TX TX - Huntsville, 'Walker County Jane Doe', WhtFem 14-16, 91UFTX, Nov'80 #3 *NAME NOT RELEASED*

[Beekarina]

That lyric is really interesting! And a pretty young girl rebelling against something, or running from something/someone certainly would have been welcome to tag along with slightly older kids.....

 

[carbuff]

There was a horror movie that started with some kid's big brother sneaking them into Death Row to look at the execution chamber.

Is there a college in Huntsville?

 

[MadMcGoo]

There was a horror movie that started with some kid's big brother sneaking them into Death Row to look at the execution chamber.

Is there a college in Huntsville?

Sam Houston State University.

 

[carbuff]

Sam Houston State University.

Huh. That looks like it's right across the street from the prison, basically.

So smooth-talking college guy invites cute high school girl to a Halloween party and says they're going to party right under the windows of the death unit.

Fight with mother/family, maybe, she walks out, hitches a ride to Huntsville and runs into bad people. Family back home thinks she just ran away and never reports her missing.

Maybe? I dunno.

 

[MadMcGoo]

Huh. That looks like it's right across the street from the prison, basically.

So smooth-talking college guy invites cute high school girl to a Halloween party and says they're going to party right under the windows of the death unit.

Fight with mother/family, maybe, she walks out, hitches a ride to Huntsville and runs into bad people. Family back home thinks she just ran away and never reports her missing.

Maybe? I dunno.

Yeah, it’s real close. I also think it’s entirely possible she had some connection to the University. Hopefully she’s identified soon and we’ll find out!

 

[Beekarina]

Huh. That looks like it's right across the street from the prison, basically.

So smooth-talking college guy invites cute high school girl to a Halloween party and says they're going to party right under the windows of the death unit.

Fight with mother/family, maybe, she walks out, hitches a ride to Huntsville and runs into bad people. Family back home thinks she just ran away and never reports her missing.

Maybe? I dunno.

This also fits the fairly common theme of the era of divorced parents, teens having a lot of freedom, everyone "finding themselves", etc.

Take Sandra Morden, "Fly Creek Jane Doe", another young girl who was unidentified for so long, and it seems as though no one really knows/remembers anything about her. Yet, look at her photos and you see another very pretty, healthy looking young teen. So sad...Maybe WCJD is similar to her case??

 

[carbuff]

This also fits the fairly common theme of the era of divorced parents, teens having a lot of freedom, everyone "finding themselves", etc.

Take Sandra Morden, "Fly Creek Jane Doe", another young girl who was unidentified for so long, and it seems as though no one really knows/remembers anything about her. Yet, look at her photos and you see another very pretty, healthy looking young teen. So sad...Maybe WCJD is similar to her case??

So sad indeed, and yes, WCJD could be similar. That flippant reply to the waitress sure doesn't sound like a girl who was on good terms with her parents.

 

[Sweetluv]

I often thought the remark she made to the waitress, "who cares," reminded me of something a young girl might say who asked her parents or guardian for a ride to the prison and they said, NO. So she had a bit of an attitude when the waitress started asking her personal questions...could be why she was hitchhiking (?)
Question still remains, what was the motivation to get to this prison? Would love to know if any workers or inmates are alive today...need to be requisitioned.

 

[T rex]

I often thought the remark she made to the waitress, "who cares," reminded me of something a young girl might say who asked her parents or guardian for a ride to the prison and they said, NO. So she had a bit of an attitude when the waitress started asking her personal questions...could be why she was hitchhiking (?)
Question still remains, what was the motivation to get to this prison? Would love to know if any workers or inmates are alive today...need to be requisitioned.

I think the "who cares" remark simply meant "none of your business".
Which one of us hasn't used this same reply when we thought someone was asking too many questions? I know I have.

 

[Sweetluv]

T rex...I can see your point too..
She answered all of the other questions the waitress asked..so depending on the order of the questions, either she got tired of answering the questions and responded as she did...or, this particular question struck a sore spot.
She was witnessed at two different restaurants/truck stops...does anyone know if BOTH witnesses were shown the deceased pics or just the waitress? Any theories on why her clothes were not left behind but shoes were?

 

[T rex]

T rex...I can see your point too..
She answered all of the other questions the waitress asked..so depending on the order of the questions, either she got tired of answering the questions and responded as she did...or, this particular question struck a sore spot.
She was witnessed at two different restaurants/truck stops...does anyone know if BOTH witnesses were shown the deceased pics or just the waitress? Any theories on why her clothes were not left behind but shoes were?

I suppose the answer to "who cares?" could be "not me" (me being the one that asked).
In other words maybe WCJD didn't care if her mother knew where she was at or not.

IIRC, the witness at the first store made a positive identification but the waitress was only able to say that the victim fit the description of the girl she had talked to.

I guess I don't really have a solid theory myself.
I know many theorize that it was a truck driver and I think that is still a possibility. I also think it's possible that someone wants us to think that.
Most truck drivers that committed crimes like this got away with it because they didn't just dump the victim on the side of an interstate just a few miles from a truck stop that not only the victim was last seen at but they themself would have also been seen. If a truck driver was responsible I feel like WCJD would have been found hundreds if not a thousand miles away and a connection to the girl in Huntsville would have never been made.

 

[Beekarina]

Interesting points.

"Who cares?" may have also been false bravado. Like, don't go asking how old I am, because I am all grown up and definitely not about to admit that I am in over my head out here wandering alone like this.

Edited to add: A teen with depression might not care either, especially in the moment. I just had the thought to wonder if WCJD could have left a mental health facility? It would fit the middle class appearance...Just a thought

 

[Ajaygee11]

Interesting points.

"Who cares?" may have also been false bravado. Like, don't go asking how old I am, because I am all grown up and definitely not about to admit that I am in over my head out here wandering alone like this.

Edited to add: A teen with depression might not care either, especially in the moment. I just had the thought to wonder if WCJD could have left a mental health facility? It would fit the middle class appearance...Just a thought

That is a good thought. If she had left a mental health facility wouldn’t that have been reported to the police in the county it happened in?

 

[Beekarina]

That is a good thought. If she had left a mental health facility wouldn’t that have been reported to the police in the county it happened in?

I hope so!

Not the best developed theory. I'm really just throwing my thoughts out there. Another one was to wonder if those schools for "troubled kids" were common then? (I think they might have been? ) Similar to the one Paris Hilton spent time in, and called out. Could WCJD have been a troubled young girl from a family who was fed up, or hiding behavior they were embarrassed by?

The cold case I am reminded of here is Julie Soracco, whose grandfather was a prominent physician in the small town where she went missing from, and apparently did not want her case publicized at the time. Julie had been in a foster situation, and for anyone unfamiliar was not reported missing until July of 2019, even though she went missing around August of 1977.

 

[Beekarina]

I'm assuming the troubled kids school was looked at long ago? I do remember reading about foster situations or homes for kids who were orphans or something along those lines? I don't think I recall anything like a juvenile behavioral rehab program though?

 

[Sweetluv]

Agreed Beekarina!...I mentioned a while back our girl reminded me of Julie Soracco....appearance and possible similar living situation. I unfortunately think she was not reported missing. However, she was well nourished and clean according to the autopsy report.
Do we know how much publicity this case got in the beginning ? Also, what, if any, DNA was collected and the bite mark....would like to know when was the last time this was run through the system?

 

[carbuff]

That is a good thought. If she had left a mental health facility wouldn’t that have been reported to the police in the county it happened in?

Unlikely to have been reported unless they thought she was going to start murdering people in their sleep or something.

At the time, we all "knew" (so who knows what the actual number was) that people ran away all the time. And also that sometimes families would go to check on their loved one and the facility would say, "Oh, they ran away a couple of months ago."

 

[Beekarina]

Unlikely to have been reported unless they thought she was going to start murdering people in their sleep or something.

At the time, we all "knew" (so who knows what the actual number was) that people ran away all the time. And also that sometimes families would go to check on their loved one and the facility would say, "Oh, they ran away a couple of months ago."

This is good info, and really sad. I knew a few people who had short stays maybe 10 years after WCJD was murdered, but in 1980 I was still pretty young.

 

[Beekarina]

Agreed Beekarina!...I mentioned a while back our girl reminded me of Julie Soracco....appearance and possible similar living situation. I unfortunately think she was not reported missing. However, she was well nourished and clean according to the autopsy report.
Do we know how much publicity this case got in the beginning ? Also, what, if any, DNA was collected and the bite mark....would like to know when was the last time this was run through the system?

I also wondered if Julie was WCJD for awhile. I decided she probably was not, but hers is another case I would really love to see solved.

 

[carbuff]

Julie Elizabeth Soracco – The Charley Project

Julie, for those who aren't familiar with her case.

Some of her photos do show a resemblance to WCJD and if she ran away, the timeline is plausible, though she would be at the upper end of WCJD's estimated age.