TX TX - Pinkie Davis Herron, 22, Austin, 1 Jan 1979

[Friday Fan]

This is very interesting and a real good question. Thank you for researching. I think you really opened the cesspool! IMO it has corruption written all over it and a total lack of due diligence. More and more I believe Pinkie, who worked a the Tex Golden Nugget (that as far I know was not affiliated with the Golden Nugget casino's and probably just piggybacking on the name), and had a (family) relation with the Tolivers knew things she wasn't supposed to have known. Also, although I don't know her, I see her going to seek redress from the authorities or others and doing that rubbed some people the wrong way.

If the Golden Nugget burned down, how much damage was done? If all of it was gone, Pinkie would have been out of work as of April 26, 1976.

Depending on when the Tex Golden Nugget reopened, this sentence in the narrative is now also questionable:
She was on her way to Tex Golden Nugget <this must come from someone who knew, how else can you know where somebody is going if you just see someone in a car?>, a neighborhood motel were she worked. Some friends saw her driving in that direction and she blew her horn at them and waved.

Is in America, a fragrance added to the butane gas (that has no smell of itself)? If so the buthane gas explanation makes no sense, because you would have smelled that. The methane gas explanation is very far fetched. Was there a swamp, a manure cellar or a landfill underneath the motel? No pressure explosions accured. It's obvious Mr. Crowe, the criminal investigator/deputy (so not a fire expert) had the need to cover up something or someone, with this baloney and it looks like the Sheriff went along.

Not sure if it's allowed to link this, but maybe we getting somewhere with this. Pinkie Mae Davis Herron

Pinkie Mae Davis-Herron went missing from Del Valle, TX in September 1976. Most sites list her disappearance as having occurred in 1979, a discrepancy that Pinkie’s daughter explained as follows:

When Pinkie disappeared, both of her daughters were very young. A friend of Pinkie’s attempted to report Pinkie missing, but law enforcement would not take a report. She wasn’t officially reported missing until her younger daughter was an adult, and she wasn’t sure of the year but guessed 1979. Over time, from talking to family and friends, her daughter determined that she vanished in September 1976.

As an aside: 1976 is the same year three other black women vanished from Austin, Texas.

Pinkie's daughter must have notified Charley's Project and the missing date was edited. (pictures of Pinkie are still saying 1979, though, I think C.P. overlooked)

@Odyssey Can you help us out with this?

The owner of the Tex Golden Nugget, who's death was caused by severe burns from the fire (Alfred R.T.), is the father of the man Pinkie had a relation with/had a child with (James A.T.)

In Texas, if you have natural gas utilities, the utility company adds a smell. Austin Utilities - Natural Gas Safety: Safety:


I have a natural gas heater and water heater.

But I don't know about this bar. I have no idea if it even had water heater.


I don't know if it had a heater. Any heater would have been turned off in late April.

It was a pretty ramshackle place. We like to call these places "dives" or "joints". Texas has lots of them. (Think of Texas BBQ shacks). Ramshackle doesn't necessarily mean "bad" when it comes to bars, ice houses and BBQ joints.

Here was the weather. Obviously no heater would be needed. AC window units run on electricity.

1976-04-23	80	68
1976-04-24	86	70
1976-04-25	82	53
1976-04-26	80	58

But, they are saying it was "sewer gas" as in poor plumbing or a toilet that has not been used/flushed (Methane).

But there were patrons at the bar the night before. So, it doesn't make sense.


If that guy wanted the bar, he probably just wanted the property on the river. (If the story is true)

It just doesn't make sense that Pinkie's name would not come up during the investigation of the fire, if she disappeared in 1976.

I doubt the bar was rebuilt by Sept 1976.

This pic is from 2011. The bar was demolished by April 2015.
There is a small motel behind the bar. It's still there. You can see it on the left hand side of the pic.
3003 FM973 · 3003 FM973, Del Valle, TX 78617

You can see the motel at this link texas-golden-nugget-motel-del-valle- - Yahoo Local Search Results


The bar and motel were originally Black establishments during Jim Crow.


It was one of the few places that African-Americans could stay prior to 1965.

It was built in the 1950's.


I think in the 60's and early 70's the bar had a few entertainments advertised.

 

[Friday Fan]

This is very interesting and a real good question. Thank you for researching. I think you really opened the cesspool! IMO it has corruption written all over it and a total lack of due diligence. More and more I believe Pinkie, who worked a the Tex Golden Nugget (that as far I know was not affiliated with the Golden Nugget casino's and probably just piggybacking on the name), and had a (family) relation with the Tolivers knew things she wasn't supposed to have known. Also, although I don't know her, I see her going to seek redress from the authorities or others and doing that rubbed some people the wrong way.

If the Golden Nugget burned down, how much damage was done? If all of it was gone, Pinkie would have been out of work as of April 26, 1976.

Depending on when the Tex Golden Nugget reopened, this sentence in the narrative is now also questionable:
She was on her way to Tex Golden Nugget <this must come from someone who knew, how else can you know where somebody is going if you just see someone in a car?>, a neighborhood motel were she worked. Some friends saw her driving in that direction and she blew her horn at them and waved.

Is in America, a fragrance added to the butane gas (that has no smell of itself)? If so the buthane gas explanation makes no sense, because you would have smelled that. The methane gas explanation is very far fetched. Was there a swamp, a manure cellar or a landfill underneath the motel? No pressure explosions accured. It's obvious Mr. Crowe, the criminal investigator/deputy (so not a fire expert) had the need to cover up something or someone, with this baloney and it looks like the Sheriff went along.

Not sure if it's allowed to link this, but maybe we getting somewhere with this. Pinkie Mae Davis Herron

Pinkie Mae Davis-Herron went missing from Del Valle, TX in September 1976. Most sites list her disappearance as having occurred in 1979, a discrepancy that Pinkie’s daughter explained as follows:

When Pinkie disappeared, both of her daughters were very young. A friend of Pinkie’s attempted to report Pinkie missing, but law enforcement would not take a report. She wasn’t officially reported missing until her younger daughter was an adult, and she wasn’t sure of the year but guessed 1979. Over time, from talking to family and friends, her daughter determined that she vanished in September 1976.

As an aside: 1976 is the same year three other black women vanished from Austin, Texas.

Pinkie's daughter must have notified Charley's Project and the missing date was edited. (pictures of Pinkie are still saying 1979, though, I think C.P. overlooked)

@Odyssey Can you help us out with this?

The owner of the Tex Golden Nugget, who's death was caused by severe burns from the fire (Alfred R.T.), is the father of the man Pinkie had a relation with/had a child with (James A.T.)

Yes, the serial killer is also an angle.


TBH: I don't think much is known about her disappearance because her daughters, who are pursuing her disappearance were very young at the time.

Apparently a friend tried to report her disappearance and the police refused.

The friend who tried to report her missing, would be the most accurate source of info.

But who knows where the friend is and if she can be located or if she is still alive etc etc etc


When her daughter was an adult, she reported her missing.

ETA: Pinkie could have worked at the motel in 1976. It did not burn down.

Still, I'm surprised her disappearance was not mentioned during the arson investigation and investigation of FS.
That FS guy had his hands in lots of local organized crime.

FS was in prison in 1979, so he could not have killed her if she disappeared then.

 

[Friday Fan]

Her Missing Person's Case was created/posted with Texas DPS on Nov 21, 2006. (However, her case may have been created earlier and posted in 2006)

(The site is down however, but screenshots are available)

Search results | Department of Public Safety

www.dps.texas.gov

 

[Howl]

Thank you for this history, @Friday Fan!

The bar and motel were originally Black establishments during Jim Crow.
It was one of the few places that African-Americans could stay prior to 1965. I think in the 60's and early 70's the bar had a few entertainments advertised.

The Golden Nugget was very close to Hwy 183, a main highway then and now.

 

[Pennysmom1]

June 23, 2024

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

<<Although Pinkie Mae Davis-Herron did not go missing in East Austin, she did frequent the area a lot, according to her daughter Angela Herron. Pinkie was last seen at the Texas Golden Nugget motel where she worked and now Angela runs in Del Valle, a suburb east of Austin.

She went missing on Labor Day, September 6, after she agreed to meet her friend at a party that night, but never showed. Pinkie's parked car was found abandoned at the Texas Golden Nugget, and her friend tried to report Pinkie missing following an unsuccessful search but the police told her she couldn't report her missing at the time because they said only family could report a person missing.

Angela was only 3 years old when her mother disappeared, so it wasn't until she got older that she was finally able to officially report her mother missing to law enforcement in 2001.

At first she guessed the wrong year Pinkie went missing, but after launching her own investigation into her mother's disappearance she realized she did go missing in 1976, alongside three other young Black women, which was later corrected by police. This is why Pinkie will still oftentimes get left out reports that say only three Black women went missing in Austin in 1976 instead of four>>

<<TCSO also gathered DNA samples from Herron, which was entered into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). Because Pinkie is mixed-race, Herron said she's not only tried looking for her mother as a Black woman, but also as a white woman. Nonetheless, she said she will continue to keep fighting to find her mother and ensure her legacy lives on within her family.>>

1506DFTX - Pinkie Mae Davis-Herron

Date of Birth: January 31, 1956
Age: 22 years old
Race: Biracial: Black/White/Hispanic
Gender: Female
Height: 5'3" - 5'6"
Weight: 120 - 130 lbs
Hair Color: Brown (possibly Black)
Eye Color: Brown; hazel/brown
Nickname/Alias: Pinkie Mae Davis; Pinkie Mae-Davis-Herron
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Petite frame

Identifiers​

Dentals: Unavailable
Fingerprints: Not Available
DNA: Available

 

[Pennysmom1]

TxDPS Missing and Unidentified Persons Online Bulletin

Texas Missing Persons Clearinghouse Online Bulletin, Browse photos and searchable bulletins of missing persons, abductors, and unidentified persons, a central repository for information and pictures of missing and unidentified persons in Texas.

www.dps.texas.gov

Pinkie Mae Davis-Herron (1956-unknown) - Find a...

This is a cenotaph for a missing person. The marker is just near her mother's grave. Davis-Herron was last seen in Del Valle, Texas in September 1973, sometime around Labor Day, which was on September 6.She was on her way to Tex Golden Nugget, a neighborhood motel and bar were she worked. Some...

www.findagrave.com

Pinkie's husband's obituary

James Toliver Obituary (1936 - 2022) - Del Valle, TX

James was born on June 21st, 1936 and passed away on January 18th, 2022 at the age of 85

king-tearsmortuary.com

<<Upon moving back to Texas in the early 70's he and his family purchased a small motel and bar, naming it the Texas Golden Nugget. There he met Pinkie Herron and to this union a daughter was born.>>



Pinkie's mother's obituary

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/gracie-davis-obituary?id=32512504

<<Four of her five children passed away as infants, and her one living child, her daughter, Pinkie Mae Davis, went missing on Monday, September 6, 1976 (Labor Day). We continually pray for closure.>>