Identified! TX - Pecos, WhtFem, 17-20, UP13480, in motel swimming pool Jul'66 - Jolaine Hemmy

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dotr said:
Hemmy’s male companion has not been conclusively identified. They may have used the name of a Marine stationed in North Carolina, whose connection to the pair remains unclear.''
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Interesting! Thank you for the link, dotr. Maybe the male companion heard and memorized the Marine's name somewhere, or maybe they knew each other. Maybe the mysterious man wasn't involved in her death but ran away because he didn't want to be caught with a teenager. I don't know how common it was for adult men to hang out with underage girls back in the 1960s, but it would definitely be suspicious today.
Even if the male companion is never located, I'm just happy Jolaine was identified after all these years. It gives me so much hope for other old cases and I'm so very grateful that companies like Othram exist!
 
rbbm.
Jane Doe identified in 54-year-old Texas cold case | CBS 42
''Police mentioned that, following her death, the man had asked the office at the Ropers Motel for his registration card, saying it was the only form of identification he had to go to the hospital. According to Pecos Police Chief Lisa Tarango, he never arrived at the hospital.

Tarango visited Hemmy’s family last week to notify them of the DNA match, saying it was an emotional visit, and describing it as “talking to the family 50 years ago.”

''Police are also investigating the reason why Hemmy had left her hometown in Kansas, and what she was doing in Pecos. Locals said at the time that many people had come to town for the rodeo, which was around the same time as her death. Police have not confirmed that information.''
 
Triss said:
Interesting! Thank you for the link, dotr. Maybe the male companion heard and memorized the Marine's name somewhere, or maybe they knew each other. Maybe the mysterious man wasn't involved in her death but ran away because he didn't want to be caught with a teenager. I don't know how common it was for adult men to hang out with underage girls back in the 1960s, but it would definitely be suspicious today.
Even if the male companion is never located, I'm just happy Jolaine was identified after all these years. It gives me so much hope for other old cases and I'm so very grateful that companies like Othram exist!
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She evidently was under the age of consent in both states, and I think it would have been a Federal crime? Mann act?
 
At least the authorities know where to look for the male...in the Kansas City, KS area as of 1966. Previously they had no idea where they came from. Obviously the first place to check would be fellow employees of that drive-in diner, if those records still exist. Even if he didn't work there perhaps other employees might remember who Joliane was seen with. Of course, all of this investigation should have been done in 1966.
 
I do believe that this man groomed her over some time. Maybe he was a guest at the diner and may have met with her when she was alone and unsupervised and none of her family around (i recall one of her siblings saying they worked in the same place). Grooming can be done within a few hours, days or weeks and the predator knows how to make the victim attached to him so that they wont tell anything to the family. The family knew nothing about him.
They believe he abducted her, that is possible, but he did not seem to have kept her locked away. She went to the pool alone while he was in his room so she would technically have been able to run away.
My theory is that he made her fall in love with him and promised her a new life together somewhere in California or Mexico. Maybe they even headed for Las Vegas to get married, who knows? She did not tell her family about him because the predator told her not to tell anyone about him until theyre married. And then they went off on the road together, he probably promised to take care of her financially. That would explain why she never picked up her paycheck. And on the road they stayed in Pecos, in Ropers Motel. He took a nap, while she went to the pool (she had swimwear on her, either he bought it on the road or she secretly packed it) where she drowned. He found his pants on fire (relationship with a minor below age of consent would have gotten him into jail) and left the scene.
 
Another thought, was she a good swimmer? I doubt someone who cannot swim would go and swim in a pool.... but there was supposedly staff around and the predator was in his room. Unless he used 3 minutes to drown her when they were unattended and then went up to the room. On the other hand, why would he murder her in such an obvious way with potentially other guests or staff nearby? Would have been safer for him to kill her somewhere on the road and just dump her and disappear. Thats why I do not buy into the murder theory... she may have had a leg cramp or something and may have been unable to swim back to a safe place in the pool and was not a strong enough swimmer.
Either way, the guy found himself stuck with a body and a perceived crime scene plus he would have been liable for a relationship with a minor below age of consent... plus he took her with him... so the thing got too hot for him to handle and he left.
 
If "Russell Battoun" was a fictitious name, why would he go back for the registration card?

I suppose there could be some fictitious and some true info, like perhaps he'd given the correct make and model of his car?
 
Authorities have not said they are investigating the case as a homicide. They do want to know how a small-town girl from Salina, Kansas went missing from Kansas City and ended up more than 800 miles away in Pecos, Texas.

“When you look at a map, it’s like, ‘how did she end up here?’” Chief Tarango said. “It’s still unknown how she ended up here.”

What authorities do know is that Jolaine Hemmy didn’t pick up paychecks from two separate jobs she worked in Kansas City before showing up at the Ropers Motel in Pecos four days later. She was with a man, who police believe gave a fake name to hotel staff. After Jolaine’s lifeless body was discovered in the pool, that man went to the hotel clerk and asked for the card on which he’d written his hotel registration information. Police say he took the card, left and has not been seen since.

“Amongst investigators, we all agree, why didn’t he give her name at least? At least say her name. So that’s the biggest thing is why did he just leave her there?” Tarango said.

“This is a very tough one,” Tarango said. “At least I can tell the family here she (Jolaine) is. She will be forever 17 to them, and for me, it is heartbreaking. I’m afraid that I’ll never be able to give them more detail than what we’ve given.”
Texas cold case linked to missing Salina teen
 
He probably was afraid some people in Salina may remember him and it may be easier to find him. If he groomed her, someone must have seen them together, even if briefly and he took care not to be seen by family members or close friends of Jolaine. Thats why he did not want to leave hints to her name.

I do believe though he was from the same area as her. Groomed her and then took her away, probably promising her a new prosperous glamour life in California or the South...
All speculation but she would not be the first teen falling for a predator.

Whoa. I hope that dude felt miserable his whole life (or if he is alive, still does).
 
What an amazing outcome that she got identified after all these years. As soon as I saw the namus link in june 2019 i posted it here and immediately it got all this interests from fellow sleuths. Then Othram took it on and after 45 years she's identified as Jolaine Hemmy. Soo many unanswered questions still but atleast she got a name now.
 
Moonwalker9 said:
What an amazing outcome that she got identified after all these years. As soon as I saw the namus link in june 2019 i posted it here and immediately it got all this interests from fellow sleuths. Then Othram took it on and after 45 years she's identified as Jolaine Hemmy. Soo many unanswered questions still but atleast she got a name now.
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One answer at a time :)
 
branmuffin said:
The thing about drowning - it's called the silent death.

People who are drowning don't yell out, they don't raise their arms waving madly, they don't splash about drawing attention to themselves and they don't scream.

Something happened to this girl moments before she was found unresponsive in the pool.
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As someone who almost drowned once, yes you scream for help as you go down, struggle back up, scream, and go down. I can still remember looking through an inch of water towards air and life. Then my brother grabbed me by the hair and pulled me out of the hotel swimming pool we were at. That was my experience with drowning. It was not silent at all.
 
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