TX - Sherri Jarvis, 14, Huntsville, 1 November 1980

[Jacqu777]

Creating a named cold case thread for her, but the Jane Doe thread is here:

Identified! - TX - Huntsville, 'Walker County Jane Doe', WhtFem 14-16, 91UFTX, Nov'80 #5 - Sherri Ann Jarvis

91UFTX Unidentified White Female Located on November 1, 1980 in Walker County, Texas. Cause of death was homicide. The victim had been dead for six hours before she was found. Estimated age: 14 1/2 - 16 1/2 years old Approximate Height and Weight: 5'0 - 5'3" (most likely 5'2"); 110 -...

www.websleuths.com

Born 9 March 1966

"Since 1980, police and an army of amateur sleuths have puzzled over the East Texas cold case. New forensic DNA techniques have finally given a name to the teenage girl whose brutal murder has haunted so many for so long.

By the looks of it, she’d been dead for roughly six hours. The body of the teenage girl was found twenty feet from the shoulder of Interstate 45, just north of Huntsville, at around 9:30 a.m. on November 1, 1980. Red high heels lay nearby and, except for the gold chain with a smoky blue rectangular pendant hanging around her neck, she was naked.

The only clues to her identity that police could muster came through the testimonies of a manager and two workers at the nearby South End Gulf gas station and a Hitchin’ Post truck stop. They’d spotted her wearing a white knit sweater, a yellow pullover, and blue jeans on Halloween night. She was carrying the high heels and had inquired about how to get to the nearby Ellis Prison Farm, one of several state penitentiaries dotting the outskirts of the East Texas town...

According to her brother, Don, who exchanged a series of messages with administrators of the “Who Was Walker County Jane Doe?” Facebook group back in September, the last correspondence Jarvis had with her family came in the form of a letter to her mother postmarked in Denver. In it, Jarvis said she’d contact the family sometime between her eighteenth and twenty-first birthdays. Despite multiple attempts to locate her, including hiring a private investigator and keeping the same home phone number for decades in hopes she’d call someday, they never heard from her again."

How Walker County Jane Doe Was Identified at Last

Since 1980, police and an army of amateur sleuths have puzzled over the East Texas cold case. New forensic DNA techniques have finally given a name to the teenage girl whose brutal murder has haunted so many for so long.

www.texasmonthly.com

 

[Saywhatyoumean]

Creating a named cold case thread for her, but the Jane Doe thread is here:

Identified! - TX - Huntsville, 'Walker County Jane Doe', WhtFem 14-16, 91UFTX, Nov'80 #5 - Sherri Ann Jarvis

91UFTX Unidentified White Female Located on November 1, 1980 in Walker County, Texas. Cause of death was homicide. The victim had been dead for six hours before she was found. Estimated age: 14 1/2 - 16 1/2 years old Approximate Height and Weight: 5'0 - 5'3" (most likely 5'2"); 110 -...

www.websleuths.com

Born 9 March 1966

"Since 1980, police and an army of amateur sleuths have puzzled over the East Texas cold case. New forensic DNA techniques have finally given a name to the teenage girl whose brutal murder has haunted so many for so long.

By the looks of it, she’d been dead for roughly six hours. The body of the teenage girl was found twenty feet from the shoulder of Interstate 45, just north of Huntsville, at around 9:30 a.m. on November 1, 1980. Red high heels lay nearby and, except for the gold chain with a smoky blue rectangular pendant hanging around her neck, she was naked.

The only clues to her identity that police could muster came through the testimonies of a manager and two workers at the nearby South End Gulf gas station and a Hitchin’ Post truck stop. They’d spotted her wearing a white knit sweater, a yellow pullover, and blue jeans on Halloween night. She was carrying the high heels and had inquired about how to get to the nearby Ellis Prison Farm, one of several state penitentiaries dotting the outskirts of the East Texas town...

According to her brother, Don, who exchanged a series of messages with administrators of the “Who Was Walker County Jane Doe?” Facebook group back in September, the last correspondence Jarvis had with her family came in the form of a letter to her mother postmarked in Denver. In it, Jarvis said she’d contact the family sometime between her eighteenth and twenty-first birthdays. Despite multiple attempts to locate her, including hiring a private investigator and keeping the same home phone number for decades in hopes she’d call someday, they never heard from her again."

How Walker County Jane Doe Was Identified at Last

Since 1980, police and an army of amateur sleuths have puzzled over the East Texas cold case. New forensic DNA techniques have finally given a name to the teenage girl whose brutal murder has haunted so many for so long.

www.texasmonthly.com

Were they ever able to track her movements other than to Wisconsin and Denver? Was the mystery prison inmate/employee ever solved?

 

[42d19]

Were they ever able to track her movements other than to Wisconsin and Denver? Was the mystery prison inmate/employee ever solved?

I actually live in Huntsville and am retired law enforcement officer. I did not investigate her murder but I know one of the people that did. I first heard of this murder in 1983 when I was a Criminal Justice Majors at Sam Houston State. I attended a criminal justice seminar on serial murder and her murder was briefly talked about. I remember the old Gulf Station on the south side of town and the truck stop. It was much more isolated in the early 80,s than it is now. When I retired I moved back to Huntsville and actually helped Cold Case Detective Ken Mains with a documentary called Unsolved No More Sherri Ann Jarvis. You can watch it on YouTube. There is a lot of unknowns in this case. Sherri Jarvis was probably one of the most high risk victims I have ever investigated or known about. Her lasting on the road from march to October by herself was a miracle in my opinion. It is a mystery of who she was with during those months. Obviously she was hitch hiking but it is unknown if she was with one person that picked her up or several. The last picture of her whereabouts was sent from Denver in August 1980. It is unknown if the picture was made in Denver or earlier during her travels. But one minor clue is the Hamms Beer Sign. Hamms Beer is a Minnesota based beer and she is from Minnesota. It makes me wonder if the picture was taken in Minnesota when she fled and mailed it from Denver. Just curious but I don’t think it had anything to do with her murder. How she ended up in Texas all the way to Rockport then being dropped off in Huntsville. They are two hundred miles apart. She was dropped off by a white male in Huntsville makes me wonder if he was from around here. Why she was wanting to go to the Ellis Prison Unit is a mystery. The police could never find any connection to her. What we do know is that she traversed the town on foot thru the business district of Huntsville from the Gulf Station to the Hitchin Post which is around 6 miles. It took her 2 hours. It was dark already when she arrived at the Gulf Station and it was Halloween. People would have been all over the place and she probably was not noticed until she reached the truck stop. By then she was probably tired and looking for a place to sleep. She was last observed alive walking into the truck stop parking lot at 2030hrs. This is where she met her killer. In my opinion was a truck driver obviously. I also believe she was murdered in a sleeper of a truck in that parking lot. With truck engines on, radios playing. Nobody would have heard her screams. He could have gagged her. Then he quietly exited the truck stop in the early morning hours and placed her body four miles up the road on 45. The person that murdered her in my opinion murdered before. I mean ligature strangulation is a little more sophisticated than your average murderer. The bite mark shows violent rage against women. He raped with an object which makes me believe the killer might have been impudent. This guy is a evil vile killer who won’t stop killing until he’s in prison or dead. Her investigation is in good hands the Walker County Sheriff’s Office is a good department and the investigators are professional and will not stop until this case is solved. Another thing people were asking why she had been reported as a runaway. She had been reported and she came from a good family. They even hired a private investigator. 1980 runaway reports were handled locally. They might fax the reports to neighboring counties but that was about it. There was no way of knowing Sherri was in Texas. She did not have any ties to Texas. Anyway this case is solvable and if it can this County will solve it.

 

[rosesfromangels]

I actually live in Huntsville and am retired law enforcement officer. I did not investigate her murder but I know one of the people that did. I first heard of this murder in 1983 when I was a Criminal Justice Majors at Sam Houston State. I attended a criminal justice seminar on serial murder and her murder was briefly talked about. I remember the old Gulf Station on the south side of town and the truck stop. It was much more isolated in the early 80,s than it is now. When I retired I moved back to Huntsville and actually helped Cold Case Detective Ken Mains with a documentary called Unsolved No More Sherri Ann Jarvis. You can watch it on YouTube. There is a lot of unknowns in this case. Sherri Jarvis was probably one of the most high risk victims I have ever investigated or known about. Her lasting on the road from march to October by herself was a miracle in my opinion. It is a mystery of who she was with during those months. Obviously she was hitch hiking but it is unknown if she was with one person that picked her up or several. The last picture of her whereabouts was sent from Denver in August 1980. It is unknown if the picture was made in Denver or earlier during her travels. But one minor clue is the Hamms Beer Sign. Hamms Beer is a Minnesota based beer and she is from Minnesota. It makes me wonder if the picture was taken in Minnesota when she fled and mailed it from Denver. Just curious but I don’t think it had anything to do with her murder. How she ended up in Texas all the way to Rockport then being dropped off in Huntsville. They are two hundred miles apart. She was dropped off by a white male in Huntsville makes me wonder if he was from around here. Why she was wanting to go to the Ellis Prison Unit is a mystery. The police could never find any connection to her. What we do know is that she traversed the town on foot thru the business district of Huntsville from the Gulf Station to the Hitchin Post which is around 6 miles. It took her 2 hours. It was dark already when she arrived at the Gulf Station and it was Halloween. People would have been all over the place and she probably was not noticed until she reached the truck stop. By then she was probably tired and looking for a place to sleep. She was last observed alive walking into the truck stop parking lot at 2030hrs. This is where she met her killer. In my opinion was a truck driver obviously. I also believe she was murdered in a sleeper of a truck in that parking lot. With truck engines on, radios playing. Nobody would have heard her screams. He could have gagged her. Then he quietly exited the truck stop in the early morning hours and placed her body four miles up the road on 45. The person that murdered her in my opinion murdered before. I mean ligature strangulation is a little more sophisticated than your average murderer. The bite mark shows violent rage against women. He raped with an object which makes me believe the killer might have been impudent. This guy is a evil vile killer who won’t stop killing until he’s in prison or dead. Her investigation is in good hands the Walker County Sheriff’s Office is a good department and the investigators are professional and will not stop until this case is solved. Another thing people were asking why she had been reported as a runaway. She had been reported and she came from a good family. They even hired a private investigator. 1980 runaway reports were handled locally. They might fax the reports to neighboring counties but that was about it. There was no way of knowing Sherri was in Texas. She did not have any ties to Texas. Anyway this case is solvable and if it can this County will solve it.

Your hypothesis makes the most sense to me. She likely never left the truck stop. I have to believe there are other truckers who knew They always know when someone has a rider. They knew and kept quiet. Many of them are likely dead now, or very old. Perhaps someone will have the guts to speak up, as they get closer to facing their Maker.

Amateur opinion and speculation

 

[42d19]

Your hypothesis makes the most sense to me. She likely never left the truck stop. I have to believe there are other truckers who knew They always know when someone has a rider. They knew and kept quiet. Many of them are likely dead now, or very old. Perhaps someone will have the guts to speak up, as they get closer to facing their Maker.

Amateur opinion and speculation

Thank You for your response. I know they keep records now who stays in truck stops but back in 1980 I don’t know and if they did they’re probably long gone. I’m sure the Walker County Sheriffs Office already checked into that. I worked in Harris County and I’ve been on so many homicide scenes I can’t keep count. I do remember one case where one girl was found murdered off of E Mt Houston. I still remember her face. She had been strangled. Her eyes and mouth were wide open and you could see the terror in her eyes, even in death. I will never forget her face. It takes a special kind of evil to strangle someone. You’re talking about someone looking you dead in yours while he strangles you. The victim don’t just lay there, they fight for their lives. That’s why I’m a firm believer in the Death Penalty. Sherri never had a chance. What gets me is I can’t believe Minnesota removed a child from her home just because of truancy. In Texas a truant is considered a status offense not criminal. The parents now can be fined but they did not take a child away from their home. Only Child Protective Service can take a child away from home but it would have to be something serious. Minnesota law is different obviously. Sherri did not come from a bad home. She had two caring parents. Only thing I can’t of is her parents agreed to it hoping that would wake Sherri up and put her on the right track. If Sherri would have just hung in their instead of leaving. She would have been put back at home I’m sure. Anyway if her killer is dead now, I hope he’s burning in hell where he belongs. If you want to see the information I used for Ken Mains show, I will forward it to you.

 

[rosesfromangels]

Thank You for your response. I know they keep records now who stays in truck stops but back in 1980 I don’t know and if they did they’re probably long gone. I’m sure the Walker County Sheriffs Office already checked into that. I worked in Harris County and I’ve been on so many homicide scenes I can’t keep count. I do remember one case where one girl was found murdered off of E Mt Houston. I still remember her face. She had been strangled. Her eyes and mouth were wide open and you could see the terror in her eyes, even in death. I will never forget her face. It takes a special kind of evil to strangle someone. You’re talking about someone looking you dead in yours while he strangles you. The victim don’t just lay there, they fight for their lives. That’s why I’m a firm believer in the Death Penalty. Sherri never had a chance. What gets me is I can’t believe Minnesota removed a child from her home just because of truancy. In Texas a truant is considered a status offense not criminal. The parents now can be fined but they did not take a child away from their home. Only Child Protective Service can take a child away from home but it would have to be something serious. Minnesota law is different obviously. Sherri did not come from a bad home. She had two caring parents. Only thing I can’t of is her parents agreed to it hoping that would wake Sherri up and put her on the right track. If Sherri would have just hung in their instead of leaving. She would have been put back at home I’m sure. Anyway if her killer is dead now, I hope he’s burning in hell where he belongs. If you want to see the information I used for Ken Mains show, I will forward it to you.

Yes please, would very much like to see that info. I am also in favor of punishment that sends a message. For starts, chain gang hard labor and isolation, especially in cases where a body needs to be found. The days of three hots and a cot needs to change.

I agree Sherri didn’t stand a chance, and turning a child over to the state should only be in rare instances. I’m sure her parents live with that guilt.

I still think there were other truckers who knew who did this, given their community approach on the road. If I am right, they are cowards, not men. A real man would speak up.

Amateur opinion and speculation

 

[42d19]

Yes please, would very much like to see that info. I am also in favor of punishment that sends a message. For starts, chain gang hard labor and isolation, especially in cases where a body needs to be found. The days of three hots and a cot needs to change.

I agree Sherri didn’t stand a chance, and turning a child over to the state should only be in rare instances. I’m sure her parents live with that guilt.

I still think there were other truckers who knew who did this, given their community approach on the road. If I am right, they are cowards, not men. A real man would speak up.

Amateur opinion and speculation

 

[42d19]

Yes please, would very much like to see that info. I am also in favor of punishment that sends a message. For starts, chain gang hard labor and isolation, especially in cases where a body needs to be found. The days of three hots and a cot needs to change.

I agree Sherri didn’t stand a chance, and turning a child over to the state should only be in rare instances. I’m sure her parents live with that guilt.

I still think there were other truckers who knew who did this, given their community approach on the road. If I am right, they are cowards, not men. A real man would speak up.

Amateur opinion and speculation

 

[42d19]

Yes. I’m trying to send you some information that I collected on this case but I’m having a hard time trying to attach it

 

[rosesfromangels]

Yes. I’m trying to send you some information that I collected on this case but I’m having a hard time trying to attach it

You have to send it as a private message, not post on the thread here.

 

[rosesfromangels]

Yes. I’m trying to send you some information that I collected on this case but I’m having a hard time trying to attach it

You have to send it as a private message, not post on the thread here.

 

[42d19]

You have to send it as a private message, not post on the thread here.

I’m not sure how to do this on this site. I haven’t been on this site in awhile. Lol

 

[42d19]

Were they ever able to track her movements other than to Wisconsin and Denver? Was the mystery prison inmate/employee ever solved?

Were they ever able to track her movements other than to Wisconsin and Denver? Was the mystery prison inmate/employee ever solved?

 

[42d19]

No. It is unknown if she was with one person all the way to Denver or hitchhiking all the way to Denver. I tend to think she might have met a person and went all the way to Denver with that person. A little clue to me was the Hamms Beer sign observed on Sherri’s last known photo. Hamms is a Minnesota based beer and she was from Minnesota. It tells me that the picture might have been made in Minnesota but she mailed it in Denver. She appeared happy in that picture, which tells me that it might have been in the early days of her travels. Seems like she met someone she felt comfortable with and travelled long distances with him or her. It would have explained why she lasted so long on the road by herself. While in Denver something happened. I mean either her ride lived in Denver and couldn’t take her back or just got tired of driving. Possibly the former ride had a friend hey I’m going to Texas come with me, so she went. They went to the south coast of Texas probably to visit the beach and then her ride had to get back and dropped her off in Huntsville. We know this was a white male. Could have been the same person she met up with in Minnesota but she wasn’t ready to go back. This pure speculation on my part and theirs really no evidence to support it other than the beer sign. I mean she could have hitched rides with several different people also. I believe though if that was the case, she would have probably met the wrong person earlier. This was the late 70,s and early 80’s. This was during the rise of the serial killer and a 14 year old girl by herself was an easy target regrettably. Unfortunately in Huntsville she met an long haul trucker who was most likely a serial offender. Ligature strangulation is not something that a beginning killer would use. This guys done it before in my opinion. I guarantee the police know more than their releasing. I heard they got suspects their checking into. It’s going to take time if that’s true. Also why I believe the Beer Sign is important. Is that Hamms Beer in 1980 I’m sure was popular in Minnesota and neighboring States but in other states it wasn’t a well known beer. Although it was distributed in all 50 states but usually wasn’t in very many stores. I’m from Texas and I was buying beer at that time and I rarely saw a Hamms Beer. It’s like Texas Lone Star and Shiner. They were prevalent in Texas and neighboring states but probably not up North, although Lone Star was a little better known. The only beers that were popular everywhere at that time was Coors, Miller Lite, Budweiser, and Schlitz. Maybe a few others.

 

[Vickai]

Does anyone know if the serial killer Keith Jesperson was looked into by investigators?

According to his Wikipedia page, in 1980 he would have been working as a truck driver for at least five years, and would have been twenty-five years old.

His eight confirmed victims (all women) were killed in different states: Washington, Oregon, California, Florida, Nebraska, and Wyoming. it is merely speculation on my part, but you could draw a line between the states of Washington and Florida, and carve out his "territory". Texas would fit into this area.

Strangulation was his preferred method of murdering. In fairness, the insertion of objects in the vaginal cavity is not consistent with his confimed murders.

Jesperson has made the implausible claim to have killed up to 160 victims. But does anyone else think there's a chance Sherri could be one?

Source:
Keith Hunter Jesperson - Wikipedia