Identified! TX - Pecos, WhtFem, 17-20, UP13480, in motel swimming pool Jul'66 - Jolaine Hemmy

[othram]

No luck finding more photos of her, but if she looks anything like the other women in her family, she definitely fits Doe’s description! Her parents and several siblings have since died, but Lynn has one biological sister still alive and looking for her.

Do you think this living sister, or anyone in her family, has DNA data from an ancestry testing company? If so...

 

[MadMcGoo]

Do you think this living sister, or anyone in her family, has DNA data from an ancestry testing company? If so...

I'm not sure. I couldn't find much aside from the post I found her on. Here's the link to the Facebook page. Her initials are CO.

Facebook Groups
https://www.facebook.com/groups/448770256060890/permalink/647947872809793
Let me know if this helps!

ETA: I have no clue how to link it properly. This might just be the group. If so, it's a post from August 25th about a documentary "Missing 411"...

 

[othram]

I'm not sure. I couldn't find much aside from the post I found her on. Here's the link to the Facebook page. Her initials are CO.

Facebook Groups
Let me know if this helps!

Thank you!

 

[branmuffin]

The thing about drowning - it's called the silent death.

People who are drowning don't yell out, they don't raise their arms waving madly, they don't splash about drawing attention to themselves and they don't scream.

Something happened to this girl moments before she was found unresponsive in the pool.

 

[dotr]

The thing about drowning - it's called the silent death.

People who are drowning don't yell out, they don't raise their arms waving madly, they don't splash about drawing attention to themselves and they don't scream.

Something happened to this girl moments before she was found unresponsive in the pool.

Rbbm. ITA!
Actually wondering if she was given/ingested something just prior to entering the water which caused her to scream (poison pain?) then die.
The guy she came with meanwhile, is on standby to make sure it happens, then takes off.
speculation, imo.

 

[MadMcGoo]

I’m not entirely convinced anyone heard screams or saw waving arms. I’m quoting an earlier comment because it points out perfectly several of the inconsistencies.

Details are all over the place, depending on the source. I seldom see so much variance from article to article or account to account. One article says the couple initially went swimming together. But the vast majority don't mention him swimming at all. Some accounts place time she was discovered at 4:00 while others have it at 5:30. There are reports that a hotel maid and a patron rushed to the pool after hearing her screams. Other accounts indicate that a maid walking past the pool saw her motionless body at the bottom of the pool. One version has the "husband" quickly notified and helping to pull her from the pool, while others say the 16 year old granddaughter of the motel owner was the one who jumped in and pulled the girl out, after the maid and the patron had rushed to the pool after hearing the screams. Some accounts say scream singular, while others say her screams reverberated throughout the complex.

One article says 2000-3000 people viewed the body, while another says only 50 people attended the funeral/burial. I suppose both of those could align. I was quite surprised by the 2000-3000 reference.

The most interesting twist I saw was one account indicating the "husband" initially left the motel, before returning to retrieve the registration slip. That indicates to me that he was initially panicking but then composed himself enough to think through the particulars of concealing his identity.

I've seen prostitute speculated elsewhere. That makes little sense, given the afternoon swim. Also the perfect teeth don't tilt in that direction, although that is more random and she was very young.

Regardless, the best contact seems rather obvious. The motel owner's name is within the 1966 articles. His granddaughter was 16 years old at the time so only 69 now, if still alive. She might be able to reconstruct which version is correct, and anything else she might remember about the couple and the event.

At least they know where this Jane Doe is buried. Lots of pictures of her well-marked grave site, in case DNA is sought. I remember other low population cases like one on I-40 from the late '70s in which there are old articles regarding the case but authorities don't know where she was buried. I think that was Guadalupe, New Mexico.

 

[SisterGrimm]

I’m not entirely convinced anyone heard screams or saw waving arms. I’m quoting an earlier comment because it points out perfectly several of the inconsistencies.

Well, from unfortunate personal experience when a mentally ill "friend" tried to drown me in her pool she pretended she was drowning and caught me off guard. This guy sounds like he was pretty strong. Another thing is because I wasn't sure if it was a bad joke or not I didn't yell immediately but I eventually did because she continuously pulled my head down under the water and kept it down. The only way I could escape was eventually grabbing her head and kicking her to reach the edge of the pool.

If Jane Doe mustered a yell and waved her arms someone might have seen it through a window but probably didn't see the criminal committing the crime in time. Doe was probably jumping from the bottom of the pool to get enough air.
(From my experience) I did that and it was kind of instinctual for me.

Has anyone posted a picture of the motel? An article from 2019 has another account:

"About 2 p.m. July 5, 1966, the woman, believe to be between 17-20 years old, checked into the hotel with a man roughly age 25 under the names 'Mr. and Mrs. Russell Battoun.'

While the man was napping, the woman went to the pool, where an employee found her lifeless body. As she was being taken to the hospital, the slender, blonde-haired man checked out of the hotel, drove off in a late model sedan and disappeared, according to a news release from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children."
So did she drown by "Russell Battoun's" hand or did she drown on her own while he was sleeping? I saw a detail I was confused about and that's what she was wearing at the time of her death. She was wearing a pair of dark shorts and a flowered blouse according to this article: Pecos police continue search for woman's identity, do you recognize her?
But in other accounts like NamUs she was wearing a red bathing suit and her shorts/blouse was located near the body.

 

[Melt71]

She was wearing a pair of dark shorts and a flowered blouse according to this article: Pecos police continue search for woman's identity, do you recognize her?
But in other accounts like NamUs she was wearing a red bathing suit and her shorts/blouse was located near the body.

An important distinction - someone who deliberately removes their clothing and enters a swimming pool in their bathing suit indicates something likely different than someone who is in the water fully clothed IMHO.

 

[MadMcGoo]

Again, the clothing is information that has been inconsistent. I tend to believe that she was found in the pool wearing her bathing suit and the other clothing was either found near her, in her room, or she was seen wearing it at some point that day.

I imagine it being a small motel and the guests probably didn’t see much, if anything. Especially if nothing seemed amiss at the time. After the fact I’m sure people wanted to help and tried their best to recall details. It was most likely very hot there. If people weren’t at the pool I’m sure they were inside trying to stay cool.

I’d like to believe this was a horrible accident and the man with her simply panicked, but it’s hard to tell. This is such a mystery and the varying accounts of what happened don’t make figuring it out any easier.

 

[Bit of hope]

Again, the clothing is information that has been inconsistent. I tend to believe that she was found in the pool wearing her bathing suit and the other clothing was either found near her, in her room, or she was seen wearing it at some point that day.

I imagine it being a small motel and the guests probably didn’t see much, if anything. Especially if nothing seemed amiss at the time. After the fact I’m sure people wanted to help and tried their best to recall details. It was most likely very hot there. If people weren’t at the pool I’m sure they were inside trying to stay cool.

I’d like to believe this was a horrible accident and the man with her simply panicked, but it’s hard to tell. This is such a mystery and the varying accounts of what happened don’t make figuring it out any easier.

I totally agree with this line of thinking. I also think this was an accident. Her companion leaving is a sign of very bad character, but I don't think he did something to her. In all the inconsistent stories there is nothing that points to that. I just wish he was man enough to come forward after all this years, maybe even send a anonymous letter. Him not doing that is consistent with being a very selfish and irresponsible person. What could ever be so important to hide, making you leave a human being behind like that? I tend to use some other words for him, but I will keep it decent. But then again, giving him the benefit of the doubt...he was young at the time and maybe he wasn't able to do the act of humanity, because he died early.

 

[othram]

I totally agree with this line of thinking. I also think this was an accident. Her companion leaving is a sign of very bad character, but I don't think he did something to her. In all the inconsistent stories there is nothing that points to that. I just wish he was man enough to come forward after all this years, maybe even send a anonymous letter. Him not doing that is consistent with being a very selfish and irresponsible person. What could ever be so important to hide, making you leave a human being behind like that? I tend to use some other words for him, but I will keep it decent. But then again, giving him the benefit of the doubt...he was young at the time and maybe he wasn't able to do the act of humanity, because he died early.

We are more likely to find her identity at this point

 

[Bit of hope]

We are more likely to find her identity at this point

I believe in the new technology, it will catch up with time and info lost. Her companion, not that relevant anymore. It would be fabulous if you succeeded. I just wait patiently.

 

[othram]

I believe in the new technology, it will catch up with time and info lost. Her companion, not that relevant anymore. It would be fabulous if you succeeded. I just wait patiently.

We will keep everyone posted as we coordinate with NCMEC!

 

[MadMcGoo]

I have a very good feeling about this one!

 

[SisterGrimm]

I totally agree with this line of thinking. I also think this was an accident. Her companion leaving is a sign of very bad character, but I don't think he did something to her. In all the inconsistent stories there is nothing that points to that. I just wish he was man enough to come forward after all this years, maybe even send a anonymous letter. Him not doing that is consistent with being a very selfish and irresponsible person. What could ever be so important to hide, making you leave a human being behind like that? I tend to use some other words for him, but I will keep it decent. But then again, giving him the benefit of the doubt...he was young at the time and maybe he wasn't able to do the act of humanity, because he died early.

He is either living with guilt after panicking over her death or he thought everything was sorted out and tried to forget. During that time people were known for dropping stressful situations and moving on (or minding their own business for social reasons). They may not have actually been married or they were eloping. Maybe he went back to his life.
I tried to find his name on classmates but I haven't had any luck.

 

[Melt71]

We will keep everyone posted as we coordinate with NCMEC!

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Well I’m not in the US but doesn’t NCMEC work with missing children?

 

[Dylansmom08]

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Well I’m not in the US but doesn’t NCMEC work with missing children?

Yes NCMEC is National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

 

[othram]

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Well I’m not in the US but doesn’t NCMEC work with missing children?

Take a look at this: Help ID Me

 

[Bit of hope]

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Well I’m not in the US but doesn’t NCMEC work with missing children?

Yes, that's correct. It sounds like you think that's strange, but she could be as young as 17. For me that's still a child.

 

[Melt71]

Yes, that's correct. It sounds like you think that's strange, but she could be as young as 17. For me that's still a child.

Indeed it is! For some reason I had assumed she was older.