CA CA - Gail D. Skelton, 26, Galt/Stockton, 26 September 1980

[MadMcGoo]

She even has the same scar above her eye...her right eye - our left when looking at the photo

 

[carbuff]

Link: The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

No ruleouts yet.

 

[carbuff]

I’m just reading of Gail’s disappearance for the first time! What a series of unfortunate tragedies Are there any updates, anyone know? I saw she has 0 unidentified person exclusions on her NamUs profile.

She looks incredibly similar to WCJD, and the timeline and circumstances (blue car, possibly with other men) seem to fit. IMO She certainly has a familiar face.

You're right, the resemblance is strong. And she disappeared from California about a month before WCJD died.

She's quite a bit older than the estimate, though.

 

[MadMcGoo]

You're right, the resemblance is strong. And she disappeared from California about a month before WCJD died.

She's quite a bit older than the estimate, though.

I know...I tried to find something that would connect both girls. But didn't really come up with anything substantial. I've only thought one other missing person besides Gail really looked like WCJD. She (Nathalie Martin-Leavens) disappeared from France though and other than her physical resemblance, I couldn't locate anything else about her to even compare to WCJD.

I just really have a feeling about Gail. She was very familiar with living next to the ocean, so I wonder if the witnesses may have heard her say she was from "Port.....", and just misunderstood the exact location. It would explain so much. And the car....... gosh, I don't know. It really comes down to the age, I guess.

 

[carbuff]

I know...I tried to find something that would connect both girls. But didn't really come up with anything substantial. I've only thought one other missing person besides Gail really looked like WCJD. She (Nathalie Martin-Leavens) disappeared from France though and other than her physical resemblance, I couldn't locate anything else about her to even compare to WCJD.

I just really have a feeling about Gail. She was very familiar with living next to the ocean, so I wonder if the witnesses may have heard her say she was from "Port.....", and just misunderstood the exact location. It would explain so much. And the car....... gosh, I don't know. It really comes down to the age, I guess.

I see from the very first post in this thread that we're not the first to notice the resemblance.

I don't think the age alone is enough to rule her out--I've always thought WCJD was older than she looked and the estimated age on UIDs is often drastically off (as is post-mortem interval and height).

 

[MadMcGoo]

I'm not sure which agency would we best to contact in order to see if they can be compared. I didn't have much luck when trying to contact Walker County...but that's been several months ago. I do think it would be worth an in-depth comparison.

If you know of someone who has a connection in one of these agencies, I don't mind getting both girl's info/links together to make it easier for them to submit. You've been around WS much longer than me so you'd know better than I would.

 

[rats]

Found another article about her in the Sacramento Bee, 25 Dec 1980, pages B1-B2.

 

[MadMcGoo]

Found another article about her in the Sacramento Bee, 25 Dec 1980, pages B1-B2.

Good find!! Her teeth are showing much more in these photos. Is it me, or does she appear to be wearing braces? It’s hard to tell if her top teeth are just unusually small (short), but they’re unique IMO. And that necklace...I sure wish we could see what was at the end of that chain...

Beautiful girl!

 

[MadMcGoo]

Of course the chin is going to be quite different, Gail is smiling very big. I still see such a strong resemblance to WCJD...

 

[rosesfromangels]

Interesting case. I would like to know Gail's demeanor at the party before she left. My speculation is that she, along with her car, are in the Delta. Perhaps she couldn't stand the thought of life without handsome Pat Malone.

Amateur opinion and speculation

 

[carbuff]

Of course the chin is going to be quite different, Gail is smiling very big. I still see such a strong resemblance to WCJD...

Wish we could see the necklace she's wearing in that photo.

 

[NostalgicJazz]

Has anyone looked into the Pem Michelle Briggs theory? They have alot of resemblance, and I recall her running away to meet her dad in prison

 

[MadMcGoo]

Has anyone looked into the Pem Michelle Briggs theory? They have alot of resemblance, and I recall her running away to meet her dad in prison

Do you mean for Walker County Jane Doe? I don’t recall that name. Do you have a link to her case?

 

[NostalgicJazz]

Do you mean for Walker County Jane Doe? I don’t recall that name. Do you have a link to her case?

Yeah, there was a woman that posted an ad asking to see her sister again, the timeline would match up, the only big rule out is her teeth which are crooked, but she went missing in 1977, and 3 years prior to her death could be enough time to straighten them out. OR - OR - Pem Michelle Yates-Briggs, 15, Portland, 1977
Carl K did his best to try and follow up with the lead and contact the sister, but I dont think it got anywhere. Even if the teeth are different it's still worth a DNA test. Pem could also be Snohomish County Jane Doe

 

[Gpsywld]

(on another note if you notice the asterisk**** in the article, that was my typo, I forgot to remove it prior to posting. That was my little flag to go back and note in my blog that Malone's body was in the water for so many days there was no way for them to determine his blood alcohol level accurately. I will get into the science of this in my blog but basically, it had been too many days and his body had been in decomp for too long. So I found that statement in the newspaper very strange.)

 

[Gpsywld]

I would love to read your blog is it still up?

 

[erineestevenson]

Found additional images from Gail's senior yearbook. You can find those here.

 

[MadMcGoo]

Found additional images from Gail's senior yearbook. You can find those here.

THANK YOU for these!!



ETA: If you can, do you mind giving the source. If you know the yearbook in which they were found, I can help you link it! Thanks

 

[Bit of hope]

Found additional images from Gail's senior yearbook. You can find those here.

ThX

 

[StarrChance]

Really the biggest red flag to me is she got married in April 1980 in Nevada. Her husband was 6 years younger, age 20.
Her fiancé dies in June 1980.
I can’t seem to make any sense of why anyone would be engaged within two months of marriage?
Jealousy and anger a possible motive.