VA VA - Jennifer Pandos, 15, Williamsburg, 10 Feb 1987

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Jennifer Lynn Pandos
Missing since February 10, 1987 from Williamsburg, James City County, Virginia.
Classification: Endangered Runaway

Vital Statistics

Date Of Birth: October 29, 1971
Age at Time of Disappearance: 15 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'2; 100 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Brown hair; hazel eyes. Left-handed.
Marks, Scars: Pandos has a small mole on her left shoulder.
Clothing: Pink sweater, pink nylon waist jacket, blue jeans, white Hi top tennis shoes.
Dentals: Available.
DNA: Available.

Circumstances of Disappearance

Pandos was last seen in the Kingsmill area of Williamsburg, Virginia on February 10, 1987. Jennifer apparently left in the middle of the night through a sliding glass door on the patio.

In a note to her parents, she said she would be back in a few days and not to worry.
Pandos left her Kingsmill home, perhaps distraught over a recent break-up with her boyfriend. She never came back. All she took was her handbag.

Margie Pandos found a note, but it only raised more questions.

"Your daughter's with me. She's fine. She's having some problems and needs some time away," the note began.

Then, it switched to the first person: "I'm fine, I just need time to think. Both of you please go to work tomorrow cause I will try to call you. I won't call you at home, only at one of y'all's work.

"Do not call the police. I can easily find out if you do. I may never come back home. Don't tell my friends about this. Just tell them that I'm sick."

It didn't look like Jenny's handwriting, but police have guessed the left-handed girl might have written the note with her right hand. Margie Pandos said she and her husband followed Jenny's instructions at first, but then notified police when she didn't call. In the weeks and months that followed, family members knocked on doors and handed out fliers, trying to find people who might have seen the teenager.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning Pandos' whereabouts, please contact:

James City County Police Department
Missing Persons Unit
Investigator Wendi Reed
757-253-1800


You may remain anonymous when submitting information to any agency.

NCMEC #: NCMC601853

NCIC Number: M-002435170
Please refer to these numbers when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.

Source Information:
The National Center For Missing and Exploited Children
The Virginia Gazette
Daily Press The Doe Network: Case File 376DFVA


LINK:


http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/376dfva.html
 
From the Charley Project link above:

"Pandos is believed to have left of her own accord. She was a sophomore at Lafayette High School in 1987. Her parents, who moved away 1990, hope she is still alive and will return home. Her father now resides in Texas and her mother in Charlotte, North Carolina."

I wonder if Fred Howard Coffey, Jr. is connected with this case in any way. Fred had been stationed in Norfolk, VA while in the Navy - not far from Williamsburg, and was convicted of crimes against girls about Jennifer's same age in that area back in 1975.

Coffey also lived in Charlotte, NC and was arrested, tried, and convicted of the murder of a 10-year-old girl there. In addition, he is suspected of having murdered a 5-year-old girl in Charlotte.

The big question would be "WHEN was Coffey first taken into NC police custody?" By March 1987, he came to the attention of Montgomery County (Maryland) Police as a possible suspect in the disappearance of two girls; Sheila Lyon (12) and her sister Kate Lyon (10). By then, he had been arrested and charged by NC authorities.
 
Emorton said:
Most probably is just someone trolling the comments, but take a look at the one of August 13th, 2013 at 04:34PM:

YU Mad-bro August 13, 2013 at 04:34 PM
"I left home at 15, and have not spoken to anyone in my family for 25 years. A couple of years ago I seen my picture in the missing database. I get a good laugh at it. I didn't ask anyone to look for me."

http://triboro.patch.com/groups/police-and-fire/p/missing-butler-man-timothy-carney-found-safely
Click to expand...

Interesting.

I thought I would point out that "I seen my picture" is an East Coast thing. (Or it could just be poor grammar) I'm not sure how far south it extends, but it is common to say "I seen" in NY, NJ, PA... but very rare on the West Coast.

It would make sense since Jennifer was from Virginia, I wonder if we have any Virginians in here that could enlighten us on whether "I seen" is used that far south...
 
While I grew up in Georgia, most of my family lives in Virginia, and I can assure you that I have never heard anyone say "I seen" unless they were hicks. Not normal vocab. at all.
 
Bumping this. It's been on my mind because a friend of mine now lives in the neighborhood where she lived/went missing.

This is a gated community, I don't know how tight security was back then, but now you have to report in at the gate and get a pass, say where you are going, etc. Granted you could lie but I would think the last place someone would try and abduct someone would be an upper-class gated community that you have to report into before entering.

I've read reports where there was a break in the blinds in her room, indicating she may have been looking outside, possibly waiting for someone to arrive. The whole note thing to me is just bizarre. Why would you start a note speaking in the third person and then switch to the first... like people aren't going to notice that? If you change your mind in how you are going to write a note, wouldn't you just scratch it out or start a new note? Obviously the change would set off alarm bells, but maybe that was the point. Bizarre.

What I also find weird is that in this age of social media there is no Facebook page or anything put up by the family. The mother has been interviewed several times by the media over the years because this case is the oldest unsolved missing person case in the region. But other than that, not a lot of information out there and none that I can see was initiated by the family. I really get the sense that something else is going on here. The parents divorced 2-3 years after she went missing and both of them moved out of state... I would think that if my child went missing, even if I thought it was voluntary, that I would stay in that house the rest of my life, with the same telephone number, just in case they came back or tried to call.
 
Odyssey said:
Interesting.

I thought I would point out that "I seen my picture" is an East Coast thing. (Or it could just be poor grammar) I'm not sure how far south it extends, but it is common to say "I seen" in NY, NJ, PA... but very rare on the West Coast.

It would make sense since Jennifer was from Virginia, I wonder if we have any Virginians in here that could enlighten us on whether "I seen" is used that far south...
Click to expand...

I'm a Virginian (and have traveled the state a good deal) and I hear "I seen" quite often, almost exclusively from a lower socio-economic background type crowd, as well as a rural thing. It is more common in Southwest VA and Western VA in general. However, there are pockets of rural areas all over VA and it can be heard in any of those areas. I have heard it in suburbs as well, from those who grew up in rural/poorer communities.
 
Emorton said:
Most probably is just someone trolling the comments, but take a look at the one of August 13th, 2013 at 04:34PM:

YU Mad-bro August 13, 2013 at 04:34 PM
"I left home at 15, and have not spoken to anyone in my family for 25 years. A couple of years ago I seen my picture in the missing database. I get a good laugh at it. I didn't ask anyone to look for me."

http://triboro.patch.com/groups/police-and-fire/p/missing-butler-man-timothy-carney-found-safely
Click to expand...

I'm not sure why you would connect that comment with this case. That could be anyone, anywhere.

Jennifer went missing from Kingsmill which is an upper-class gated community... I associate "I seen" more with uneducated people.

Just trying to avoid this thread getting derailed over a random Internet comment that has about zero connection to this case.
 
I grew up in Virginia and in casual conversation people would often say "I seen". We were from the southeastern portion of the state where "Appalachian English" is spoken. I now live in TN and still often here people say "I seen" although my family and I wouldn't say it that way, but it is common.
 
cafepithecus said:
I'm not sure why you would connect that comment with this case. That could be anyone, anywhere.

Jennifer went missing from Kingsmill which is an upper-class gated community... I associate "I seen" more with uneducated people.

Just trying to avoid this thread getting derailed over a random Internet comment that has about zero connection to this case.
Click to expand...

I am afraid that I'm not that familiar with english jargons, specially from North America since I'm not a native english speaker and I've never been there.

I saw the comment in a webpage and made a quick math: if the comment is from 2013 and says 'have not spoken to anyone in my family for 25 years' that person should have disappeared around 1987-1988. If that person also says that was 15 when left home, excuse me but I don't find it so odd to post it in a thread about a 15 years old girl disappeared in 1987.

Given that this thread has had only six comments in the last three years I hardly see how can my post make it derail. I thought that this forums were open to anyone willing to help with clues or hints, no matter how unlikely they are connected to the case. Sure you know most of the times hints are not connected, but who knows for sure in advance? Anyhow I'm sorry to have bothered or distracted you or any other reader, it was not my intention.

Please accept also my apologies for my poor english, thank you and best regards.
 
Jennifer Lynn Pandos
  • jennifer_lynn_pandos_1.jpg
  • pandos_jennifer_ap.jpg
Jennifer, circa 1987; Age-progression to age 45 (circa 2016)

  • Missing Since02/10/1987
  • Missing FromWilliamsburg, Virginia
  • ClassificationEndangered Runaway
  • Date of Birth10/29/1971 (47)
  • Age15 years old
  • Height and Weight5'1 - 5'2, 100 pounds
  • Clothing/Jewelry DescriptionA pink nylon waist-length jacket, a pink sweater, a nightshirt with the image of a panda, blue jeans and white high-top sneakers.
  • Distinguishing CharacteristicsCaucasian female. Brown hair, hazel eyes. Jennifer has a small mole on her left shoulder. She may go by the nicknames Jenny and/or Jeeper. She is left-handed.
Details of Disappearance
Jennifer was last seen in the Kingsmill area of Williamsburg, Virginia on February 10, 1987. She was reportedly distraught because she and her boyfriend were having problems. Her mother woke up sometime after 6:00 a.m. and discovered Jennifer was missing and her bedroom door was locked. It was uncharacteristic of Jennifer to leave the door locked.

She has never been heard from again. She took only her purse with her, leaving behind all her other personal belongings. A note was left behind. It started out in the third person, stating:

Your daughter's with me. She's fine. She's having some problems and needs some time away.

The note then switched to the first person:

I'm fine, I just need time to think. Both of you please go to work tomorrow ‘cause I will try to call you. I won't call you at home, only at one of y'all's work. Do not call the police. I can easily find out if you do. I may never come back home. Don't tell my friends about this. Just tell them that I'm sick.

The note did not appear to be in Jennifer's handwriting, but her mother believes she did in fact write it. Some investigators theorize that Jennifer, who is left-handed, wrote the note with her right hand to change the writing.

Jennifer's boyfriend was interviewed by police and isn't considered a suspect in Jennifer's disappearance. Investigators stated there was no evidence of a crime in her case and they think she left of her own accord.

She was a sophomore at Lafayette High School in 1987. Her parents, who moved away 1990, hope she is still alive and will return home. Her father now resides in Texas and her mother in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Back then they didn't take these things serious. She was just another runaway for me it feels obvious that she was abducted, probably by someone she knew. Most likely an adult male who was smart enough to try to lure away her parents and LE with that fake letter.

I wish we knew more, any other suspects?
 
Jennifer Lynn Pandos, 15, Missing 10 February 1987

JPandos.jpg
JPandos1.jpg

Left: Pandos, circa 1987; Right: Age-progressed to age 39 (circa 2011)

Jennifer Lynn Pandos
Missing since February 10, 1987 from Williamsburg, James City County, Virginia.
Classification: Endangered Runaway

Vital Statistics
    • Date Of Birth: October 29, 1971
    • Age at Time of Disappearance: 15 years old
    • Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'2; 100 pounds
    • Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Brown hair; hazel eyes. Left-handed.
    • Marks, Scars: Pandos has a small mole on her left shoulder.
    • Clothing: Pink sweater, pink nylon waist jacket, blue jeans, white high top tennis shoes.
    • Dentals: Available.
    • DNA: Available.
Circumstances of Disappearance

Jennifer Pandos was last seen in the Kingsmill area of Williamsburg, Virginia on February 10, 1987. Jennifer apparently left in the middle of the night through a sliding glass door on the patio.
In a note to her parents, she said she would be back in a few days and not to worry.
Pandos left her Kingsmill home, perhaps distraught over a recent breakup with her boyfriend. She never came back. All she took was her handbag.

Jennifer's mother found a note, stating:
"Your daughter's with me. She's fine. She's having some problems and needs some time away".
Then, the note switched to the first person: "I'm fine, I just need time to think. Both of you please go to work tomorrow cause I will try to call you. I won't call you at home, only at one of y'all's work.
"Do not call the police. I can easily find out if you do. I may never come back home. Don't tell my friends about this. Just tell them that I'm sick."

It did not look like Jenny's handwriting, but police have guessed the left-handed girl might have written the note with her right hand. Jennifer's mother and her husband followed Jenny's instructions at first, but then notified police when she didn't call. In the weeks and months that followed, family members knocked on doors and handed out fliers, trying to find people who may have seen the teenager.

Investigators

If you have any information concerning Pandos' whereabouts, please contact:

James City County Police Department
Missing Persons Unit
Investigator Wendi Reed
757-253-1800

You may remain anonymous when submitting information to any agency.

Agency Case Number: 01017651
NCMEC #: NCMC601853
NCIC Number: M002435170

Source Information:
The National Center For Missing and Exploited Children
The Virginia Gazette
Daily Press
The Doe Network: Case File 376DFVA
Jennifer Lynn Pandos – The Charley Project
 
I just found a Facebook Page for Jennifer - It's called Finding Jennifer Pandos. It only has 70 likes. It looks like her case is still active, Police Investigator Wendi Reed took over her case 19 years after she went missing.
 
chaddylex said:
I just found a Facebook Page for Jennifer - It's called Finding Jennifer Pandos. It only has 70 likes. It looks like her case is still active, Police Investigator Wendi Reed took over her case 19 years after she went missing.
Click to expand...

chaddylex said:
Jennifer's brother Stephen is also active in Jennifer's case. He talks about his sister's case on www.jenniferpandos.com

Police Investigator Wendi Reed wrote a book about Jennifer's Investigation:
My Life with Jennifer Pandos
Click to expand...

Im glad there is a Facebook page for Jennifer! Very interesting that the investigator wrote a book about Jennifer's case.
 
Wonder what the boyfriend had to say. When was the last time he spoke to her, was she planning on running away?
 
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