Identified! TX - Huntsville, 'Walker County Jane Doe', WhtFem 14-16, 91UFTX, Nov'80 #4 Sherry Ann Jarvis

[Springrain]

How many months were there between her last known contact and her body being found?

No specific date of last known contact was given that I could find. They said shortly after her 14th birthday was the last time they saw her which was March 1980.

 

[Nell91]

Thank you Springrain I missed that!

 

[Wossy]

What I want to know is when did they receive that letter? It sounds very similar to the letter Evelyn Colon’s family received after she was murdered that her killer wrote. Also both girls were in their teens and hung around the wrong people.

 

[Springrain]

We know for sure she ran away sometime between March to October 1980, but closer to the beginning of the year, so probably March/April. I would love to know when the letter to her family was sent, since it would help point to when she was in Colorado.

 

[Adrian_Almost_Sleuth]

I agree that her post mortem photos don't much resemble her in life. In my head, her nose was incredibly dainty, as was her chin. Just goes to show how much trauma can change a face

That was alway's Sherri's problem when she was a doe, she had sketches and reconstruction that were so different from one another. We didn't get one that was close to the post-mortem until Karl came along. Now we know he hit the nail on the head with the resemblance because those first one's didn't come close.

 

[Springrain]

What I want to know is when did they receive that letter? It sounds very similar to the letter Evelyn Colon’s family received after she was murdered that her killer wrote. Also both girls were in their teens and hung around the wrong people.

Oh, do you think her killer may have sent it after she died? interesting. Yeah, I really want to know when it was from.

 

[Wossy]

Oh, do you think her killer may have sent it after she died? interesting. Yeah, I really want to know when it was from.

yes the “I’ll contact you again between my 18th - 21st birthdays.” Sounds very weird and unsettling. That’s a strange thing to write to your family.

 

[sunnynz]

It could have been before NAMUS or the internet existed.

Did it say when they hired the PI?

 

[sunnynz]

I personally think its easy to see how she was missed. She was found far from home with nothing to identify her and the photos available of her in death aren't a glaring match to me of the photos of her we are seeing now. Couple that with the fact that resources then were nothing like we have now and I think we can cut everybody a little slack.
I wonder if her family have seen the photos while they were searching and discounted them as they do not represent Sherri how they remember her,so they didn't recognise her. They had no reason to think she would be in Texas and say they have no knowledge of anyone she may have known at the prison. Above all else I am sure they have spent the last 41 years hoping that she was alive and happily living her life somewhere.

I’m not placing any blame on the family. I’m more amazed that a private investigator couldn’t make the match. Although I’m from a place with one central system for police/missing persons databases/etc as opposed to states operating in silos.

 

[Adrian_Almost_Sleuth]

May Sherri rest in peace. This has been a LONG time coming and I'm glad her family gets the closure they deserve even though her end was a tragic and never should have happened. Can we also give, ONCE AGAIN, props to @othram. Seriously, you guys are changing the identification game time and time again. Someone should have you on retainer for your consistency alone.

 

[othram]

May Sherri rest in peace. This has been a LONG time coming and I'm glad her family gets the closure they deserve even though her end was a tragic and never should have happened. Can we also give, ONCE AGAIN, props to @othram. Seriously, you guys are changing the identification game time and time again. Someone should have you on retainer for your consistency alone.

You are very kind. We are excited to be involved.

 

[onceuponadecember]

As a historian, I guess it’s my time to shine (lol) so here’s a timeline of events so far:
(Please note that some of these dates and times are approximated)

• March 9, 1966- Sherri is born in either Virginia or Minnesota (probably the latter)
• c. 1966-1970- Sherri’s parents separate or divorce
• February 28, 1970- Sherri’s parents remarry
• April 10, 1971- Another sister is born
• October 20, 1974- Another sister is born
• 1979/1980- Sherri is removed from her parents’ custody
• c. March 1980- Sherri (probably) runs away from her housing location
• c. April 1980- Sherri sends a final letter to her mother from Denver, Colorado
• c. Sept 1980- Sherri gets her ears pierced
• October 31, 1980-
  • 6:30 PM- Sherri arrives at the South End Gulf Station
  • 8:30 PM- Sherri arrives at the Hitchin' Post Truck Stop
• November 1, 1980
  • (approximately) 3:20 AM- Sherri is killed by an unknown individual
  • 9:30 AM- Sherri's body is found

 

[Kudzu]

We appreciate the support. Lots more cases to come, but we recognize that this case was especially important to so many of you.

You’re a rockstar! THANK YOU

 

[iamnotagolem]

As a historian, I guess it’s my time to shine (lol) so here’s a timeline of events so far:
(Please note that some of these dates and times are approximated)

• March 9, 1966- Sherri is born in either Virginia or Minnesota (probably the latter)
• c. 1966-1970- Sherri’s parents separate or divorce
• February 28, 1970- Sherri’s parents remarry
• April 10, 1971- Another sister is born
• October 20, 1974- Another sister is born
• 1979/1980- Sherri is removed from her parents’ custody
• c. March 1980- Sherri (probably) runs away from her housing location
• c. April 1980- Sherri sends a final letter to her mother from Denver, Colorado
• c. Sept 1980- Sherri gets her ears pierced
• October 31, 1980-
  • 6:30 PM- Sherri arrives at the South End Gulf Station
  • 8:30 PM- Sherri arrives at the Hitchin' Post Truck Stop
• November 1, 1980
  • (approximately) 3:20 AM- Sherri is killed by an unknown individual
  • 9:30 AM- Sherri's body is found

Thanks for putting this together, why the Virginia or Minnesota? I’m not sure where the data is coming from but could it be Virginia, Minnesota? Just curious since there is a town in Minnesota called Virginia.

 

[onceuponadecember]

I personally disagree with the accepted time of death for Sherri - if she was found approximately 5 miles from her last known location (probably hitchhiking) then why do they think she died at around 3 AM?

 

[onceuponadecember]

Thanks for putting this together, why the Virginia or Minnesota? I’m not sure where the data is coming from but could it be Virginia, Minnesota? Just curious since there is a town in Minnesota called Virginia.

Because her father married in Virginia in 1960 and her parents remarried in Minnesota in 1970 - we don’t when exactly the family moved there.

 

[Friday Fan]

yes the “I’ll contact you again between my 18th - 21st birthdays.” Sounds very weird and unsettling. That’s a strange thing to write to your family.

Actually, that is something that I would have written to my parents...

My parents were strict and I contemplated many ways of emancipating myself from them. I could not wait to turn 18! I also contemplated running away until my 18th birthday. Another option was getting married. Lots of girls in my town got pregnant just to get away from their parents via getting married.

 

[onceuponadecember]

Actually, that is something that I would have written to my parents...

My parents were strict and I contemplated many ways of emancipating myself from them

I work with teenagers and preteens as a teacher, so I'll leave my input here for you guys-
This is actually pretty normal for kids their age, as this is the critical period where they transfer from more concrete thinking to abstract thinking and have more questions about their own thought processes. Many teenagers find more solutions to say a homework problem than their own emotional issues. Another thing we see among this age group is that the decision-making process becomes more influential in their daily lives (with either positive or negative outcomes).

So in "English", Sherri could've easily come up with such a phrase and made such an influential decision.

 

[Sweetluv]

We have waited a long time SHERRI! Such a beautiful young girl with her whole life ahead of her. Thank you Carl and Othram for your dedication to this case.
Thinking of the Jarvis family during this delicate time.
Yes, I'm grabbing a tissue...

 

[branmuffin]

yes the “I’ll contact you again between my 18th - 21st birthdays.” Sounds very weird and unsettling. That’s a strange thing to write to your family.

It sounds like the sender was relating to being an emancipated minor.