Match! NY - Caledonia, WhtFem 1UFNY, 13-19, Turquoise Necklace, Nov'79 *Tammy Alexander*

[CarlK90245]

I saw her on CP earlier.
Carl what do you think about the nose difference?Could the nose difference be that far off?

Cali was shot right at the inside end of the right eyebrow. That probably did enough damage to her nasal bone to cause her nose to turn upward. Combine that with a camera angle that emphasizes the bottom of her nose, and her nose looks much more turned up than it probably was. The vantage point of the camera in Tammy's photo is from forehead level. The camera vantage point in the frontal PM photo is chin level.

If you look at the quarter-view postmortem photo, their noses aren't all that inconsistent.

 

[LucyOso]

Cali was shot right at the inside end of the right eyebrow. That probably did enough damage to her nasal bone to cause her nose to turn upward. Combine that with a camera angle that emphasizes the bottom of her nose, and her nose looks much more turned up than it probably was. The vantage point of the camera in Tammy's photo is from forehead level. The camera vantage point in the frontal PM photo is chin level.

If you look at the quarter-view postmortem photo, their noses aren't all that inconsistent.

I agree Carl. We discussed this a while back...The damage done to the side of the face, sinus cavities, causing the bridge of the nose to collapse.

 

[Still_Seek_Answers]

FDLE link:

http://pas.fdle.state.fl.us/pas/person/viewMissingPerson-119111872.a

They have her hair as blonde or strawberry, no mention of the fact that her natural hair color is brown. They also have her height as 5'5". This is a perfect example of why we sometimes allow for differences.

 

[Roselvr]

I agree Carl. We discussed this a while back...The damage done to the side of the face, sinus cavities, causing the bridge of the nose to collapse.

& we miss you btw. Especially now!

 

[Casketkitten]

In the late 70s it was popular to wear men's or boys' clothes, so I wouldn't read too much into that either way.

Also, preventive dentistry wasn't as common. It wasn't unusual for people to have bad teeth.

Just wanted to point out that everything Cali was wearing was utterly in sync for the Fall of 1979. I had the plaid shirts, the cords, the wavy bottom shoes as well as a necklace like she was wearing. Regarding her cord pants; there was likely a matching vest and jacket with that outfit at one time.

The man's jacket makes me wonder if it came from the man she was with that evening. It got chilly; her own jacket was not warm enough. He may have come from the SW so trace transfers of pollen from where he had come from got oh her, on her own clothes....

Bottom line is; for the Fall of 1979, she was stylin'.

BTW; so, SO excited that maybe, at long last, there will be an answer. First learned of Cali in summer of 2001 from the old Eclipse website. I guess it just grabbed me because she and I were at likely the same age. For the grace of God, I survived my bad choices; she did not. Please, please let this be the end of the saga of Cali.

 

[carbuff]

Yes, that was my point too. I had the same outfit, pretty much.

 

[LucyOso]

& we miss you btw. Especially now!

I am here! :happydance:

 

[LucyOso]

I guess it just grabbed me because she and I were at likely the same age. For the grace of God, I survived my bad choices; she did not. Please, please let this be the end of the saga of Cali.

Respectfully snipped and BBM. I think your statement is exactly why many of us are drawn to this site and have the desire to find names and peace for these UID's. Thank you for sharing it with us!

 

[joeytes]

Here is the link to Tammy Alexander's Face Book page.

https://www.facebook.com/tammy.alexander.16547?fref=ts

 

[Migmuu]

Grabbed this off the FB page:

I reported Tammy Jo Alexander as missing in June of this year. She was my best friend in High School. I last saw her the last day of school in May 1979. I googled her and found the post by the boyfriend that said she was missing. I found obits that helped to locate the half-sister. The half-sister did not grow up with Tammy and always understood that she went missing while still in school. Relatives and friends that we have been able to locate, sadly, don’t know much. Even the mothers obit said that Tammy was dead. I have not been able to find any trace of her or her biological father.

 

[CarlK90245]

Grabbed this off the FB page:

I reported Tammy Jo Alexander as missing in June of this year. She was my best friend in High School. I last saw her the last day of school in May 1979. I googled her and found the post by the boyfriend that said she was missing. I found obits that helped to locate the half-sister. The half-sister did not grow up with Tammy and always understood that she went missing while still in school. Relatives and friends that we have been able to locate, sadly, don’t know much. Even the mothers obit said that Tammy was dead. I have not been able to find any trace of her or her biological father.

... and I put this on the Tammy's MBNF 1970's thread. I am putting it here too.

Just relaying some information received from Tammy's best friend from high school.

She says Tammy disappeared after the 78-79 school year was over, around May of 1979.

She says that they both ran away around Christmas of 1978, and caught rides from truckers all the way to California. She says that Tammy had a reason to run away. But her friend says that she just went along for the ride. Tammy's friend's mom had to pay for airfare back to Florida for both of them because Tammy's mom said "Leave her there".

She says that both she and Tammy wore earth shoes like the ones found on Cali, and that when she last saw Tammy, her hair was cut a little shorter than in her sophomore photo. She doesn't recognize the turquoise necklace or the keychains that fit together.

She still has the names of some of the truckers that they traveled with.

And contrary to the suggestion in the Zabasearch post, Tammy's friend says emphatically that Tammy was not a prostitute

 

[Migmuu]

I think it's possible that Tammy didn't disappear in late May, but actually somewhere around July. I know I didn't keep in contact with many of my friends in school during summer vacation; I was up at my grandma's house in northern Florida at least 1 1/2 months each summer from ages 14 - 17. So, while her friend last saw her on the last day of school, it doesn't necessarily mean Tammy disappeared that day.

Summer vacation usually lasts about 2 1/2 to 3 months. I'm assuming her school followed the same summer schedule and ended in late May, so that means it would have started again in mid- to late-August. Although, if it started as early as mid- to late-July, the timeline is still consistent.

Cali's hair was frosted about 4 months prior to her death, and Tammy was last seen with frosted hair. That means Cali's hair was probably frosted in early July - which would still be summer vacation. If the 'hair' estimate is correct, that means Tammy had to have disappeared around early July.

If she did, that's a 3- to 4-month window where she could have gotten angry at someone/something, ran away, and used truckers to hitchhike to New York. And, going by her friend's story of running away to California, Tammy was obviously very capable of traveling very long distances - she literally made it across the freaking country. Florida to New York would be almost nothing.

EVERYTHING matches. The stats, timeline, circumstances, personal history, even the shoes. I'm about 99.999% convinced this is Tammy.

 

[mjak]

The fact that in Tammy Jo's mother obit it stated that Tammy was dead makes me wonder if Tammy Jo is Cali if her Mother new about her fate and didn't care to claim her. How sad. I am so glad her friend has started the search for her.

 

[shadowdancer]

Tammy's story, regardless of whether she turns out to be Cali or not, is one that will sadly be typical of many of our UIDs. She went missing, and her mother seemingly did little or nothing to find her.

Thank goodness other people in Tammy's life didn't forget her and decided to right this wrong. This gives me some faith that our UIDs will be reported missing eventually.

 

[CarlK90245]

I've seen other instances of missing persons mentioned in their parents' obits as having "preceded them in death".


Here's just one example:

http://portlandtribune.com/component/content/article?id=71794

This is the obituary for the mother of Steven Paul Lamb, who was LKA in 1968.
( http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/l/lamb_steven.html )

Maryann Lamb

Maryann Lamb died of natural causes on July 20, 2008 in West Linn. She was 79.

...

She is survived by her sons and daughters-in-law ...

...

Her husband, Paul, who died in March, 1986, her son Steven Lamb, and her brother, Art Holmes, Jr, preceded her in death.

 

[LucyOso]

I've seen other instances of missing persons mentioned in their parents' obits as having "preceded them in death".


Here's just one example:

http://portlandtribune.com/component/content/article?id=71794

This is the obituary for the mother of Steven Paul Lamb, who was LKA in 1968.
( http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/l/lamb_steven.html )

Good point Carl. I think while we can say the mom never looked, and maybe in Tammy's case she didn't, I think we often forget the ease of social media in this day and age. Back then, runaways were not even looked for (especially if the had a history) and the USA is a pretty big place to search without internet. I wonder of people just decide to consider those family members dead because they can't take the waiting, unknowing, wondering, and being in limbo for years? Self-closure in a way.

 

[chaddylex]

I am so glad Tammy's friend from high school took it upon herself to report her missing. It breaks my heart that so many runaways or people that go missing aren't reported missing by their family members.

Look how many UID's are listed on Websleuths, NamUs and Doe Network. I bet in most cases they have not been identified because they were never reported missing. So sad.

 

[joeytes]

I am so glad Tammy's friend from high school took it upon herself to report her missing.

That's a true friend!

 

[sloane7777]

Respectfully snipped and BBM. I think your statement is exactly why many of us are drawn to this site and have the desire to find names and peace for these UID's. Thank you for sharing it with us!

I left home @ 12 yo for several years I have no Idea how really bad things did not happen to me I was with wrong people in bad areas no car etc, Lucy said it right ! I bet alot of us just look back and shake our heads and wonder Glad we made it , sad for those who didnt!

 

[Still_Seek_Answers]

I am so glad Tammy's friend from high school took it upon herself to report her missing. It breaks my heart that so many runaways or people that go missing aren't reported missing by their family members.

Look how many UID's are listed on Websleuths, NamUs and Doe Network. I bet in most cases they have not been identified because they were never reported missing. So sad.

In Tammys case no report was made. Sadly, in the 70's many reports were made that were either trashed, or stuck into a filing cabinet. (As in my sisters case) If people could only walk into the archives of many LE agencies, and make copies of the reports that have been locked away for years......I bet we'd find many of our Jane Doe's among them. It is horribly sad that given the large amount of Doe's we have in our system, nobody has been given the task of retrieving those reports.

The only thing that bothers me about Tammy Jo is her hair. Tammys friend said her hair was even shorter when she last saw her in May of 1979, yet Cali's hair is shoulder length. My hair grows fairly quickly, but that seems like an awful lot of growth for just a few months. We tend to forget when we look at Cali's post mortem pic that her hair is wet and pushed back. I am not saying that is impossible, I am just saying it gives me cause for pause. How much length does he average persons hair grow in 4 months? 6 months?