TX TX - Jennifer Barton, 20, Austin, 16 May 1976

[Diane Redfern]

 

[imstilla.grandma]

She went to the movies with a friend. They were last seen in the area of 11th Street and Waller talking to an unknown man. Barton was wearing a burgundy bodysuit, jeans, and sandals. She was possibly on the way to California.

Her case is one of many listed on the Black and Missing Foundation website, a nonprofit whose mission is to bring awareness to missing people of color and to provide resources to their communities.

"There are these stereotypes that are associated with people of color when they go missing. What we want everyone to see is that these are valuable members of our community. Race, gender and zip code should not be a barrier to law enforcement resources and media coverage," co-founder Derrica Wilson said.

Wilson says she started the foundation 15 years ago after she felt the case of Tamika Houston in South Carolina didn't get as much attention.

"When we started the organization in 2008, 30% of missing persons in the United States were persons of color, mainly Black men. Now we're dealing with 40% of missing people in the country are persons of color," Wilson said.

Austin woman missing for 47 years; nonprofit brings awareness to missing people of color

Jennifer Joyce Barton, 20, was last seen on May 16, 1976. Her case is one of many listed on the Black and Missing Foundation website. FOX 7 Austin's Angela Shen has the details.

www.fox7austin.com

 

[spartanx]

I'm curious to know who the unidentified man was... I mean, I imagine they didn't have him on tape, so who gave that detail? Weren't they identified simply because the person who witnessed it had never seen it before?
In any case, I tend to think that maybe the murder of his friend and the robbery are related. It's too bad that it happened "randomly" to someone. Things are not usually as random as we sometimes think...
I would like to know who exactly saw her talking to this man. Was it the friend he went to the movies with? Is it possible that the friend has some valuable information? Also, who reported him missing? ..
I hope that if she is still alive at 60, she has changed her life. From what little I can gather, her only real source of income was prostitution. I don't know if she was ever involved with drugs or not...
Unfortunately this case is one of the many that we will never know what happened... at least she did not leave small children...
either way
rest in peace

 

[Pennysmom1]

June 23, 2024

https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/austin/article/missing-black-women-texas-19513052.php

Jennifer Joyce Barton – The Charley Project

• Race Black
• Date of Birth 05/31/1955 (69)
• Age 20 years old
• Height and Weight 5'7, 135 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A burgundy body suit, blue jeans, and sandals.
• 
  
• Associated Vehicle(s) Large brown or tan van with a large whip antenna, teardrop-shaped side windows, a spare wheel on the back, and California license plates
• 
  
• Distinguishing Characteristics African-American female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Barton has a light, freckled complexion. There is a scar on the calf of her right leg, and her ears are pierced. Barton may go by her initials, J.J.

535DFTX - Jennifer Joyce Barton

Identifiers​

Dentals: Available
Fingerprints: Not Available
DNA: Available

 

[Bobby88]

I've been following this case off and on for the past few years and I have a few questions that MsATX might be able to answer (or not).

• Who exactly reported Jennifer missing and when? Was it the friend who allegedly last saw her? Was it her family (assuming they still communicated regularly)?
• Is there any information on this friend? I understand not broadcasting their name publicly, but to my knowledge, there's nothing about them anywhere. We don't even know if it was a man or woman. Given the lifestyle Jennifer led and some of the people she may have associated with, I wonder if this ambiguity may have been intentional for protection purposes.
• Are the articles about the Thomas Govea homicide available for viewing online? I'm curious if Jennifer was named outright as someone the police want to question as the summary in this thread seems to imply.

My main question is — was this friend ever looked at as a suspect? To me, their story — while not at all impossible — seems a little off. After encountering these two mysterious men, Jennifer informs this friend that she is going off with them in their van. If I'm understanding the Charley Project summary, a different friend apparently sees this van driving down the street but never sees Jennifer. If Jennifer was indeed in the van, and not seated up front, how COULD someone have seen her through a teardrop window? Jennifer apparently told people that she wanted to move west to California and coincidentally, this van just happens to have California plates.

Like I said, I don't think the story is entirely implausible. But the fact that the so-called friend who saw or heard any of this gives me pause. I could envision a set-up scenario with a story about mysterious strangers and a van being cooked up after the fact.