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

[Flonite]

Maybe she ventured out to visit her friend in the prison, with the intention to return to the shelter afterwards? I'm not sure how the shelter worked but maybe they were afforded some freedom to come and go.

 

[Onfortuneswheel]

Does anyone live near Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA? It looks like they have a VHS copy of the documentary.

I've continued digging through the newspaper. I found another article that says that kids can stay at the shelter for up to 30 days. That hardly seems long enough for someone to get on their feet.

 

[Kimm11]

That's amazing I definitely see a resemblance! Do you guys think it'll help if I ask around the youth shelter if anybody remembers her maybe a staff member, I'm in houston so I'm very close.

 

[rats]

Does anyone live near Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA? It looks like they have a VHS copy of the documentary.

I can request it through my uni if I can find a VHS player...

 

[Kimm11]

Do any of you think that "kitty" might be "kathy"?

 

[Laughing]

I was looking through old newspapers and saw an article in the Galveston Daily News from May 1980 that mentions a runaway girl at a local youth shelter named 'Kitty.' She was featured in a documentary about runaways and testified at congressional hearings on the "Runaway and Homeless Youth Act."

The image isn't the best and she's wearing sunglasses, but I can see some similarities in the nose, lips, and low hairline. I couldn't find anything else about Kitty or a better image of what, I believe, is Kitty testifying before Congress. Does anyone else see similarities?

The turned-up nose reminds me of "An-drey-ah" who stepped into traffic in California. IIRC, she told a tale of adoption gone awry.

Gotta find that thread, check her timeline....

:seeya:, Laughing

 

[Owutatangledweb]

While working on another case, I came across this picture of Lisa Sanders, murdered in FLA. To me she looks like an older version of Kathy,

http://floridakeyssheriff.blogspot.com/2012/10/sheriffs-office-features-missing.html

 

[rats]

Whether or not she's WCJD, I requested the VHS because I found a VHS player!! Will update.

 

[Lyssav]

I was looking through old newspapers and saw an article in the Galveston Daily News from May 1980 that mentions a runaway girl at a local youth shelter named 'Kitty.' She was featured in a documentary about runaways and testified at congressional hearings on the "Runaway and Homeless Youth Act."

The image isn't the best and she's wearing sunglasses, but I can see some similarities in the nose, lips, and low hairline. I couldn't find anything else about Kitty or a better image of what, I believe, is Kitty testifying before Congress. Does anyone else see similarities?

This article sounds like it could coincide with the story and picture at the motel, if I remember correctly they said "Kathy" was with a man and a woman at the motel..kitty was said to have been adopted at age 6 and suffered abuse from her adoptive parents, plausible she was looking for a biological parent at the prison. The article about kitty is dated 1980 and says she was 13, thats not old enough for high school, which would possibly place her in the 8th grade(middle school), if she was in school it is likely she would have attended central as it is only a couple blocks from the youth home. I am in Galveston, so I can rummage through school year books if they are available, but I'm not convinced i would find her in one of she only spent a short amount of time at the home. From what I understand it was a safe haven for runaways, and parents were notified if a child was there..from what I've read they were allowed up to a 30day stay.

 

[Lyssav]

I'm going to the library tomorrow to see if the microfiche will produce a clearer image.

 

[Lyssav]

Unless you guys are seeing something I am not, the article says she ran away from home and found everything that she was missing at the shelter. She didn't run away from the shelter, the shelter was her salvation.

At this point, I think we are looking for someone who hasn't been reported missing; considering the rule out list - one can only assume WCJD isn't listed as a missing person yet. There are also some striking similarities between Kitty and WCJD, the timeline is good and the location is too. I think the real question is where did Kitty runaway from? It is very possible Kitty could have come from the Rockport area, Galveston is just a few hours up the coast, and if you travel the Blue Water highway; it's a straight shot up the coast.

 

[rats]

Whether or not she's WCJD, I requested the VHS because I found a VHS player!! Will update.

so update: unfortunately, they can't send it... I don't know when the next time I can go out to PA is though.

 

[Kimm11]

At this point, I think we are looking for someone who hasn't been reported missing; considering the rule out list - one can only assume WCJD isn't listed as a missing person yet. There are also some striking similarities between Kitty and WCJD, the timeline is good and the location is too. I think the real question is where did Kitty runaway from? It is very possible Kitty could have come from the Rockport area, Galveston is just a few hours up the coast, and if you travel the Blue Water highway; it's a straight shot up the coast.

Maybe the shelter still has some paperwork on kitty. I'm not sure if they'll disclose any info though. I've been wanting to check that out.

 

[Lyssav]

Maybe the shelter still has some paperwork on kitty. I'm not sure if they'll disclose any info though. I've been wanting to check that out.

I passed on the article to WCJDs case manager, and to say that she is interested would be an understatement. The case manager is going to try to contact the youth home to see if she can find out some info. on Kitty, however; that paperwork is nearly 36years old, I would expect the youth center to keep all of the paperwork, but we had a major hurricane in 2008, so there is no guarantee those papers weren't waterlogged and thrown out. I still think someone that worked in the youth home would remember Kitty.

 

[Lyssav]

so update: unfortunately, they can't send it... I don't know when the next time I can go out to PA is though.

Darn! I was really hoping you'd be able to get ahold of the video, from what I've read Chris Jeans did an update of some of the girls 15months after the original film, if kitty is in that one it's safe to say she isn't WCJD. I've searched all over the Internet hoping to find it somewhere, no luck.

 

[anonymess]

I would really like to see what jewellery Kitty is wearing if we can get a clearer image/footage.

 

[anonymess]

I found some documentation that showed a company called Media Guild used to sell the documentary to schools. They were bought out by a company called AIMS which was then bought by Discovery Communications education division. Perhaps we could reach out to them? Also, sadly noted the director Chris Jeans passed away from cancer two years ago.

 

[Onfortuneswheel]

so update: unfortunately, they can't send it... I don't know when the next time I can go out to PA is though.

That's disappointing. I sent a message to the Wisconsin Historical Society to see if they have a copy since they have Robert MacNeil's papers. He narrated the documentary and the finding aid has a few mentions of Runaway. Even if they don't have a copy it's possible they have promotional images and documentation related to its production.

 

[SurfieTX]

It looks like the Trexler Library has a copy...

https://www.worldcat.org/title/runaway/oclc/27674984?referer=br&ht=edition

 

[Lyssav]

I would really like to see what jewellery Kitty is wearing if we can get a clearer image/footage.

The microfiche reader produced a much better image than what is available online, I can't tell if my eyes are playing tricks on me, but I think I see what looks like a rectangular pendant hanging from Kitty's neck.



^^this is the youth home Kitty stayed in, today the home is located directly across the street at 2902 Broadway.