TX TX - Huntsville, 'Walker County Jane Doe', WhtFem 14-16, 91UFTX, Nov'80 #2 *NAME NOT RELEASED*

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Jdart14 said:
Very seldom do people take into account how things have changed over time. Communication especially. Reporting someone missing in 1979-1980 meant calling the police department (locally the word MAY get out if there are posters made) or put in the news paper. There was no internet....no facebook...no twitter..And very seldom did something like that end up on even the local news unless it was a high profile case. so for years something like this news would have barely traveled outside the area unless the investigation takes it to different areas of interest. It is a shame but it is reality.
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You’re right. That and also criminal investigation may have been approched differently back then.
 
Craelius said:
Of all the faces I've looked at, the Girl in the Choir is the only one that really looks like the victim to me. I found the video online and stepped through it and took screenshots at different intervals. As she is reciting the Psalm, she blinks for a moment, and comparing that picture to the postmortem photo (the one that is almost completely from the front view) the resemblance is striking. It appears the girl in the choir has eyebrows that are not symmetrical, the right one being considerably narrower than the left, pretty much exactly like those of WCJD. All of their facial features are extremely similar: hairline, distance between eyebrows, nose, full lips, and philtrum, which is the indentation above the top lip. (Okay so I had to look that word up.) I cropped the PM photo so that her jaw does not show, as I can't bear to look at it. But we all know what she looks like and her lips are very similar to the Girl in the Choir.

View attachment 182620 View attachment 182622
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Thank you for taking the time to pause the video to show her eyes closed! It makes a lot of difference when comparing eyes. IMO, and coming from someone with not-so-perfect-brows, I think the eyelid space and shape of the eyebrows is quite a bit different. WCJD has very little arch (like myself) and even with shaping it’s almost impossible to get one, and she seems to have much less eyelid space than the girl from the Choir. Although, I do agree the resemblance is uncanny! These of course are just my opinions, I’d love nothing more to identify this beautiful girl!!

OAN: As I’ve been scouring through...well, ANYTHING with photos from that time, alternating between inmate records and crimes that may have occurred that would land this girl anywhere but with her biological family, I’ve seen some very young girls (toddler-pre teen) and I wondered if anyone had looked into that or gone down that road. I’m still not completely confident in my understanding of exactly how NamUs “automatically compares UD with MP in their database”, but I don’t think I ever will. So, I certainly have no clue if they would be able to compare say a 4 year old girl who was reported missing in 1966 (for example only) to WCJD? Although statistically it is very unlikely there would be a match there, but certainly not impossible. Just wondering if anyone was familiar with the specifics of those identifications.

I just want to say that you ALL amaze me with your dedication and hard work!! I’ve begun to branch out to a few more “well known” cases (some of you probably got several notifications from “Denim’s” thread ;) ) (I usually stick with the ones that get little to no attention), and I am absolutely blown away when I see some of your names consistently commenting and researching and SO MUCH MORE! You all are very special and everything you all do, does NOT go unnoticed! So, THANK YOU!!

•MMcG•

P.S. Sometimes I feel as though I am mostly chasing my tail, so I appreciate you all humoring me! If there is any “boring work” I can ever do to help, that would be more productive, don’t hesitate to reach out! I know a new set of eyes never hurts, but those of you who have worked on these cases for years and decades know better what might make better use of my time in trying to help Ms WCJD!!

❤️ ❤️
 
My experience is that it was sadly common in the seventies through the early eighties for families to splinter over politics or lifestyle issues. Somebody would leave, and never be heard from again, but not considered missing because they didn't expect to hear from the person. Some surprisingly young people were runaways, or throwaways. Some made it on their own. Others met a sad end. But in nearly all cases, there wasn't any kind of missing persons report and the cops would have laughed at you if you tried to file one.
 
Jdart14 said:
Very seldom do people take into account how things have changed over time. Communication especially. Reporting someone missing in 1979-1980 meant calling the police department (locally the word MAY get out if there are posters made) or put in the news paper. There was no internet....no facebook...no twitter..And very seldom did something like that end up on even the local news unless it was a high profile case. so for years something like this news would have barely traveled outside the area unless the investigation takes it to different areas of interest. It is a shame but it is reality.
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I agree with this. In addition to what you've said, I also think that since they saw she was young, white, well nourished, and very pretty they assumed she would be sought out for by family and someone would be looking for her immediately so they didn't treat the case with much urgency or possibly cover all the steps they could have while it was still "fresh."
 
Came across an interesting find while searching podcasts on Spotify.

A podcast called, "gone cold podcast - texas true crime" has an episode on WCJD. It doesn't share any new details about her or the case that we don't already know and it does go into quite a bit of detail about truck stop serial killers (which I do think is interesting and relevant to consider for this case given where she was last seen). Anyhoo. The podcast also explains a possible suspect by the name Robert Allan Autry. On June 22, 1984,Robert Allan Autry entered the home of 59 year old Zola May Fraiser (without force as he was familiar to her and her home and seen there on many occasions) in Huntsville. Zola lived alone and was depended on a wheelchair. Robert Allan Autry brutally beat her, sexually assaulted her, and strangled her death. The most INTERESTING part was Zola also was found with a deep bite mark (like WCJD). Robert Allan Autry spent the next 2 years in a mental health facility and ultimately hung himself.

Apparently, Robert Allan Autry and his brother, James David Autry had a history of being in and out of jail. The night of October 31/November 1, 1980 James (brother) was in prison right in Huntsville. Robert Allan Autry (the one that murdered Zola May Fraiser) was not....

This is all a dead-end lead given Robert Allan Autry is now dead but I do find the way Zola May Fraiser was murdered, especially being found with a bite mark to be very chilling and curious for this case.
 
Things were very different back in the 1970's and 80's: I remember being at a school field trip at the zoo, and this one young boy suddenly went missing from the group. We looked for him for a while, but then went back to doing our own thing. It turned out that he didn't like the zoo, so he hitchhiked back home! When I graduated high school my father kicked me out of the house, and frankly didn't care where I went. I didn't have any contact with family for about 4 months! This was just how things were then - I even knew of several girls at school who went missing, and no one ever said a thing about it.
 
carbuff said:
My experience is that it was sadly common in the seventies through the early eighties for families to splinter over politics or lifestyle issues. Somebody would leave, and never be heard from again, but not considered missing because they didn't expect to hear from the person. Some surprisingly young people were runaways, or throwaways. Some made it on their own. Others met a sad end. But in nearly all cases, there wasn't any kind of missing persons report and the cops would have laughed at you if you tried to file one.
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Absolutely! I'm so happy to see all of these old cases being solved but on the other hand, it seems as though all of them clearly state "no missing person report was ever filed". Unfortunately, in my previous line of work, I witnessed first hand the sheer laziness and 'someone-else-will-take-care-of-it' type attitudes from the very people who are required to enter things like this into NCIC! We rarely, if ever, had a missing person report to enter, but it was all too common practice by a handful of people (who were also not held accountable for their actions). I could never get people to understand how important it was to enter the correct color eyes of an individual or even something as simple as taking a photograph of a small tattoo. This was very recently so I can imagine all to well how things were handled back then! It's very sad. I like to have hope, but I'm also aware of the harsh reality. :(

SpanishMossAntiques said:
Things were very different back in the 1970's and 80's: I remember being at a school field trip at the zoo, and this one young boy suddenly went missing from the group. We looked for him for a while,but then went back to doing our own thing. It turned out that he didn't like the zoo, so he hitchhiked back home! When I graduated high school my father kicked me out of the house, and frankly didn't care where I went. I didn't have any contact with family for about 4 months! This was just how things were then - I even knew of several girls at school who went missing, and no one ever said a thing about it.
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You are so right! I've seen it happen a lot with people who are in and out of jail, or so far gone on drugs or just wandering the streets because they can't get the proper treatment for mental health problems. Even if they have family, it's not unusual for them to disappear for months at a time so no one gives it a second thought. Then a few months down the road and a farmer happens upon their body out on their land. It is almost tiring trying to keep up with some people's lives...those who come and go for various reasons. As you said, someone filing a missing person report on a person living this kind of life is very likely to not be taken seriously. Another sad reality!

NOTE: I attempted to add a list of serial killers or convicted rapists/murderers who had similar MOs or occurred around the time of WCJD's or were even incarcerated at the time...I thought I had accidentally posted it twice so I deleted one. Turns out, I erased everything :sigh: so I will re-type that and post again! I'll include a list of missing persons I've found that doesn't appear to be on any exclusion list if anyone wants to take a look.

Thank you all again for your hard work!!

*MMcG*
 
carbuff said:
hm, there are some interesting connections there.

That would lead to the possibility that she's somebody connected to the Autry family, wouldn't it?
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Yeah, it's possible. It did say James was in prison and on death row (he was executed in 1984) but it didn't say if he specifically was at the Ellis unit. Not sure if there were other death row units in Huntsville at the time.

The Wikipedia for James Autry says he is from Potter County Texas, which is up North. I was hoping to see he was from southern Texas where WCJD claimed she was from.
 
detective24-7 said:
Yeah, it's possible. It did say James was in prison and on death row (he was executed in 1984) but it didn't say if he specifically was at the Ellis unit. Not sure if there were other death row units in Huntsville at the time.

The Wikipedia for James Autry says he is from Potter County Texas, which is up North. I was hoping to see he was from southern Texas where WCJD claimed she was from.
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I don't know if you noticed my comment right above yours, I could kick myself, but I've got some links to some interesting articles about a few "repeat" offenders who were convicted of rape/murder in Texas and some on death row at the time! At least 3 from the Amarillo (Potter/Randall County) area! It may take me a minutes to get it all typed up again (lesson learned) but maybe that will help ! :)

*MMcG*
 
MadMcGoo said:
I don't know if you noticed my comment right above yours, I could kick myself, but I've got some links to some interesting articles about a few "repeat" offenders who were convicted of rape/murder in Texas and some on death row at the time! At least 3 from the Amarillo (Potter/Randall County) area! It may take me a minutes to get it all typed up again (lesson learned) but maybe that will help ! :)

*MMcG*
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Thank you! We must've replied at the same time so I missed it :)
 
detective24-7 said:
Yeah, it's possible. It did say James was in prison and on death row (he was executed in 1984) but it didn't say if he specifically was at the Ellis unit. Not sure if there were other death row units in Huntsville at the time.

The Wikipedia for James Autry says he is from Potter County Texas, which is up North. I was hoping to see he was from southern Texas where WCJD claimed she was from.
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On the other hand, if she was lying about her background, she might have picked someplace that was completely opposite of the truth.
 
detective24-7 said:
Thank you! We must've replied at the same time so I missed it :)
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I think we did! ;)

I'm going to have to take a break before I break something! haha... I'll finish doing this, but in the meantime, here's one of the more interesting cases that might be of interest to some of you. It somewhat lined up with a theory that crossed my mind a while back. Maybe WCJD was looking to visit jails/prisons out of curiosity or some sort of research. I had pretty much ruled it out because she seemed a little too young to be interested or required to do that sort of thing, then I came across this case:

I haven't looked much further than this one article, but there were some things that caught my attention. *Kelli Cox 20y/o - Brazoria County TX - 15 Jul 1997 - Killer: William Lewis Reece*

https://jezebel.com/remains-of-kelli-cox-found-college-student-who-vanishe-1770288811

*MMcG*

(I've never shared links, so please correct me if I did so improperly)
 
WCJD has a softness and roundness to her face that is characteristic of a child or younger teen. She doesn't look more like a woman, she looks more like a child.
 
carbuff said:
On the other hand, if she was lying about her background, she might have picked someplace that was completely opposite of the truth.
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Very true.

Sounds like these guys had been around the state though. James shot and killed a convenience store clerk in port Arthur so it’s not impossible that they made it down to corpus area at some point for work or just moving around.

I don’t know can’t find much on Robert though.
 
Paul B. said:
WCJD has a softness and roundness to her face that is characteristic of a child or younger teen. She doesn't look more like a woman, she looks more like a child.
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I completely agree! I have always felt that she was at the lower end of the listed age range. The first thing my mother said when I showed her was, "She looks SO young!". I do think she was, as I would say, "just a baby". :(

*MMcG*
 
I wonder if they still have imprints or pictures of bite marks for both victims that are good enough quality they could compare if that has not already been done.
 
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