Identified! KY - Harlan Co., WhtFem UP5880, 16-22, off Little Shepherd Trail, Jun'69 - Sonja Adams

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This immediately makes me think of this incident:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stranger_With_A_Camera

This is one of the most interesting documentaries I've ever seen. This happened in a nearby county. In 1964, Lyndon B. Johnson declared a "war on poverty" after receiving reports of the huge amounts of poverty in certain areas of this country, including Appalachia. In the late 60s, Robert F. Kennedy and other governmental officials also commissioned a report on the poverty of this part of the country. In response to this report, tons of people from all over the US and from abroad to document, film, and to try to help the people of this region. This caused a lot of resentment on the part of many middle-class locals who didn't like the way this media attention was making their area look. There was violence and backlash against the "outsiders" who came to this area. One of the filmmakers of "Stranger With a Camera" was murdered by a local. The local response was not exactly sympathetic to the man's murder. This documentary is excellent and I highly recommend it.

Sorry for the long-winded post, but I wonder if LE have considered this aspect. I wonder if this woman was someone who came to the area from either the east or west coasts in order to either help the people or film them.
 
This is how the Little Shepherd Trail looks "today" (or August of 2011). Purple line in middle.

3600_10152355433915602_1320962405_n.jpg
 
marie-chantal said:
This immediately makes me think of this incident:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stranger_With_A_Camera
Click to expand...

Kentucky "hillbillies" naturally have a distrust of "city slickers" meddling in their affairs. Hence that is what happened to Mr O'Connor.

Despite that, I think that this murder doesn't involve such a motive. Mr Conner was shot (along with his cameras) by a landlord unhappy that his tenants were being interviewed. He probably thought he was being portrayed as a "rural slum owner" and that would somehow bring HIM trouble of some sort or another.

This lady was found "hidden" (and that could include being found actually on the road, based upon its locality) and nude. Instead of being merely shot, she had the "living ***** beat out of her" (for lack of a better term). It sounds much more like a sexual sadist to me.

I think that she was with someone that decided to kill her. That area would be a good area to do it.

Many of the "Campbell Co Does" were thought to have been killed by a long-haul trucker. I don't think that was the case here. While they may have indeed needed a "truck" of some sort to get to the spot, I don't see how even a garbage truck could make it down the road. Much less an 18-wheeler.
 
bflocket said:
Kentucky "hillbillies" naturally have a distrust of "city slickers" meddling in their affairs. Hence that is what happened to Mr O'Connor.

Despite that, I think that this murder doesn't involve such a motive. Mr Conner was shot (along with his cameras) by a landlord unhappy that his tenants were being interviewed. He probably thought he was being portrayed as a "rural slum owner" and that would somehow bring HIM trouble of some sort or another.

This lady was found "hidden" (and that could include being found actually on the road, based upon its locality) and nude. Instead of being merely shot, she had the "living ***** beat out of her" (for lack of a better term). It sounds much more like a sexual sadist to me.

I think that she was with someone that decided to kill her. That area would be a good area to do it.

Many of the "Campbell Co Does" were thought to have been killed by a long-haul trucker. I don't think that was the case here. While they may have indeed needed a "truck" of some sort to get to the spot, I don't see how even a garbage truck could make it down the road. Much less an 18-wheeler.
Click to expand...

My intentions weren't to stereotype anyone, and I apologize if that's how my post came across. My line of thinking was that due to the possible Cincinnati connection, the era and the nature of the crime, it made me think that she could have been an outsider who could possibly have been killed by a local. Whomever killed her did so in a fit of rage and hatred.
 
I wish we knew exactly where along that trail she was found. I'm wondering if it was near that yellow cross road numbered 2010 on the most recent map. Near Laden. It looks like there's a road there in the old map too.
 
marie-chantal said:
My intentions weren't to stereotype anyone, and I apologize if that's how my post came across. My line of thinking was that due to the possible Cincinnati connection, the era and the nature of the crime, it made me think that she could have been an outsider who could possibly have been killed by a local. Whomever killed her did so in a fit of rage and hatred.
Click to expand...

I don't want to get in any trouble regarding stereotypes, but here it is...

There's not much for people to do in Kentucky, especially if you don't have many resources.
From what I'd been led to believe (and actually seen happen) is that the poor blacks seeking a better future go to Indianapolis. The poor whites go to Cincy. As such, I don't see that Harlan would be a place where people from there would come to "looking" for poverty.

Things may have been different back then.
My long-dead grandfather's family was from Loyall (a Harlan "suburb"). I had worries about going down to visit because I thought people down there didn't like "outsiders" (especially since most of the family that I know of is long dead).
I found out that the mountain folk are EXTREMELY nice, regardless of things.
I didn't try to "get up in their business," as it seemed Connor was doing, so it may be different for others.
 
carbuff said:
I wish we knew exactly where along that trail she was found. I'm wondering if it was near that yellow cross road numbered 2010 on the most recent map. Near Laden. It looks like there's a road there in the old map too.
Click to expand...

That's the road that goes by "Rebel's Rock." I've been on it several times. I would never turn onto Little Shepherd Trail from it, based on what happened before.

BTW, the map makes it look much straighter than it really is (if you can believe that). Beautiful and "fun driving" if you're in the right mood.

Also, the Little Shepherd Trail has been there for a while, albeit gravel and narrow to the point of anorexia. "Rebel Rock Rd" is paved now, but I think it was gravel when I went on it as a child (circa mid-80's). I guess Little Shep Tr would have been an easier (or less-scary) ride back then. It just goes along the ridge while Rebel Rock Rd goes up one side of the mountain and down the other.
 
Here is the link to the forum on the "Redhead Murders"
USA - Redhead Murders - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community

This girl is mentioned somewhere in the thread, I think.

The case (http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/192ufky.html) that got me interested in the murders happened along ONE* of the routes from my home to Harlan. She was suffocated in a discarded refrigerator, which is about as sadistic as this murder.

*I live approx 40 miles from Louisville. Since I love the backroads, it can take me 2+ hours to get there. Just goes to say... If I know an area, I know the back roads more than the main ones.
 
bflocket said:
That's the road that goes by "Rebel's Rock." I've been on it several times. I would never turn onto Little Shepherd Trail from it, based on what happened before.

BTW, the map makes it look much straighter than it really is (if you can believe that). Beautiful and "fun driving" if you're in the right mood.

Also, the Little Shepherd Trail has been there for a while, albeit gravel and narrow to the point of anorexia. "Rebel Rock Rd" is paved now, but I think it was gravel when I went on it as a child (circa mid-80's). I guess Little Shep Tr would have been an easier (or less-scary) ride back then. It just goes along the ridge while Rebel Rock Rd goes up one side of the mountain and down the other.
Click to expand...

I was thinking that he might have come across that Rebel's Rock trail and only gone a very short distance down Little Shepherd Trail.

Is that a trail people might have hiked rather than driven? Say during hunting season? I'm wondering whether he could have scouted it out then for later use.

I keep thinking the voilent beating sounds like domestic abuse.
 
carbuff said:
Is that a trail people might have hiked rather than driven? Say during hunting season? I'm wondering whether he could have scouted it out then for later use.
Click to expand...

No, it is indeed an automobile road. Even when gravel, it was indeed state maintained. I would call it a (minimally maintained) "Scenic Byway." Tourists can handle a bunch of mud/muck to see something that beautiful.

The domestic violence situation could make sense, but families there are close. My grandpa had about a dozen siblings, but they'd all know if one of them just "dropped off the face of the Earth." Especially if it were for an extended period. That is why I personally feel that she wasn't a local.
 
bflocket said:
No, it is indeed an automobile road. Even when gravel, it was indeed state maintained. I would call it a (minimally maintained) "Scenic Byway." Tourists can handle a bunch of mud/muck to see something that beautiful.

The domestic violence situation could make sense, but families there are close. My grandpa had about a dozen siblings, but they'd all know if one of them just "dropped off the face of the Earth." Especially if it were for an extended period. That is why I personally feel that she wasn't a local.
Click to expand...

I agree, she wasn't a local. I'm thinking of a couple who came to the area for a vacation weekend or hunting or fishing or something like that, got in a violent argument, and he dumped her on the way home.
 
I don't know if this has been posted, but I thought I'd share:

Here's a link to "Harlan County Forum" where the case has been discussed by locals. One of the posts suggests that a family member was rumored to be involved (but it could be just family gossip).

http://www.harlanforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=102&t=6545&start=20

And, Darla S. Jackson wrote "Harlan Haunts" which has some info about this UID.
I've only read excerpts, and evidently someone had dreams about the UID and referred to her as "Caroline".

http://harlancountyhaunts.com/
 
carbuff said:
I wish we knew exactly where along that trail she was found. I'm wondering if it was near that yellow cross road numbered 2010 on the most recent map. Near Laden. It looks like there's a road there in the old map too.
Click to expand...

I have a copy of the book Harlan County Haunts by Darla Saylor Jackson.

The book has photocopies of two newspaper articles from the Harlan Daily Enterprise in June 1969. The newspaper article provides the exact location where the body was found.

The Harlan Daily Enterprise newspaper article from June 1969 reported that the body was found about 50 feet from the Little Shepherd Trail (KY 1679) about a mile north of the Laden Trail (KY 2010).

The newspaper article also reported from the Harlan County Coroner that the badly decomposed body had been dead for two to three weeks. The coroner described the victim as 5'3'', medium build, reddish blonde hair, and under 20 years of age.
 
bflocket said:
I don't want to get in any trouble regarding stereotypes, but here it is...

There's not much for people to do in Kentucky, especially if you don't have many resources.
From what I'd been led to believe (and actually seen happen) is that the poor blacks seeking a better future go to Indianapolis. The poor whites go to Cincy. As such, I don't see that Harlan would be a place where people from there would come to "looking" for poverty.

Things may have been different back then.
My long-dead grandfather's family was from Loyall (a Harlan "suburb"). I had worries about going down to visit because I thought people down there didn't like "outsiders" (especially since most of the family that I know of is long dead).
I found out that the mountain folk are EXTREMELY nice, regardless of things.
I didn't try to "get up in their business," as it seemed Connor was doing, so it may be different for others.
Click to expand...


Also alot of the people went to Columbus Ohio as my parents did. They are from Floyd County, and yes to this day if a strange car comes to the area everyone will know..LOL...they still have some phones that are party lines.. There are no black families that live in their area at all.. What happens in Floyd County stays there. When I visit everyone knows what I am driving and when I arrive.. They call me Carlos's Daughter (my Dad Carlos) I am very protected when I visit. If this lady was local she may never have a name.
Hillbillies are not sterotyping to my dads family, That is what they are and they are proud of it. One of my ancestors is Talt Hall.. First man to be hung in VA.

Maybe this young lady came from another part of KY, there are a lot of dumping grounds in those mountains.
 
I wonder what color was her nail polish was. I know strange question.. but in the 60's city girls used more glittery polish than country girls would. I know very strange question but it could point us in the right direction.

please forgive typos I am tired tonight..lol
 
She could be a local that family members might have said she "R-U-N-N-O-F-T". I'm only being slightly flippant with this. I mean she might have met a man (not a local) and off they went and folks didn't think much of it at the time, so she was never considered "missing". Although it's been a long time since I've lived in the area, these people (with strange-sounding accents) are still "my people".
 
fred&edna said:
She could be a local that family members might have said she "R-U-N-N-O-F-T". I'm only being slightly flippant with this. I mean she might have met a man (not a local) and off they went and folks didn't think much of it at the time, so she was never considered "missing". Although it's been a long time since I've lived in the area, these people (with strange-sounding accents) are still "my people".
Click to expand...

And they are my people to, even though I have not been there in a long time either.

But back in those days and now..young girls would run off with local men, and they still do, some still marry very young. She could have been a battered wife, family could have said she took off with another man and they have not heard from her since it is not uncommon. I hate this word but family will shun their own depending on the problems.

Shun is not the right word..they become the black sheep of the family..finally came to me.
 
Dayton and Portsmouth is also a good place to look for missing, a lot of people from KY has migrated there to
 
raine1212 said:
Dayton and Portsmouth is also a good place to look for missing, a lot of people from KY has migrated there to
Click to expand...

And I'll add Michigan.

(which makes me think of The Dollmaker, but I digress)
 
I corresponded by e-mail a few years ago with Harlan County native Darla Saylor Jackson, who is the author of Harlan County Haunts.

I was told by the author that Little Shepherd Trail was a gravel road when the body was found in June 1969.

I was also told by the author who talked to the detective handling the case during the 1970's that the restaurant ticket was from a regional family restaurant chain from the Cincinnati area.

One thought that I had was that there were a lot of young folks hitchhiking on the roadways back in the late 1960's. If she was hitchhiking, she could have willingly hopped into a wrong vehicle for a road trip or she was forced into a vehicle against her will.
 
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