980. I lived in the region in the 90s and it was still a very popular place and not exclusive to the LGBTQ community, but definitely for their community. The rest of KY, even a few blocks away, NOT accepting at all IMO even through the 2000s. MOO etc
ETA Lexington for clarification

I discussed this case with a friend of mine, and he pointed out that it's unfortunately likely that most of Pamela's community and acquaintances from that time are probably deceased. This was around the time of the AIDS crisis, and even if they managed not to get it, they probably weren't very well-off, and more likely to die younger.

I hope he's wrong, and someone can be found that knew Pamela as herself

 

[RandyMcDonald]

I discussed this case with a friend of mine, and he pointed out that it's unfortunately likely that most of Pamela's community and acquaintances from that time are probably deceased. This was around the time of the AIDS crisis, and even if they managed not to get it, they probably weren't very well-off, and more likely to die younger.This

I hope he's wrong, and someone can be found that knew Pamela as herself

This is a real factor, and something to be kept in mind. Even so, I think it is still possible. I do myself know plenty of older gay and bisexual men in Toronto in that age group, some with HIV and some without. It left a cruel mark, but it did not obliterate everyone.

There are also plenty of other people, including straight friends, who would have a much greater chance of avoiding AIDS altogether. IIRC there have been reports of people in Facebook groups posting about how they knew Pamela from high school, for instance.

 

[Susikatze]

This is a real factor, and something to be kept in mind. Even so, I think it is still possible. I do myself know plenty of older gay and bisexual men in Toronto in that age group, some with HIV and some without. It left a cruel mark, but it did not obliterate everyone.

There are also plenty of other people, including straight friends, who would have a much greater chance of avoiding AIDS altogether. IIRC there have been reports of people in Facebook groups posting about how they knew Pamela from high school, for instance.

True, however, while we tend to lump LGBTQ+ together, the gay community is not the trans community. Sure it sometimes overlaps and many meeting places, bars, discotheques etc for gays also attract transpeople but Id guess your average gay man had very little in common with Pam, a transwoman sexworker who catered to straight men (or bisexual men with a “ladyboy” fetish). She may have started in the gay community, many transwomen explore the gay community at some point - but if she did, it may have been in KY and not in Cali. So I am not sure if the gay community would be a great lead. Was there a significant trans community in the 80s in Cali?

 

[RandyMcDonald]

True, however, while we tend to lump LGBTQ+ together, the gay community is not the trans community. Sure it sometimes overlaps and many meeting places, bars, discotheques etc for gays also attract transpeople but Id guess your average gay man had very little in common with Pam, a transwoman sexworker who catered to straight men (or bisexual men with a “ladyboy” fetish). She may have started in the gay community, many transwomen explore the gay community at some point - but if she did, it may have been in KY and not in Cali. So I am not sure if the gay community would be a great lead. Was there a significant trans community in the 80s in Cali?

It is imaginable that there may have been a higher death rate among trans people, sure.

I think it would help us if we could understand how she was able to afford the surgery and the name change and the rest of that.

 

[MarziPanda]

True, however, while we tend to lump LGBTQ+ together, the gay community is not the trans community. Sure it sometimes overlaps and many meeting places, bars, discotheques etc for gays also attract transpeople but Id guess your average gay man had very little in common with Pam, a transwoman sexworker who catered to straight men (or bisexual men with a “ladyboy” fetish). She may have started in the gay community, many transwomen explore the gay community at some point - but if she did, it may have been in KY and not in Cali. So I am not sure if the gay community would be a great lead. Was there a significant trans community in the 80s in Cali?

There might be more crossover than you would think - I would say more so back then than today. Have you seen Paris is Burning? It's about drag queen ball culture, released in 1990 only a couple years after Pamela died. A lot of the drag queens are gay men, but a lot are also trans women. Many are sex workers. One of them even sadly gets murdered by a client (still unsolved - she reminds me of Pamela a lot actually, rejected by family, young blonde lady). The 'gay man to drag queen to trans woman' pipeline isn't uncommon even today, there are a handful of queens from Ru Paul's Drag Race who have come out as trans women over the years. Back then especially, trans women were fewer in number and struggled to find community, so many would find community with gay men. Pose is also a good series that explores this stuff.

Janet Mock's autobiography is a great read too, she's a trans woman who grew up in Hawaii. There was a community of young trans women who were sex workers, many of the clients she suspected were gay but closeted, often they were married to women. Many of her clients tried to dissuade her from having gender affirming surgery. Seeing trans women sex workers was a way for these men to get out their gay urges but still feel okay about it, because the SW were women.

Janet's story was the first thing that came to mind actually when it looked like Pamela might have been involved in sex work. Janet describes how for most of them, sex work (along with being for survival) was a means to save up for hormones and surgery. It was also dangerous, many of them got hurt. There were mentions of trafficking, which makes me wonder if that's how Pamela ended up in Florida.

I think even within the sphere of gay men there was (and still is) a lot of variation... there are definitely parts of the MLM community that wouldn't have had much contact with trans women. But if you were to ask the drag queens who were there, they might know something.

 

[Friday Fan]

RIP Pamela. When I saw this pop up on Facebook, I cried (on the bus, in public...oops). She's been waiting so long to get her name back.

It's so hard to read about what she went through. Such as 'derogatory notations left in high school yearbooks about her'. She must have been such a brave lady to have the courage to transition, especially in those days.

She was also adopted, which also helps to explain why the genealogy work for her took so long. This was one of the Does I most desperately wanted to get her name back - and her true name especially, not the one others had given her but the one she chose.

Oh she was adopted? No wonder it took so long to ID her.
I'm just finding out that she was identified and thrilled.

Do you you know where she was from?

She was about 25 years old, so she was younger than I thought.

ETA: I made my post without reading all the thread!!! I was so excited.

Sounds like she was from KY. Based on her arrest record, sounds like she was marginalized.
MOO: She probably went to FL looking for a "different/better life".

 

[victoriarobinson642]

Oh she was adopted? No wonder it took so long to ID her.
I'm just finding out that she was identified and thrilled.

Do you you know where she was from?

She was about 25 years old, so she was younger than I thought.

ETA: I made my post without reading all the thread!!! I was so excited.

Sounds like she was from KY. Based on her arrest record, sounds like she was marginalized.
MOO: She probably went to FL looking for a "different/better life".

She was from Carlisle, Kentucky.

 

[Friday Fan]

She was from Carlisle, Kentucky.

She likely left KY, very shortly after she paid the $250 fine for loitering.
It was only 87 days later that her body was discovered.

 

[RandyMcDonald]

She likely left KY, very shortly after she paid the $250 fine for loitering.
It was only 87 days later that her body was discovered.

This does narrow down the window significantly.

 

[Friday Fan]

View attachment 570433Here is one from Harrodsburg, KY (not far from Lexington), about 4 months before her death.

I'm not American and not really sure about how it works in Kentucky, but would there be any way to find out more details about her arrest with this information?

That's a good question. We're relying on 'crime blotters", which were brief public info clips in newspapers. In the 1970's when I lived in a small town, they included things like shoplifting, speeding etc. Then, I moved to San Antonio, TX and "crime blotters" were no longer published here. (They were taking up too much print space) I don't know of any major paper that still has crime blotters!

Also, was there a follow up article in the same paper that was missed?
We're relying on scanned, archived papers. Sometimes, not all of the back issues are uploaded. Frequently, there is a crease in the scanned paper that ruins the search results. Sometimes the OCR in the search doesn't work properly. Often there are typos in an article and that typo leads to poor search results.

In the late 90's more crime records were digitized and put in online background searches. Some locations uploaded records from earlier. I can't find anything on Pamela in their records.

It's April 1988 and penalties for possession of marijuana were likely higher than they are today. However, DUI penalties were lower.

Was there going to be a trial for the possession? Was there a jail sentence that was served? Fine paid? Were some of the charges dropped? Was this a factor in Pamela's decision to leave KY?


The only way to find out more about the arrest and possible outcome would be to physically obtain the records from the county in Kentucky where she was arrested. This would require physical travel to the location.

 

[fsngruv]

That's a good question. We're relying on 'crime blotters", which were brief public info clips in newspapers. In the 1970's when I lived in a small town, they included things like shoplifting, speeding etc. Then, I moved to San Antonio, TX and "crime blotters" were no longer published here. (They were taking up too much print space) I don't know of any major paper that still has crime blotters!

Also, was there a follow up article in the same paper that was missed?
We're relying on scanned, archived papers. Sometimes, not all of the back issues are uploaded. Frequently, there is a crease in the scanned paper that ruins the search results. Sometimes the OCR in the search doesn't work properly. Often there are typos in an article and that typo leads to poor search results.

In the late 90's more crime records were digitized and put in online background searches. Some locations uploaded records from earlier. I can't find anything on Pamela in their records.

It's April 1988 and penalties for possession of marijuana were likely higher than they are today. However, DUI penalties were lower.

Was there going to be a trial for the possession? Was there a jail sentence that was served? Fine paid? Were some of the charges dropped? Was this a factor in Pamela's decision to leave KY?


The only way to find out more about the arrest and possible outcome would be to physically obtain the records from the county in Kentucky where she was arrested. This would require physical travel to the location.

I don't know obtaining the records would require being physically present. Usually it just takes a public records request which could be done over the phone or online in some jurisdictions.

 

[summergirl1]

I'm not surprised she was adopted. She may (probably?) have been identified sooner if she wasn't. That and probably less commonly, people's father being different than thought complicates genetic genealogy..

 

[Friday Fan]

I don't know obtaining the records would require being physically present. Usually it just takes a public records request which could be done over the phone or online in some jurisdictions.

My friends have all gone to the courthouse when they want the "real deal".

 

[fsngruv]

My friends have all gone to the courthouse when they want the "real deal".

Awesome. When obtaining police reports the sheriff's office has that information, not the court house.

 

[summergirl1]

Pamela apparently had a falling out with her adoptive family because she allegedly stole from one of them. She lost contact with them after that and they never reported her missing

A family member was interviewed for the Orlando Sentinel. What was it that Pamela stole that makes her adopted family not that upset over her death?

Body ID’d as transgender woman in Lake County cold case

It seems like this isn't the only Doe case I recall where the person wasn't reported missing by family members, but the family had a tombstone put up for them, because they obviously assumed the person could well be deceased, as well as out of contact by choice or circumstances (estrangement)..

 

[Friday Fan]

Awesome. When obtaining police reports the sheriff's office has that information, not the court house.

Records regarding charges, fines, proceedings, penalties, bail, sentencing, dismissals etc are in the court records.

The case where the prostitution charge was dropped to loitering would be a court decision, not a police decision.

Police reports contain arrest and citation records, they don't contain court records.
After someone is arrested, the courts take over.

The police report would only contain the arrest record for the DUI, marijuana and driving without a license.

 

[RandyMcDonald]

There are going to be some interesting questions.

1. How did Pamela get the surgery she did? How did she afford it?

2. What exactly happened to disrupt her links with her family? (I know, it was probably her transition, but still.) What was the theft accusation about?

3. What sorts of connections did she have locally.in Kentucky?

4. Why did she go to Florida? Did she have connections there?

The excellent post by Marzipanda above does create a plausible outline—Pamela may have been forced into sex work as the only way to finance her transition, it might actually have been the only job she could get in Kentucky—but the details could at least explain how she got down to Florida.