TN - Charlene Gaither, 28, slain, dismembered, Memphis, 9 Feb 2008

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Hope4Lost

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http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/feb/15/grisly-find/

By Toni Lepeska (Contact)
Friday, February 15, 2008
Investigators today will be busy trying to determine the identity of a woman found Thursday dismembered and discarded near the Coldwater River bridge off U.S. 78 near the Ingrams Mill Road exit in DeSoto County.
"Identity is obviously the first stop," said Cmdr. Mark Blackson with the DeSoto County Sheriff's Department. "It's obvious whoever did this did not want this person identified."

Workers with the state Highway Department found the torso of the woman at about 2 p.m. Thursday. Her head, hands and feet were missing and she was nude, Blackson said.
Investigators combed the area, the sides of U.S. 78 from county line to county line, and called in Tank, a "human remains detection" black Labrador, to find any evidence or body parts.
As the sun began to set, Blackson said no trace of remains had yet been found. Divers were still looking in the Coldwater River.
 
How terrible! I hope they find out who she is and who did this. I have a feeling considering the dismemberment, she wasn't his first.
 
Dang, it sounds like it could be a serial killer. If we had access to all of the records of victims found in the area and surrounding areas, we could geographically profile it.
 
This is not the first. Over the past few years there have been at least two others found in the same area. (That I can remember hearing about) I live in this area. And yes it does sound like a serial killer. There was a thread on another board last year and I can not remember which one but it was saying that the bodies they had found before, one or two of the girls were ID'd and they came frmo truck stops. At least one of those girls were known to prostitute. So they were looking at the perp being a truck driver. There are many many trucks in this area as there is a lot of industry.
 
I hope they really work to find whoever did this. It does sound like a serial killer and there will probably be more victims. :(
 
There was a case like this in Asheville NC last year. Dismembered body found in the French Broad River (or beside it) and she was a known drug user and sometime prostitute. I don't know if it's related but if it is a trucker, that wouldn't be out of the realm of possibilities.
 
SewingDeb, You are so correct that this could be done, I happen to be in the transporation industry myself, my drivers cover anywhere from 2500 miles to 4200 miles per week, that being said, that is a long distance to some people, but think about how many miles it is from East to West and North to South, the average truck driver goes 650 miles a day. They are allowed to drive for 11 hours then are required to take a 10 hours break. So it is very possible for a driver to be in a large radius daily in any given 24 hour period.

BTW: Love your screen name. I happen to love to sew myself. Have tons of sewing play toys. My newest being a Gracey Q Pro
 
Ok I just found where I remembered something about a truck driver, seems the case I was thinking about is apparently solved, a copycat now? or maybe they were not the only ones doing it? Here is the link: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1439457/posts BTW The county's in this case, and the case in the article, those county's mentioned are not far from each other.
 
http://www.wmctv.com/global/story.asp?s=7880352

Possible suspect questioned in grisly murder

DeSOTO COUNTY, MS (WMC-TV) - Memphis Police are questioning a person in the murder and decapitation of a woman found in DeSoto County Thursday afternoon.
Commander Mark Blackson of the DeSoto County Sheriff's Department said early Friday evening no one had yet been charged in the murder.
The mystery continued to unfold Friday under a bridge on a small, desolate riverbed, in a spot where officials believe somebody dumped the body earlier this week.
The situation was not ideal for case investigators. The body, that of an African American female, was found naked, missing its head, hands and feet.
Blackson said his department was flooded with phone calls about missing persons after news of the discovery was made public. However, no one missing in DeSoto County matches the description of the body that was found, leading investigators to continue to search anywhere and everywhere.
Without the ability to search for dental records or fingerprints, identification of the body remained difficult.
"If somebody went through the painstaking task of removing all this stuff, the chances of finding it right there in that area are probably not very well," Blackson said.

For investigators, it was just one more obstacle in a two-sided mystery under the bridge.
 
http://www.wreg.com/Global/story.asp?S=7881611

DNA May ID Dismembered Woman


FAST FACTS:
  • DESOTO COUNTY INVESTIGATORS SAY MEMPHIS POLICE NOW TAKING LEAD
  • BOYFRIEND IS PERSON OF INTEREST
  • WOMAN'S IDENTITY MAY BE SOLVED NEXT WEEK
  • shaun.chaiyabhat@wreg.com
  • (Desoto County, MS 2/15/08)
Desoto County investigators say Memphis Police may have a person of interest in the case of a still unidentified woman's body found tossed near a highway. But first, they need to be certain the body they found matching a missing person's report one Memphis family claims to have filed.

When investigators came to the scene Thursday on Highway 78 near Coldwater River, they searched for every clue because they knew they had little to go on. Whoever dumped a woman's body here removed her head, hands and feet -- masking her identity and their crime.
It left investigators relying on the public. Within hours, more than a dozen calls came in some from as far away as Jackson, Tennessee. Commander Mark Blackson with the Desoto County Sheriff's Office says, "We've definitely gotten a lot of phone calls about some different missing persons, some from the Memphis area." Blackson says one call fit the bill. It came from a Memphis woman who says her 29-year-old sister recently disappeared. Today, the mother gave a DNA sample hoping it's a match.
DNA expert, Stephen Conn says "If you had the biological mother and the biological sister.. It would be unassailable." Conn says DNA could also help catch the killer if investigators find the rest of her remains.
Desoto county investigators hope to get the DNA results as early as next week. In the meantime, they say Memphis police are now handling this case. They also say Memphis detectives are talking to the victim's boyfriend as a person of interest. Memphis police are not yet commenting on the case.

 
http://www.wreg.com/Global/story.asp?S=7884176

Man Arrested May Be Connected To Desoto County Dismembered Body Case



FAST FACTS:
  • MEMPHIS POLICE DOCUMENT STATES FAMILY REPORTED DAUGHTER MISSING TUESDAY
  • LAST SEEN SATURDAY
  • DESOTO COUNTY INVESTIGATORS: MPD QUESTIONED POSSIBLE VICTIM'S BOYFRIEND
shaun.chaiyabhat@wreg.com
(Memphis, TN 2/16/08)
Memphis Police have arrested a man for the disappearance and possible murder of his girlfriend. Desoto County investigators say MPD has a man in custody related to the dismembered body found off Highway 78 near Coldwater River Thursday.
It is our policy to not release the names of suspects until they have been formally charged with a crime. However, a Memphis police report could be the link to who killed the woman. The record of arrest says a Memphis family reported their 28-year-old daughter missing on Tuesday and that they had last seen her Saturday February 9th.
The report also says Memphis police arrested a man "implicated in [a woman's] disappearance and possible death, suggested by evidence at the residence they share". Desoto County investigators say the man being questioned in their dismembered body case was the possible victim's boyfriend. Neighbors say they saw homicide detectives swarm the area all day and night Friday.
Memphis police still have to confirm that the man they have in custody is related to the case in Desoto County. The body was found without a head, hands or feet -- making identifying the woman difficult. DNA samples from the body and her possible mother are being analyzed. That report is expected to come back early next week. Memphis police are keeping the man under arrest until early Monday morning.

 
http://www.wreg.com/Global/story.asp?S=7884176

Body Identified and Suspect Charged:


FAST FACTS:
  • James Hawkins charged with first degree murder
  • Charlene Gaither was last seen Saturday
  • Hawkins not charged with Gaither's death
shaun.chaiyabhat@wreg.com
(Memphis 2/18/08) Memphis Police have charged James Hawkins in connection with the disappearance and murder of his girlfriend.
Memphis police have charged James Hawkins with first degree murder, abuse of a corpse, tampering with/fabricating evidence and filing a false report.
Police say Charlene Gaither was reported missing February 12 by Hawkins, her live in boyfriend.
DeSoto County found a dismembered body found off Highway 78 near Coldwater River Thursday.
Police have identified the torso as that of Gaither.
The body was found without a head, hands or feet, making identifying the woman difficult.
DNA samples from the body and from Gaither's mother helped ID the body.
A police report said Memphis police arrested a man "implicated in [a woman's] disappearance and possible death, suggested by evidence at the residence they share".
News Channel 3 has learned James Hawkins was also known as James Thomas and had an extensive criminal record. Hawkins should still be in prison but he was released after serving 35% of his sentence. See Hawkins/Thomas' record by clicking the link to the left of this story.
 
There's still the issue of the other body found mentioned in the first post, but there have been no other news articles that I can find on that case. At least Ms. Gaither's family can lay her to rest and move on toward seeking justice for her murder. May the Lord be with them and give them strength and peace.
 
I will be passing through the Sardis Dam area, where the other body was found and will see if I can get a paper from that area to see if maybe they have printed somethign that has not made it online. We will be passing through there tonight.
 
We stopped in and got a local paper and there was nothing in it about this other vic. I asked the girl at the station we stopped at if she had heard anything, she had not. So this is all a little strange to me.

There were some storms that ravaged the area several days ago I looked and the river that feeds through to the dam area where the vic was found actually runs through Lafayette County which was one of the hard hit stirm areas. I am wondering now if everyone from the storm is accounted for, if not then maybe this lady is a vic of that storm.

When I first started thinking about the cases in Mississippi, Donna Cupido come to mind, but when I looked at the distance from Tishamingo County to the discovery site the distance was very far and made it very unlikely.

It mentioned the vic was a white woman yet for some reason, and I dont know if I am tangeling this with the torso vic or not but it seems to me I read the vic was pretty decomposed. If it was in an anvanced state of decomp I am wondering how they know its a white female.
 
This poor child...I can't imagine what this did to her mentally.


A 12-year-old girl told police her father, James Hawkins, forced her to help dump her mother's body in DeSoto County in Tennessee. Hawkins is charged with killing and dismembering Charlene Gaither, MyFOXMemphis reports.
Hawkins' daughter also told investigators that she witnessed her father killing her mother. A police affidavit says the girl, whose name was not released, claimed she "watched dad kill mom."
Memphis police say Gaither's body was found decapitated and dismembered in northern Mississippi. more: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,331191,00.html
 
Does anyone here remember the case of the father who was out driving around and, for some unknown reason, pulled over, took his kids out of the car and proceed to decapitate the older one with a chain saw? In the mean time, the younger one managed to escape by hiding. This occurred sometime in the early 80s. However, when I read stories such as this, I am reminded of the trauma these children suffer when witnessing, and in some cases, being forced to participate, in such beyond the pale violence. And, I often wonder what ever became of them...
 
OMG, I've never heard of that case!

shadowraiths said:
Does anyone here remember the case of the father who was out driving around and, for some unknown reason, pulled over, took his kids out of the car and proceed to decapitate the older one with a chain saw? In the mean time, the younger one managed to escape by hiding. This occurred sometime in the early 80s. However, when I read stories such as this, I am reminded of the trauma these children suffer when witnessing, and in some cases, being forced to participate, in such beyond the pale violence. And, I often wonder what ever became of them...
Click to expand...

What is wrong with these men? It's not enough he kills the girls mother he makes her watch him and then help him dispose of the body...what a scum bag. Too bad we don't have public hangings anymore, it might would help cut out some of this violence! :behindbar
 
Personally, I think they should take all murderers, rapists, and pedophiles, load them up in a space ship and fly them into the sun. Put it on pay per view if you want to offset the cost.
 
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