Identified! TX - Huntsville, 'Walker County Jane Doe', WhtFem 14-16, 91UFTX, 1 November 1980 - id'd November 2021 - Sherri Ann Jarvis (14)

[daisy6441]

I’ve always thought of the pullover and sandals as a partial hot day, perhaps October 31st 1980 was a warm day.

I thought they said a long sleeve pullover and a sweater?

 

[cherrymeg]

The lack of a purse or bag seemed strange to me too. Either she lost it or she wasn’t the kind of girl who liked carrying one. I think she must not have lived too far from Huntsville and thought she could get there and back quickly. It might have taken a lot longer than she expected once she left home.
As for the sweater it just depends. Some years it is hot as hell on Halloween and some years it’s super cold.

She could have had layers. I know some people aren't purse people. If she was traveling and had to stay overnight you would think you might bring a change of clothes. It's possible she had stuff stored somewhere. If people didn't mention her sweater being worn out or dirty-ish I would think she might not have been traveling that far. It's possible it took longer than planned like you said. If she was a run away she could have started farther away and had things stolen from her. It's sad thing that the people she got rides with might not have heard that she died or know they might have information that could help identify her.

 

[cherrymeg]

The waitress also said that she didn’t believe she was 19. I don’t know if she called LE to report a possible runaway.

There weren't amber alerts than. Drinking a milkshake and lying about your age isn't a crime.

 

[daisy6441]

10-29-80 High 54 degress Low 45 degrees, 10-30-80 High 60 degrees Low 37 degrees, 10-31-80 High 72 degrees Low 34 degrees

So the two days prior to her being first spotted in Huntsville it was pretty cool during the day and cold at night. The day she died it was warmer but if there was a breeze still not too hot for a sweater (at least in my opinion as I am sitting under a blanket with a sweater on and it is 74 degrees in my house ). The waitress said she looked like she might have slept in her clothes or been wearing them for a couple days.

 

[cherrymeg]

10-29-80 High 54 degress Low 45 degrees, 10-30-80 High 60 degrees Low 37 degrees, 10-31-80 High 72 degrees Low 34 degrees

So the two days prior to her being first spotted in Huntsville it was pretty cool during the day and cold at night. The day she died it was warmer but if there was a breeze still not too hot for a sweater (at least in my opinion as I am sitting under a blanket with a sweater on and it is 74 degrees in my house ). The waitress said she looked like she might have slept in her clothes or been wearing them for a couple days.

If she went to all the trouble of getting to the prison for a visit would she want to appear unkempt? She may not have been given a choice. Or she had stuff just not in the diner. If you travel from god knows where to see someone you might get an hour with even if it's a parent you would want to at least not smell or anything. JMO.

 

[daisy6441]

If she went to all the trouble of getting to the prison for a visit would she want to appear unkempt? She may not have been given a choice. Or she had stuff just not in the diner. If you travel from god knows where to see someone you might get an hour with even if it's a parent you would want to at least not smell or anything. JMO.

Its possible what she thought would be a day trip turned into a two day trip. If she came from a small town she might have had to walk a distance before she found someone to give her a ride.

 

[cherrymeg]

Its possible what she thought would be a day trip turned into a two day trip. If she came from a small town she might have had to walk a distance before she found someone to give her a ride.

Right. If she wasn't that far away and she was asking people in her neighborhood or nearby for a ride do you think that would have caught someone's attention? It would depend how far I guess.

 

[Feme98]

10-29-80 High 54 degress Low 45 degrees, 10-30-80 High 60 degrees Low 37 degrees, 10-31-80 High 72 degrees Low 34 degrees

So the two days prior to her being first spotted in Huntsville it was pretty cool during the day and cold at night. The day she died it was warmer but if there was a breeze still not too hot for a sweater (at least in my opinion as I am sitting under a blanket with a sweater on and it is 74 degrees in my house ). The waitress said she looked like she might have slept in her clothes or been wearing them for a couple days.

That's right, her clothing looked kinda dirty, specially the yellow pullover.

 

[daisy6441]

I have been reading old newspapers from around the time WCJD was killed. In August, Hurricane Allen hit Texas. In Port Aransas 488 homes and 31 businesses were damaged. The school had damage with an estimate of $173,000 to repair. It must have been completed quickly because they started school on September 2nd. Frustratingly, the Aransas Pass newspapers for 1980 are unavailable. I would assume they sustained less damage since the storm hit the island first. It would also be likely that their school would have started about the same time as PA ISD. There is probably no way to know when yearbook photos were taken. Since she died in October its possible she wasn't there long enough to even get a picture in the yearbook. The other possibility is that she wasn't enrolled in school. She could have been a dropout who moved to Aransas Pass with someone older or was sent to live with a relative. Since no one who lived there at the time seems to know her it stands to reason that she wasn't born there or didn't grow up there. I think when we do get an answer her story will be similar to Debra Jackson a.k.a Orange Socks. Family wasn't close and when she left home they just assumed she was out there living her life.

 

[T rex]

Google maps tells me it is about a 5 hour walk (abt 15 miles) from the Hitchin Post to the Ellis Unit. Only about 20 minutes by car. Do you think the waitress would have pointed this out to her? She might have been talking to people in the parking lot trying to get a ride because she knew she was so far away.

I have only read this thread sparingly so I don't know but has it been considered that this girl may have never had any intentions of going to the prison but needed to know where it was at because it was included in some other directions. You go past the prison, take the first road on the left and I'm the third house on the right, for example.
I know she told someone she had a friend there but she could have just been lying because she didn't want anyone to know where she was going or she simply could have meant that she had a friend close to there.
I feel like there's a decent chance this girl made it to her destination.

 

[daisy6441]

I have only read this thread sparingly so I don't know but has it been considered that this girl may have never had any intentions of going to the prison but needed to know where it was at because it was included in some other directions. You go past the prison, take the first road on the left and I'm the third house on the right, for example.
I know she told someone she had a friend there but she could have just been lying because she didn't want anyone to know where she was going or she simply could have meant that she had a friend close to there.
I feel like there's a decent chance this girl made it to her destination.

Its been suggested before. I wonder though if there was anything out there at the time? There are what looks like houses around it now but I wonder if the prison was built there because it was isolated?

 

[daisy6441]

Something I never paid attention to before: She was found Nov 1st but the Doe Network says she wasn't buried until January. Not really relevant but upsetting to me.

 

[Paul B.]

Princess Doe wasn't buried quickly, either, though.

 

[T rex]

Its been suggested before. I wonder though if there was anything out there at the time? There are what looks like houses around it now but I wonder if the prison was built there because it was isolated?

I think they did try to build most prisons in more remote areas but it wouldn't necessarily have to be all that close. How close or faraway something is depends solely on who you ask and where their standing at the time. If you live five miles away from a place you may consider that a long ways but if your giving directions to someone coming from a hundred miles away you may use that same place as a landmark to let them know they're getting close.
Nov 1 1980 was on a Saturday. Most prisons do have visitation days on weekends but I think you have to be on a list and be preapproved. Now I know this girl was young and maybe just didnt know any better and thought she could just pop up at a prison and take a visit whenever she wanted, I don't know but I still think it's possible she was going somewhere in the area and not to the prison itself.

 

[CCJD]

Something I never paid attention to before: She was found Nov 1st but the Doe Network says she wasn't buried until January. Not really relevant but upsetting to me.

It's not unusual to keep a UID at the morgue/M.E./Coroner's facility for a while if, for no other reason, than to allow time for family to come forward and identify him/her. Beth Doe & Baby weren't buried (the first time) for almost 7 years. Now that, IMO, is a little excessive.

 

[ISarahlouise]

Did they check the prisoners that were released on that day or around that same time

 

[sloane7777]

Did they check the prisoners that were released on that day or around that same time

I recall that they did , but no way to verify that.

 

[T rex]

A prison can employ a lot of people, I wonder if they checked all these out. I'm sure they probably did.

 

[daisy6441]

Could she have been going to the prison cemetery? Halloween night, not caring that it was already late. Maybe she was going to see someone she knew who was executed or died in prison?

EDIT: I located the cemetery and its no where near the prison like I assumed it was. Even today it seems like mostly farm land around the prison. A few houses around but not much else.

 

[daisy6441]

I found this article that suggests a link between WCJD and three other murders on I-45: Could 4 women's murders on the N. Freeway be connected?