Identified as Shirlene "Cheryl" Ann Hammack
===
Victim in 1981 Brooks Co. murder case identified as fair worker
(click on image to enlarge)
he Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced that it has identified the victim in a 1981 Brooks County murder case.
Nearly 39 years after it happened, investigators were able to identify Shirlene "Cheryl" Ann Hammack as the victim of the murder.
On Halloween in 1981, the Brooks County Sheriff's Office asked the GBI Region 9 Field Office for help in a homicide investigation. The body of an unidentified white woman was discovered beside a small, dirt lane entrance to a corn field in Dixie.
The victim was covered slightly with fresh cut limbs and foliage to hide her and the crime. Deputies described the victim as a young white woman, about 5 feet and 2 inches tall, weighing around 105 pounds with shoulder-length brown hair and hazel eyes.
At the time, she was thought to be between 18 and 24 years old. Investigators determined at the time she died after she was stabbed in the stomach and choked.
---
On Halloween in 2018, exactly 37 years after her murder, the chief deputy of the sheriff's office reached out to the GBI case agent about a tip from a resident who said she had information about the identity of Doe.
---
The resident was a possible childhood friend of Doe. They believed she was Cheryl Hammack. The friend remembered her friend, Cheryl, went missing in late 1981 after traveling with a fair.
The age and description of Cheryl matched that of Doe, which peaked her friend's interest. The friend saw a Facebook post a person who lives near Brooks County made about the case. It was shared widely, so that's how the childhood friend saw it.
Following the tip, GBI agents and Brooks County investigators spoke with and met Hammack's surviving family members, which included her mother and sisters. The description of Hammack's disappearance from her family matched the facts of the investigation.
Investigators got a known DNA sample from Hammack's biological mother. The mother told them she got a letter in the mail following Hammack's disappearance with the contents of her wallet, including a Georgia driver's license. The envelope did not have a return address.
---
After extensive analysis of the DNA samples and a comparison process, it was determined that Doe was the biological child of Kathleen Hammack. Finally, Jane Doe was identified as Shirlene Hammack.
She was originally from Thomaston, Georgia. She took a job with the fair that eventually brought her to Brooks County in 1981.
Victim in 1981 Brooks Co. murder case identified as fair worker
GBI: Woman found dead in Brooks County corn field in 1981 identified