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

[Wonder123]

So today I remembered that there was a murder of a 16 year old girl in Conroe in late August of 1980 that has never been solved. It took place about 30 minutes away from where WCJD was last seen. This poor girl's rape and strangulation was overshadowed by the fiasco that unfolded for years afterward that included dirty, racist cops and lawyers, the disappearance of evidence & the death penalty. Because what unfolded afterward was so prominently covered by the media, the best information I could find that's actually about her is on Find a Grave:

Cheryl Dee Fergeson - http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=33992186

She was killed about 2 months before WCJD - same M.O. There are two people suspected of committing the crime, but were not a focus at the time. Because the whole town basically immediately decided an innocent man was guilty, I have to wonder if police ever considered a possible connection between the 2 murders. This idea would be, of course, in contrast to the trucker idea and consider a local as a potential suspect.

While different cops (adjacent counties) would have investigated these two different murders, if you read about the overall case it can give you a bit of an idea of what criminal investigations looked like in the early 80's out here in the sticks

I did read through all the posts on this thread, but it's been a couple of weeks. Let me know if Cheryl has already been discussed.

 

[Springrain]

That sounds perfectly reasonable, then.

I never heard of Cheryl's case--how horrible! Since the crimes are so similar, and the towns are so close (33 mins according to Google Maps), there definitely could be a link.

BTW, Wonder123: you were the one who messaged KS, right? If so, did he answer?

 

[Wonder123]

Yes, that was me. No answer. After you posted that people were barraging tipsters with messages, I figure I'm probably not the only one who messaged him

Could be. If they have DNA from WCJD's sandals, and DNA from those two suspects, would be worth a check for sure.

 

[Springrain]

I truly hope they did get some DNA from her sandals; I read on NFM that they wouldn't publicly release whether they did or not.

I don't think they were talking about KS--I think they were talking about the lady who commented the tip about WCJD possibly being a girl she knew in middle school, NV.

 

[zelda_s]

After everything that happened concerning Kerry Graham, I am considering checking doe for missing persons reported to have gone missing after 1980. I'll let anyone know if I find anything of significance!

 

[EffyElsewhere]

When looking for possible matches, I always tend to look a few months after the found date of the UI just in case. I don't know how likely the date is off, but I always try to consider misinformation. Maybe there was an error while entering date, maybe the 'date missing' was actually entered as the date the report was filed, maybe they were purposely filed at a later date to throw off investigators (if the perp was a family member), ext.
JMO

 

[Springrain]

Ok--I found a slight possible.

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/3148dfca.html

Mary Jo Lee Long was not reported missing until 1988, so the date of disappearance could likely be off. Also, in the "Missing since", it says December 27, 1982, yet in the description on the same page it says the disappearance date is February 1982. I'd be surprised if her father's memory was sharp enough to pinpoint the exact day of disappearance. But, yeah, this is probably a stretch.

Her dentals are available in CODIS, but it wouldn't strike up a match since she was listed as missing after WCJD's death date. Her DNA and fingerprints are not.

 

[EffyElsewhere]

Here's an article about Mary Jo Lee Long's disappearance, it sounds like she left her mother's home to go live with her father on the December 27th date, and was reported missing from her father's on the February 22nd date. Here's a snip:

" By all accounts, months later, it appeared that Mary Jo chose to leave her home in Austin without her mother's permission to move in with her father in Gardena, California. There are school records that prove Mary Jo was enrolled at Gardena High School. It is recorded that she was last seen on February 22, 1982."

http://deaniepeters-missingangels.blogspot.com/2013/11/mary-jo-lee-long-missing-32-years.html

 

[Springrain]

Thanks, EffyElsewhere. Not her, then.

Besides her, on Doe, I could not find any plausible matches.

 

[zelda_s]

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/62dfin.html
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1016dfmd.html

 

[Springrain]

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/62dfin.html
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1016dfmd.html

Both girls have completed DNA is in CODIS, and since Ruthie has nuclear and mitochondrial DNA, it would strike up a match.

 

[zelda_s]

Gosh, I'm just constantly so saddened and frustrated by this case! LE, Medical Examiners and the public all put in so much effort yet she remains unidentified

 

[Springrain]

She was just a child, she didn't have as much of a chance to live! It's so horribly sad that she died like this and despite all efforts, she doesn't have so much as her name back...but we will keep trying. I'm hopeful that the articles will reach the right people.

 

[zelda_s]

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1026dfny.html
-Tammy Mahoney's case confuses me. It says she was killed but what substantiates that claim? It seems a bit confused but that might just be me. I think she looks a bit like Ruthie. I think this one is a very slim possibility, very slim, but who knows.

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1354dfaz.html -
Amy Yachimec has a 'gold chain' necklace. Some things don't match, but there seem to be very few details in her case, so it's possible some things are incorrect.


Looking back, into 1978 -

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2522dfor.html -
Ann Ellinwood. Same nose (ish), same dainty chin. Went missing at 12 years old, seen getting into a pickup truck with a known sex offender. Could've spent 2 years before she died being trafficked / abused.

 

[dizzigirl1]

Earlier in the thread, someone suggested Barbara Bruno missing since August 1980 with a picture taken in approx 1976. It's the chin and the eyes that draw me to her, and to Carl's beautiful art (have to call it that, some of the reconstructions are awesome- even under the saddest of circumstances for doing them) however, even though she is mentioned as a possibility on several threads, she doesn't appear to have one of her own here? I have manually searched 1980's missing persons and used advanced search, if anyone can find a thread or knows how to start one correctly? Is it worth starting? PS: thankyou in advance

 

[Springrain]

:thanksgiving:

Happy Thanksgiving, Ruthie/WCJD...I truly hope that you are home before the next one. :rose:

 

[Springrain]

I know most of my posts on this thread are very emotional but this is my main pet case, so it means a lot to me.

It's so heartbreaking to think that her surviving family members may be doing something as simple as eating dinner, when one of their children might say something that reminds them of something their sister/cousin said. Wow, she reminds me so much of {..}. And they have to carry that weight around, the weight of always wondering what happened to her, and never finding closure.

I am convinced that someone out there is still looking for her and misses her. She was well-cared for and she had nice clothes and jewelry; so someone had to have bought them for her. I am convinced there is a legitimate reason that she hasn't been identified; I wonder if the reports were purged.

Whatever the reason is, the main concern is she get her name back. Her case haunts me everyday. Her final hours were dreadful and I think of them too often. However, when she does get her name back, we can think about the brief life she did live. And, in that time, I hope she was a truly happy person.

 

[carbuff]

I agree with you that there's likely a legitimate reason why she hasn't been identified, and I think that's probably true of most of our unidentified people.

 

[Springrain]

I agree with you that there's likely a legitimate reason why she hasn't been identified, and I think that's probably true of most of our unidentified people.

Yes. People don't spend their lives unknown. They meet people at school or summer camp, some go to church etc. so someone had to know her.
But in those days especially, it was very common for the report to be purged/dismissed as a runaway, which I am guessing may have happened to Ruthie's MP report, as well as many other UIDs MP reports.
I think she hasn't been forgotten. And they may not even know her case file isn't active.

 

[carbuff]

Yes. People don't spend their lives unknown. They meet people at school or summer camp, some go to church etc. so someone had to know her.
But in those days especially, it was very common for the report to be purged/dismissed as a runaway, which I am guessing may have happened to Ruthie's MP report, as well as many other UIDs MP reports.
I think she hasn't been forgotten. And they may not even know her case file isn't active.

Yeah, exactly. And many of the cases that were properly reported were simply allowed to age out of the system, or records were lost in archives or purged after a certain number of years.

Another thing that happened in many states is that a person who was under 18 when reported missing was removed from the system after 18 or sometimes 21, when they became an adult. In those states all juvenile records must be removed and destroyed.