Found Deceased IL - Jannette Johnson, 29, Kankakee, 3 Aug 1985

[Gardener1850]

Name: Jannette Johnson
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: August 03, 1985
Location Last Seen: Kankakee, Kankakee County, Illinois

[h=2]Physical Description[/h] Date of Birth: circa 1956
Age: 29 years old
Race: Black
Gender: Female
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 110-125 lbs.
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Unknown
[h=2]Identifiers[/h] Dentals: Not Available
Fingerprints: Not Available
DNA: Available
[h=2]Clothing & Personal Items[/h] Clothing: Blue/White capri pants, white top.
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: White sandles.
[h=2]Circumstances of Disappearance[/h] Janette's 11 year old daughter observed her mother pull into the back yard, lock the car & walk into the house. The next morning Janette was gone without a trace & the vehicle was parked in the front of the house on the street. Her purse was left inside the car and the driver side window was down. Kankakee Police were able to confirm Janette spent some time at the Party House tavern on Wildwood Ave; however the trail grew cold from there.
[h=2]Investigating Agency(s)[/h] Agency Name: Kankakee Police Department
Agency Contact Person: Unknown
Agency Phone Number: 815-933-3321
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: Unknown
NCIC Case Number: Unknown
NamUs Case Number: 31020
[h=2]Information Source(s)[/h] Namus
The Times
Daily Journal

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/3567dfil.html

Jannette was last seen leaving her home by her mother and never returned.

https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/31020/

 

[Moonwalker9]

• Missing Since08/03/1985
• Missing FromKankakee, Illinois
• ClassificationEndangered Missing
• Age29 years old
• Height and Weight5'7 - 5'11, 110 - 125 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry DescriptionA white top, blue and white capri pants and white sandals.
• Distinguishing CharacteristicsAfrican-American female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Johnson's hair was permed and cut short at the time of her disappearance.

Details of Disappearance
Johnson was last seen in Kankakee, Illinois on August 3, 1985. Her young daughter and her niece saw her park in the backyard of their home in the 600 block of east Oak Street, lock the car and start walking towards the door. It's unclear whether she ever actually arrived inside the house. The next morning she was gone.

Police determined Johnson had visited the Party House tavern in the 800 block of north Wildwood Avenue before going home that night.

When they checked Johnson's car, one window was partially rolled down and a cigarette was in the ashtray. Johnson's coat and purse were still inside the vehicle, but there was no sign of her. She has never been heard from again.

According to her family, Johnson was well-liked and had no enemies at the time of her disappearance. She left behind two children, who were raised by their grandmother. Her case remains unsolved.

Apparently the party house she went to
Google Maps

Somebody must've know what happened to her?

 

[MadMcGoo]

The Missing Mom: 30 years without a clue
“The disappearance of Jannette Johnson, a 29-year-old mother of two, merited only a small story with a photo in an August 1985 edition of The Daily Journal. Then, as today, this is one of those cases of a person who just vanishes.”
Unsolved Crimes

Current list of exclusions for Jannette per NamUs:
UP2627 02/02/1991 York VA
UP4781 10/18/1986 Cuyahoga OH
UP8419 01/16/2001 Isle of Wight VA
UP2005 09/23/1998 Cuyahoga OH
UP788 01/21/2002 Petersburg VA
UP10812 05/28/1989 Louisa VA
UP960 09/10/2004 Norfolk VA
UP6628 05/09/1990 Falls Church VA
UP6665 05/14/2007 Petersburg VA
UP6107 08/05/1988 Newton IN
UP12683 06/06/2014 Newport News VA

I was looking through UID from Illinois and came across a female who hasn’t been excluded as matching Jannette, or not listed in NamUs if she has.

I didn’t find a thread on WS for this UID. The skeletal remains were found near the Will/Kankakee County line (about a 15 minute drive from where Jannette was last seen) in 2002. NamUs lists her estimated year of death between 1950 and 2001, however other sources state 2001. Same with age and height. NamUs lists approximate age as 25-35, others list 30-40 years old. Height ranges a few inches (5’2”-5’3”) but is still quite a bit shorter than Jannette’s (5’7”-6’0”). The UID race/ethnicity is ‘uncertain’ but there is a note that says she could be black/African American, Hispanic or Latina.

It’s hard to get a good look from the photos of Jannette but I do see a facial resemblance. I would think the two have been compared given the circumstances but I don’t know?? JMO
NamUs #UP8552

UP8552, Jannette Johnson


ETA: additional source link / and map

 

[oceanverde]

Is Jannette's NAMUS case missing or is it just me?

 

[Murkywaters]

Jannette has been located deceased. Rest in Peace, Jannette.

UPDATED: 1985 Kankakee cold case becomes a homicide investigation

KANKAKEE — A missing person case dating back to August 1985 has now become a homicide investigation, according to the Kankakee Police Department. In a news release issued Wednesday, police said remains of a woman found in eastern Kankakee County many years ago were identified using DNA from family members in November 2020 as being those of Jannette Johnson.

Johnson’s daughter, Joretha (Wills) Hampton said Kankakee Police Detective Logan Andersen contacted her last November regarding her mother’s case. It was then that she learned the remains found in late 1985 in eastern Kankakee County were indeed those of her mother.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Search of murder site stirs emotions for victim's daughter

KANKAKEE — A search for clues in the disappearance and death of Jannette Johnson remains an emotional journey for her daughter Joretha Hampton 30 years later.

“It was heavy,” Hampton recalled of Sunday’s search in Pembroke Township, where previously found remains were ID’d recently as her mother. “One of our questions was answered — where it happened. We still need to learn the who, what, when and why.”

 

[dotr]

''Kankakee Woman Stops at Nothing to Solve Mother’s 1985 Murder Decades After Positive ID​

''The 11-year-old daughter of Jannette Johnson witnessed her mother park near their home after returning from a party. Johnson never made it inside, and it would take decades for authorities to identify her body.
By Jax Miller Mar 9, 2024''

Kankakee Woman Stops at Nothing to Solve Mother’s 1985 Murder Decades After Positive ID | Oxygen Official Site

Learn more about what Cold Justice uncovered during their investigation into a 1985 cold case murder.

www.oxygen.com

“This was my world; she was my world,” a tearful Hampton said of her 29-year-old mother, Jannette “Jette” Johnson, on Cold Justice, airing Saturdays at 8/7c on Oxygen. “She lit up any room. She brought so much love.”

Could Kelly Siegler and her team help the Kankakee Police Department get closer to the truth, and could they build enough of a case to present it for local prosecutors?''

 

[Queena]

I think that her unidentified page here on Webslueths should be linked.