CA CA - Jennifer Wilmer, 21, Willow Creek, 13 Sept 1993

Kat

Kind words do not cost much
Joined
Dec 20, 2008
Messages
17,190
Reaction score
990
The Doe Network:
Case File 807DFCA

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/807dfca.html

Jennifer Marie Wilmer
Missing since September 13, 1993 from Willow Creek, Humboldt County, California.
Classification: Endangered Missing



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Vital Statistics
•Date Of Birth: April 13, 1972
•Age at Time of Disappearance: 21 years old
•Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'2; 100 lbs.
•Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Brown hair; blue eyes. Wilmer had her hair styled in dreadlocks at the time of her disappearance, which she usually wore piled on top of her head. Her nickname is "Jade."
•Clothing: Blue jeans, black T-shirt.
•Dentals: Available
•DNA: Available



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Circumstances of Disappearance
Wilmer was last seen in California on September 13, 1993. Wilmer was hitchhiking the nine miles from the Hawkins Bar area of California to Willow Creek for a possible job opportunity at a farm, on September 13. She never arrived at the farm. She left all her identification, clothes, address book, Bible, bankcard and sleeping bag at home.
Wilmer led a counterculture hippie lifestyle. She span in the circles of the Deadheads.
Originally from New York, Wilmer moved to the seaside town of Arcata, 200 miles north of San Francisco, at age 20. There she worked odd-jobs. She also suffered from bouts of depression. Her mother had purchased a return plane ticket to New York for her, which she could have picked up and activated at any travel agency.
Wilmer then moved to Trinity County, CA. She moved in with her boyfriend in a rented house in Hawkin's Bar, which he shared with several friends.
Foul play is suspected.

Wilmer's mother, Susan, assisted in creating federal legislation aimed at requiring states to report information concerning unidentified bodies into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database. This procedure provides easier cross-referencing of missing persons and unidentified victims in the US. The legislation, titled Jennifer's Law, was signed into effect in 2000. She also founded FOCUS, a support group for the families of missing children.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

Trinity County Sheriff's Office
916-623-2611

Agency Case Number: 9356740

NCIC Number: M-683675512
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.

Source Information:
California Department of Justice
NCMA

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/w/wilmer_jennifer.html

Jennifer is not listed in NamUs.

http://books.google.com/books?id=KN...EMQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=Jennifer wilmer&f=false
Congressional record of the new law because of Jennifer's Mother Susan.

Jennifer's Law
http://www.klaaskids.org/v5n3p3.htm

Jennifer has been missing almost 17 years. Come home soon.
 

Attachments

  • Jennifer Marie Wilmer.bmp
    56.9 KB · Views: 135
  • Jennifer Marie Wilmer 1.bmp
    44 KB · Views: 125
I came upon this case randomly. What happened to this girl? Foul play? Did she get injured somewhere and couldn't get help? I hope her family can find out someday. Can this be connected to any other crime in the area at the time?
 
There is not much online about this case, but I did find a very informative article from 2003. Jennifer's mother was very frustrated because police treated this as a walk away situation and didn't do much to investigate. All of Jennifer's personal belongings, including her ID were left at her home, which to me shows that she intended to return after traveling to the farm. This case seems so cold, it's frozen! But I think there is sleuthable information out there. What happened to Jennifer?
 
Link to article: https://sites.google.com/site/billjens/longisland%27slostgirls:flowerchildfrombaldwin
hope this link works.
Unfortunately it looks like her boyfriend at the time passed away in 2003. he was probably the one person who could shed some light on people involved int the local hippie scene or even recall some more details about the day she hitchhiked. How terrible!
Jennifer's family spent $20,000 on their own to investigate the disappearance and no trace of her was ever found.
I don't see any more articles about her or interviews with her family since '03. No new evidence, no suspects, no new information. Come on sleuthers! This girl deserves justice!
 
I really hope that this case is featured in the media someday on ID or something similar. I've never seen it on any investigative type show. I'm really surprised it hasn't been linked to other crimes in the area. There seem to have been a lot of really bad ppl in the vicinity at that time. Jennifer, where are you?
 
Bumping for Jennifer. Wish this case could get some interest. What happened to this girl?
 
JWilmer.jpg


Missing for almost 20 years. Thinking of Jennifer and her loved ones.
 
I just saw a case about a young woman, Kristen Laurite, who was murdered at a rest stop in Arkansas. She reminded me of Jennifer Wilmer, another petite free spirit with dreads. It turns out Laurite's killer also murdered 2 women in California previously-Ronald James Ward. I wonder where he was in September of 1993? The other perps I can come up with are speed freak killers and Richard Allen Davis, who murdered Polly Klaas just a few weeks after Jennifer's disappearance.
Jennifer's mother was frustrated with the police for not doing enough to find Jennifer. It's possible that these perps were never considered in her case since the police thought she was a walk away to begin with. I doubt she walked all the way to the ocean and just fell in, someone knows something!
I wish this case would garner some interest-Main Street Mysteries, Disappeared, etc. Maybe some tips would come in?
Jennifer left her apartment with the intent of coming back, as she didn't have a backpack or sleeping bag with her. She went in the direction of the farm that was hiring workers and literally disappeared off the face of the earth. There are so many questions that are unanswered. I have never read anything about the owners of this farm, who they were, if they were questioned. It's hard to track people in this case, as a lot of the Deadheads and drifters used adopted names. Her boyfriend at the time passed away a few years ago, and I've never seen her room mates names' published anywhere.
I think this case is solvable, but how? So many years have passed that memories fade and people pass away. I really think it may be a matter of the police taking a look or another look at some of these already known perps from the area.
 
How much were the people who ran the farm investigated? What kind of farm was it?
 
I am jennifer Wilmers cousin. I recently came across this thread and was very interested in what some of you wrote. I have been trying to get her story featured on disappeared but I haven't been successful in finding any contact information. This is a very cold case but there are so many unanswered question I'm trying everything I can on my own to get this case reopened. So if any of you out there could help me or just want to talk about her case please message me.


Sincerely,
Jessica
 
Welcome, Jessica.

Do you have any information about Jennifer and her disappearance other than what has been listed above?

Best wishes.
 
I do have some more theories but nothing concrete her boyfriend at the time ended up commiting suicide after her disappearance I always found that unsettling
 
I do have some more theories but nothing concrete her boyfriend at the time ended up commiting suicide after her disappearance I always found that unsettling

Thank you for posting here Jessmilone182!
I hope you and your family can get an answer to what happened to Jennifer. I've stated on this thread before that she deserves justice. People are very helpful and caring on these forums and feel very strongly about solving cases like Jennifer's.
I didn't know that her boyfriend committed suicide. That is very unsettling for sure. I wonder if there is a connection?
I also wonder about the other roommates living with them at the time. I have never seen their names released and I wonder if they could have provided any clues or insight. It's possible LE didn't interview them back then because they thought Jennifer walked away and would eventually come back. Even just the smallest detail could have been important.
Hope and prayers that Jennifer's case gets some more attention and is solved!
 
I am jennifer Wilmers cousin. I recently came across this thread and was very interested in what some of you wrote. I have been trying to get her story featured on disappeared but I haven't been successful in finding any contact information. This is a very cold case but there are so many unanswered question I'm trying everything I can on my own to get this case reopened. So if any of you out there could help me or just want to talk about her case please message me.


Sincerely,
Jessica

Hi Jessica,
I'm not sure how to get a case put on Websleuths as the "Featured Cold Case" on the home page. That may help get some traction going. If anyone knows how, feel free to chime in!
You can also reach out to local media from the area Jennifer went missing from. If you can get some interest from them it may help to get more national attention as well. I'm not sure if Disappeared is still in production, but I did read once that they don't take on cases that are more than 10 years old.
 
I am jennifer Wilmers cousin. I recently came across this thread and was very interested in what some of you wrote. I have been trying to get her story featured on disappeared but I haven't been successful in finding any contact information. This is a very cold case but there are so many unanswered question I'm trying everything I can on my own to get this case reopened. So if any of you out there could help me or just want to talk about her case please message me.


Sincerely,
Jessica

Hello, welcome to WS! :seeya:

I think one of the things you can do that might help is get in touch with a moderator so you can be a verified insider on this case. I don't know how it works but I know many relatives who find their way to this forum do this. You can find more information here.

I second the idea of trying to make it a featured thread, I believe you just do it by asking a mod and they'll add the case to a queue... I think.

Generally coming to this thread to help it stay alive (this isn't a criticism, I understand this is a busy time of the year, I'm talking in general) will help too since people will be more likely to notice it.

On a real life basis, there are some things you can do. I know there's a thread or thread somewhere that has advice and a list of things to do but I can't remember which one it was, I'll try to find it again if you like. One of the things I've seen mentioned a lot is submitting DNA samples to your country's DNA database so it can get compared to the DNA of living people and unidentified remains alike. I don't know if cousins are considered genetically close but if not, you may know of closer relatives like parents or siblings who may be able to submit their DNA.

You can also get in touch with LE in charge of the case. If you state your case and prove your identity they may speak to you and give you some information or let you know how you can help or things (like the DNA database) that are now available.

I also recommend trying to find newspaper articles, especially in local papers from that town and surrounding ones, Jennifer's town and surrounding ones, and so on. Libraries will probably be able to help you with that. There's a lot of newspapers that haven't been scanned and put up online and they can bring up interesting details. I also recommend trying a search online, some databases are paid though (again, I can try to find forum threads where trustworthy ones are linked), to check if newspapers elsewhere have any information that may be helpful.

After you've gotten that, you could also try to see if you can get in touch with the journalists who wrote the more thorough reports... they may have research material they can share with you. If that's not possible then asking at the newspaper headquarters (if the newspapers you're looking into still exist) or at a local archive/library might help, they may be able to show you research material or point you to someone who can.

Finally, I also recommend asking your family about what they remember from that time, any helpful details, and so on... write it down somewhere, it may come in handy.

If you do any of these there's probably going to be things you shouldn't share online but about things that you can, you're welcome to share the things you can and ask for help any time.

I hope this helps. Please keep in mind that I'm not an expert, this is just my :twocents: based on what I've seen on other threads and such. If you have more specific questions, a moderator may be able to help you out if in doubt.
 

Members online

Online statistics

Members online
191
Guests online
2,434
Total visitors
2,625

Forum statistics

Threads
589,956
Messages
17,928,316
Members
228,017
Latest member
SashaRhea82
Back
Top