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

[fhesse]

Maslow's Heirachy of Needs tells me that she was not thinking of horses while she was on the run. The family is remembering the simpler times in her life when she did enjoy horses.

Good point. I have no idea what life is like on the run, but I imagine it's pretty tough to say the least. Going to a rodeo show on the weekend is a luxury you can hardly afford when you have to worry about where you're going to sleep the next night and making sure you're not going to get raped.

 

[Friday Fan]

All it would take is one link, and bam.

Yep

 

[PuzzlinEvidence]

But then Sherri wasn’t found with any clothing

The sandals were found with her though, that's how they linked her almost conclusively to the girl seen in the Hitchin' Post.

 

[Beekarina]

The sandals seem to me exactly like something a 14 yo girl who wanted to seem older would have. We established they were likely Candies, which was a very trendy brand at the time. (I'm a few years younger, and remember the ads everywhere.) Those slip on Dr. Scholl's sandals were another. Totally impractical if you were on the run, walking, hitching rides, so probably someone with more life experience would have worn more practical shoes. A young teen though? Especially one going to meet someone? They would have wanted to look cute, IMO.

 

[Kiranerys]

One thing we do not know, is how much older the males involved in criminal activity they were though. One of my sisters went through some stuff when she was 14, and had a summer where she basically refused to come home. Her boyfriend's mom at the time was contributing to it, long story, but things happen. Middle class family, she ran track, was an honor student, just decided she was in love with a guy a few years older who was mixed up in stuff. I believe the boyfriend was 16, but I'm sure he associated with people in their 20s, so by default, so did she. His mother absolutely associated with criminal elements. My point is just to demonstrate how easily this could happen. All it would take is one link, and bam.


Also, in Texas, at least now, you can be certified as an adult for serious crimes at 14. They house the under 18 yos separately. I actually found mention of moving these "youthful offenders" who are classified as adults to the Ellis Unit while looking for info about this case. It was done recently though. I do not believe there were teens there at the time of Sherri's murder.

I am certain that I read somewhere,possibly in the older threads here,that the last person released shortly before Sherri was found was a 19 yr old. Sadly I have no clue where to start looking for this info or where I saw it so please take this as complete hearsay and speculation by me.

 

[mastiphal25]

I, too, think she spent some time in Aranasas Pass in 1980. It's been a while but I vaguely remember this woman saying she recognized her, on WWWCJD. She said she recalls her staying with an "older" couple in a house on their street during the summer of 1980 and that she had never seen her in AP before, nor has she ever seen her there again. I wish I could find the particular comment. Might be another red herring, though

 

[Beekarina]

I, too, think she spent some time in Aranasas Pass in 1980. It's been a while but I vaguely remember this woman saying she recognized her, on WWWCJD. She said she recalls her staying with an "older" couple in a house on their street during the summer of 1980 and that she had never seen her in AP before, nor has she ever seen her there again. I wish I could find the particular comment. Might be another red herring, though

Hopefully this woman will pass that info on to law enforcement if she has not already. It sounds fairly specific, given a street is mentioned.

I don't want to get way out there theorizing, but staying with an older couple as a room and board in exchange for housework arrangement seems possible, especially if they were somehow connected to people she met/knew. They might have been sympathetic to a runaway, heard a story that was half-true, believed she was older. A situation like this would also explain Sherri still being in good health.

 

[mastiphal25]

Hopefully this woman will pass that info on to law enforcement if she has not already. It sounds fairly specific, given a street is mentioned.

She did, but mind you, that was some 3 years ago. Not sure if the SO ever did something about it, though.

 

[mastiphal25]

Also, has anyone considered the possibility that the "bad guys" she hung out with may have been bikers? That would explain the distances she travelled. She didn't necessarily have to hitchhike across the country

 

[doyoulovemepfg]

I believe this is an unfortunate possibility. I found old newspaper articles mentioning a string of women in the area at that time who were beaten in the face , strangled and sexually assaulted with an object but not raped and found dumped nude. It’s definitely a very real possibility.

Call this into the Texas Rangers if you haven't already.

 

[Rbkidk]

Might be a good hit to re-discover the I-45 Forum, especially these posts:

COD: Beating or Blunt Force Trauma
COD: Strangulation

Victims found with beating or blunt force trauma/strangulation as their cause of death alongside I-45. Our girl is listed on the second post

 

[fhesse]

I am looking for a newspaper article from a few years ago and can't find it. It was about the former lead investigator in her death who is now retired but still working on her case. The article contained two unique pieces of information. First, it contained the only mention of another witness who saw a teenage girl matching her description talking to young men in a station wagon. While this was fairly vague, it was the only indication that she might have left the truck stop alive. I personally believe she was killed by a truck driver, so I don't know what to make of this witness, but it is an interesting observation. The other piece of information was about the inmates at the prison. In the article, he stated that there was basically only one person that they suspected of being their contact, but he stonewalled them. I find that fascinating, because it suggests that they had some idea what she was looking for in the prison.

Has someone seen the article and knows where to find it?

 

[Rbkidk]

Her alleged BFF says that she was also taken away from her family months prior Sherri's disappearance (source: FB post on WWWCJD)
Maybe she doesn't have the exact leads, but she could know something about those "bad guys", especially if she 1. was her best friend and 2. she was also taken away for truancy.

 

[Springrain]

I still find it hard to believe that Sherri knew someone who would've been charged with crimes that would have resulted in incarceration in the Ellis Unit. I just find it unlikely that a young girl barely out of middle school was hanging around with the type of prisoners that go to Ellis, i.e. murderers. I know she knew some sketchy people, but there's a far cry from things like drugs and petty crime to capital murder.

I, too, think she spent some time in Aranasas Pass in 1980. It's been a while but I vaguely remember this woman saying she recognized her, on WWWCJD. She said she recalls her staying with an "older" couple in a house on their street during the summer of 1980 and that she had never seen her in AP before, nor has she ever seen her there again. I wish I could find the particular comment. Might be another red herring, though

I never saw this comment before. This was 3 years ago, you said? Sometime during 2018/2019ish? Very interesting. I think there is something there with the Aransas Pass/Rockport connection, even though she was from Minnesota.

 

[mastiphal25]

I never saw this comment before. This was 3 years ago, you said? Sometime during 2018/2019ish? Very interesting. I think there is something there with the Aransas Pass/Rockport connection, even though she was from Minnesota.

Yep, maybe even earlier. It's under one of the anniversary posts Carl used to post. I'll try to find it during the weekend.

EDIT: Oh wow, there's 9,200 comments under it. That might take a while

 

[onceuponadecember]

Yep, maybe even earlier. It's under one of the anniversary posts Carl used to post. I'll try to find it during the weekend.

EDIT: Oh wow, there's 9,200 comments under it. That might take a while

I’m glad she has all that love from Facebook. Kudos to you for being willing to search that comment section.

 

[mastiphal25]

I’m glad she has all that love from Facebook. Kudos to you for being willing to search that comment section.

It's next to impossible but @CarlK90245 probably knows what/who I'm talking about. I also think it's one of the leads Eric (you know, the guy you all hate so much, the Night Wind) followed up on and it took him nowhere

 

[haroldchasen]

Yikes! Post the article, if you find it!

I haven’t been able to find the old article yet, I will keep looking though, but here is some information on the idea that they think she was the victim of a serial killer. They think that there were several I45 serial killers, but several of these women were not raped, but sexually assaulted with an object, strangled , beaten and dumped nude. Another note is that she had a bite mark or bite marks on her.
“Unknown Doe - Age about 14 to17, Caucasian, brunette. Dumped on I-45 about five miles north of Huntsville on November 1, 1980. She was nude, had been strangled with pantyhose and had human bites on her body. Described as 5'4" tall, 110 pounds. A truckdriver found her body.”
I-45 Victims

And Wikipedia: “In 2017, a theory arose that Jarvis may have been killed by the same perpetrator known to have murdered three other females in 1980 whose bodies were also discarded alongside Interstate 45. Only two of these four victims have been identified, and all had been strangled.”
Murder of Sherri Jarvis - Wikipedia

 

[Beekarina]

Is there more information anywhere about the truck driver who found Sherri? Assuming they were long cleared, and possibly now deceased as well. Did he just happen to pull over at/near that spot, or did he see her from his vehicle while driving down the highway at speed? (She was nude, face down, 20 feet off the road.)

I remember seeing photos/video from Carl's visit, but am unclear if this was a common place for people to pull over back then? Was it just coincidence?

 

[Cupofcare]

I have googled Stillwater and it looks like a fairytale pretty place...I can't imagine wanting to leave the area behind. But then I know pretty places don't always have a lot of opportunities and stuff going on, sometimes they are just pretty and that's it. Sherri was found close to the truck stop...that seemingly means that a) she was probably captured and killed nearby. I've wondered if maybe someone got her into an old cabin nearby or something. Or b) she was killed further away ( maybe even near the prison ) but the perp had asked her who the last people were that she spoke to. She maybe said "the people at the truck stop". Maybe the perp dumped her there to attract attention back to the truck stop / truckers. Sherri also sounds a bit similar to Shirley and someone from the prison was fascinated by people named Shirley