LA LA- Emma Lee Henderson, 23, New Orleans, Sept 1, 1976

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  • #1
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MP57405
Emma Lee Henderson
Black / African American
Last Contact: September 1, 1976
Missing From: New Orleans, LA
Age: 23 Years

Height: 5' 1" - 5' 3"
Weight: 110 - 120 lbs
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown

(NAMUS)

Circumstances of Disappearance
...was last seen leaving her sisters home in New Orleans LA in early September 1976. A Missing person Article in the Times-Picayune dated 11/28/1976 stated Emma was visiting her sister.

** According to a NAMUS attached article she has a gold tooth...

(CHARLEY PROJECT)

Distinguishing Characteristics
...Henderson may use the first name Mary. She has a gold front tooth with a star engraved in the center. Her hair was in an afro at the time of her disappearance, and she occasionally wears brown wigs.

NAMUS

CHARLEY PROJECT
 
  • #2
I think her some of her physical descriptions match Samuel Little Mississippi victim...The age is definitely off, but he killed so many women his recollection could be off...

" Little said he met the woman in Gulfport, Mississippi, then killed her in Pascagoula, Mississippi, in 1977. It's possible she was from the area and worked at Ingalls Shipbuilding. The FBI has matched Little's confession to an unidentified murder victim."

SOURCE: BUZZFEED ARTICLE

I submitted her to LE for consideration...Afterwards I realized someone else on WS thinks she's possibly the Samuel Little victims to...
 

Attachments

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  • #3
I was looking to match a different a MP to the UID below...Then I came across Emma Henderson...When I read about the "gold tooth" I thought of the Samuel Little victim and started looking for the sketch..

I wonder if this UID could be Emma Lee Henderson...

UP4664
Black / African American
Date Found: February 11, 1978
Location: Houston, Texas

Estimated Age Group: Pre 30
Estimated Age: 15-25
Estimated Year of Death: 0-1978
Estimated PMI--
Height5' 6": (Estimated)
Weight: (Cannot Estimate)
 
  • #4
Her sister has submitted DNA and we are waiting for it to be processed with NAMUS!

Hopefully we will know if she is excluded or a match to our Escatawpa Jane Doe
NAMUS Case UP10369

Sorry for the format, I am on mobile.
 
  • #5
It's in the works Rookie hopefully will have an answer either way soon. LE entered her into NAMUS and got the ball rolling.
 
  • #6
Anyone get a response back?
 
  • #7
Search for everything even under gender unknown, gold tooth is a good identifier perhaps the killer would've decapitated her for that reason especially if they knew each other
 
  • #8
Emma lee henderson’s Namus profile indicates she has gold teeth with a start engraved in it and she was leaving her sisters house in New Orleans return to Pascagoula, MS.

This unidentified persons profile, found in Moss Point, MS, shows a picture of the MP with a gold tooth with a triangle engraved in
it indicates that she was found with a strand of Mardi Gras beads indicative of New Orleans.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
 
Last edited:
  • #9
Emma lee henderson’s Namus profile indicates she has gold teeth with a start engraved in it and she was leaving her sisters house in New Orleans return to Pascagoula, MS.

This unidentified persons profile, found in Moss Point, MS, shows a picture of the MP with a gold tooth with a triangle engraved in
it indicates that she was found with a strand of Mardi Gras beads indicative of New Orleans.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)


Yes that is quite a match. I work with the investigator on the Moss Point Jane doe case. We call her Escatawpa Jane Doe. We run her Facebook page for him. My husband is one of the investigators as well. Emma’s Family members have agreed to give DNA to put into NamUs. We are now just waiting for the local LE to meet up with them to do it. (They are in Baton Rouge I think). We feel there are ALOT of similarities but honestly it could be just as easily another fluke.

I will say this. Emma’s sister said
She had an injury of her leg when she was younger and walked with a slight limp or something similar. Our Jane Doe, from what the anthropologist said, had a deformity in her leg that could have made her wall with a limp. It is so much that is in common.
 
  • #10
Last updated June 10, 2021; date of birth added, distinguishing characteristics and details of disappearance updated.

https://charleyproject.org/case/emma-lee-henderson


Details of Disappearance
Henderson was last seen in New Orleans, Louisiana on September 8, 1976. She is from Pascagoula, Mississippi and was visiting her sister, who lived in the 2100 block of Lizardi Street. At about 5:00 p.m. that day, Henderson left the residence with a friend she'd met in Pascagoula, apparently to go back there. She has never been heard from again. Few details are available in her case. Pascagoula police are investigating.
 
  • #11
I found the same UID as Rookie and came here to post it. Here is the UID's Doe Network casefile.

1247UFMS - Unidentified Female
1247UFMS.jpg
1247UFMS1.jpg
1247UFMS2.jpg
1247UFMS3.jpg

Date of Discovery: December 27, 1977
Location of Discovery: Pascagoula, Jackson County, Mississippi
Estimated Date of Death: August to September 1977; possibly longer.
State of Remains: Skeletal
Cause of Death: Homicide

Physical Description
Estimated Age: 35-45 years old
Race: Black
Sex: Female
Height: 5'6" to 5'10"
Weight: Unknown
Hair Color: Unknown. A piece of hair found was plaited. She may have worn a wig.
Eye Color: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: She had some kind of surgery or handicap on one of her legs and an old ankle injury that would have caused her to slightly limp. She had a defect in her jaw joint that would have caused her pain when she ate. She gave birth to at least one child. Likely smoked or used tobacco.

Identifiers
Dentals: Available. All teeth were located except for one. Her front teeth were buck teeth with gold caps. One of the caps had a cut-out of a triangle. She had poor dental care.
Fingerprints: Not available.
DNA: Sample available - Not yet submitted.

Clothing & Personal Items
Clothing: A tattered piece of cloth that appears to be a shirt and a white shoe.
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: One strand of Mardi Gras beads.

Circumstances of Discovery
Three men rabbit hunting discovered the victim's skeletal remains in the vicinity of I-10 and Highway 63 (now Highway 613) before the I-10 road construction had been completed.

In 2018, convicted murderer Samuel Little confessed to murdering a woman in the area sometime before 1982. He described his victim as an attractive Black woman with a light complexion, who was employed as a pipe fitter at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula. He claimed she lived in Gulfport but was originally from Jackson.

He apparently met her at bar in Gulfport and shared a conversation with her. The pair later went to a boarding house the woman resided in. He described her as a "great person who would have made a wonderful wife." He took the woman out to a restaurant in Carver Village later that night. He eventually strangled her and left the body in a wooded area off of a dirt road.

The bar and boarding house described by Little have since been torn down.

Little elaborated that the woman he killed wore a wig and her natural hair was plaited underneath. Additional details he shared with officials were consistant with this unidentified person case, except for the fact that he was unable to remember the gold caps on her teeth.

Little has confessed to over 90 murders.

Investigating Agency(s)
Agency Name: Los Angeles County Coroner
Agency Contact Person: Darren Versiga
Agency Phone Number: 228-217-1308
Agency E-Mail: dversiga(at)cityofpascagoula.comv
Agency Case Number: 12271977

Agency Name: Mississippi Chief Medical Examiner
Agency Contact Person: Mark LeVaughn
Agency Phone Number: 601-987-1440
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: Unknown

Agency Name: Harrison County Sheriff's Office
Agency Contact Person: Kristi Johnson
Agency Phone Number: 228-896-3000
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: Unknown

Agency Name: Jackson County Sheriff's Department
Agency Contact Person: Mike Byrd
Agency Phone Number: 228-769-3068
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: Unknown

NCIC Case Number: Unknown
NamUs Case Number: 10369

Information Source(s)
NamUs
Clarion Ledger
FBI
Mississippi Missing and Unidentified
1247UFMS
 
  • #12
So the JD wasn't her but still lines up really well. This disappearance has Sam Little written all over it.
 
  • #13
  • #14
I found the same UID as Rookie and came here to post it. Here is the UID's Doe Network casefile.

1247UFMS - Unidentified Female
1247UFMS.jpg
1247UFMS1.jpg
1247UFMS2.jpg
1247UFMS3.jpg

Date of Discovery: December 27, 1977
Location of Discovery: Pascagoula, Jackson County, Mississippi
Estimated Date of Death: August to September 1977; possibly longer.
State of Remains: Skeletal
Cause of Death: Homicide

Physical Description
Estimated Age: 35-45 years old
Race: Black
Sex: Female
Height: 5'6" to 5'10"
Weight: Unknown
Hair Color: Unknown. A piece of hair found was plaited. She may have worn a wig.
Eye Color: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: She had some kind of surgery or handicap on one of her legs and an old ankle injury that would have caused her to slightly limp. She had a defect in her jaw joint that would have caused her pain when she ate. She gave birth to at least one child. Likely smoked or used tobacco.

Identifiers
Dentals: Available. All teeth were located except for one. Her front teeth were buck teeth with gold caps. One of the caps had a cut-out of a triangle. She had poor dental care.
Fingerprints: Not available.
DNA: Sample available - Not yet submitted.

Clothing & Personal Items
Clothing: A tattered piece of cloth that appears to be a shirt and a white shoe.
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: One strand of Mardi Gras beads.

Circumstances of Discovery
Three men rabbit hunting discovered the victim's skeletal remains in the vicinity of I-10 and Highway 63 (now Highway 613) before the I-10 road construction had been completed.

In 2018, convicted murderer Samuel Little confessed to murdering a woman in the area sometime before 1982. He described his victim as an attractive Black woman with a light complexion, who was employed as a pipe fitter at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula. He claimed she lived in Gulfport but was originally from Jackson.

He apparently met her at bar in Gulfport and shared a conversation with her. The pair later went to a boarding house the woman resided in. He described her as a "great person who would have made a wonderful wife." He took the woman out to a restaurant in Carver Village later that night. He eventually strangled her and left the body in a wooded area off of a dirt road.

The bar and boarding house described by Little have since been torn down.

Little elaborated that the woman he killed wore a wig and her natural hair was plaited underneath. Additional details he shared with officials were consistant with this unidentified person case, except for the fact that he was unable to remember the gold caps on her teeth.

Little has confessed to over 90 murders.

Investigating Agency(s)
Agency Name: Los Angeles County Coroner
Agency Contact Person: Darren Versiga
Agency Phone Number: 228-217-1308
Agency E-Mail: dversiga(at)cityofpascagoula.comv
Agency Case Number: 12271977

Agency Name: Mississippi Chief Medical Examiner
Agency Contact Person: Mark LeVaughn
Agency Phone Number: 601-987-1440
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: Unknown

Agency Name: Harrison County Sheriff's Office
Agency Contact Person: Kristi Johnson
Agency Phone Number: 228-896-3000
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: Unknown

Agency Name: Jackson County Sheriff's Department
Agency Contact Person: Mike Byrd
Agency Phone Number: 228-769-3068
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: Unknown

NCIC Case Number: Unknown
NamUs Case Number: 10369

Information Source(s)
NamUs
Clarion Ledger
FBI
Mississippi Missing and Unidentified
1247UFMS
He couldn’t remember her teeth because he was staring at her neck.
 
  • #15
  • #16
Emma is still missing

1738201773144.png



added 1/23/25

Distinguishing Marks/Features: possible scar on unknown ankle due to being fractured, walks with slight limp.

Identifiers​

Dentals: Gold cap on her front tooth with a star engraved in the center.
Fingerprints: Unknown
DNA: Available
 
  • #17
3 Unidentified Person Exclusions
1738202473485.jpeg
 

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