On March 24, 1976, a fisherman found a teen’s body in the Harpeth River about 200 yards from a bridge on McCrory Creek Road and downstream from a recreational area near the border of Cheatham County.
Authorities determined the female had died due to drowning, but it is unknown whether it was accidental or the result of a homicide. Several abrasions were found on her body that indicate she may have been held underwater.
Known as the “Harpeth River Jane Doe,” the girl was estimated to be around 14 to 17 years old with brown eyes and brown hair. She likely died just hours before her body was found, and had a stature of around 5-feet, 2-inches.
Other identifying factors included a mole on her left temple area; two surgical scars on her abdomen area; old scars, possibly cigarette burns on both arms; and an oddly positioned left “fang” tooth.
She was wearing a rawhide bracelet and a choker-type necklace with beads and a white dove. A blue blouse was discovered in the river the day after her body was found, but it’s unclear if it belonged to the girl.
She also had a black comb, one nickel and a photograph of a young blond-haired boy with “Little Charlie” and a phone number written on the back in the back pocket of her jeans.
The phone number belonged to a Nashville man who told investigators he and his brother-in-law had seen the girl about 10 days before she was found in the river. He claimed they picked up the teen and her friend on Highway 24 as they were hitchhiking.
He also told police the two girls had run away from a mental hospital in Minnesota and were on their way to Florida. The men, who claimed they dropped the girls off at the Winchester exit, were never labeled suspects.
The teen’s female companion was described to be about the same age with sandy blonde hair, but she was never located or interviewed
While investigators are working to solve several cold cases in the Nashville area, there are some instances where, despite their best efforts, the victims have remained nameless.
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