Identified! TX - Huntsville, 'Walker County Jane Doe', WhtFem 14-16, 91UFTX, Nov'80 #4 Sherry Ann Jarvis

[Springrain]

Hearing Sherri's story and how far she came from to get to Texas, I'm reminded of Michelle Garvey.

But my hunch is she had a local friend. She probably stayed with a friend for a few days, then she went to someone else's house that her friend knew...sort of a 6 degrees...before she knew it, she was out on the road...Seeing that she was gone for so long, she probably had places to bunk for awhile, but as with most of those places the welcome was always temporary. MOO...

RSBM...

Great thinking. I am truly racking my brain to think of reasons Sherri wound up in Texas. If it was a friend, it makes more sense. I still wonder what role Ellis Unit plays in this.

 

[branmuffin]

Unfortunately, as we know and I believe has been mentioned in this thread previously, certain entitled people online feel the need to make unnecessary, hateful comments and subject the family to criticism. I regularly check the Who Was Walker County Jane Doe? Facebook page and see comments along the lines of ‘oh well, why hadn’t the family made the effort to search for her for 40 years / if it was my family member, I would have done more…’ etc. which does not help anything. The family are in enough pain as it is, without hurtful speculations being made about them. We have already seen this in a number of identified Doe cases in recent years - Marcia King in particular comes to mind, but I know there have been many more.

As @sunnynz said, we are not really owed anything in terms of this, or any, identification. As for now, we can take solace in the fact that she has been identified.

I am firmly in the camp that homicide victim's names should be released to the public. The link that I have provided is an interesting study that was made regarding the increasing habit of Canadian police forces to withhold information from the general public without any changes in legislation.

In this particular situation, a murder that is still unsolved 40 years later needs all the help it can get, imo. Releasing the name of the victim could be a stepping stone in finally getting traction toward an arrest.

Laws and legislation are enacted for the safety of the public as a whole, they should not operate on an ad hoc basis. To stifle that ability does not bode well for us as a society. Law enforcement agencies don't create legislation, societies as a whole do. Unless you want to live in a police state.

View of Withholding homicide victim names: Looking for a win-win solution for families and the police | Journal of Community Safety and Well-Being

 

[sunnynz]

So young, just so tragic.

Her background explains to me the ‘who cares’ comment when asked about her family.

I can also see since she’d been on the road for so long that she may have easily met a guy during that time who ended up in Ellis prison that she was going to visit.

if I were Sherri’s family I’d want my money back from the private investigator. Surely any investigator would check Jane does as a matter of course, and wcjd’s case was hardly difficult to find. A search of Namus in the right age bracket would have found the composite immediately.

 

[Wossy]

She had to be living with someone from the time she disappeared to the time she was found. It might not have been a serial killer after all. Maybe a boyfriend she was staying with in Texas. Also the Blue Stone necklace could have been her birthstone. Aquamarine is March

 

[Friday Fan]

View attachment 321135

The photo on the right is so close to the composites

The main difference from the photos of Sherri and the recons are her teeth.

She appears to have a distinct malocclusion, which was not noted in any of the descriptions. I believe the WCJD description was "perfect teeth".

I don't believe Sherri's timeline would have allowed for orthodontic treatment.

As a family member, I would have been looking at descriptions of her teeth.

 

[ntt1]

if I were Sherri’s family I’d want my money back from the private investigator. Surely any investigator would check Jane does as a matter of course, and wcjd’s case was hardly difficult to find. A search of Namus in the right age bracket would have found the composite immediately.

It could have been before NAMUS or the internet existed.

 

[Springrain]

The main difference from the photos of Sherri and the recons are her teeth.

She appears to have a distinct malocclusion, which was not noted in any of the descriptions. I believe the WCJD description was "perfect teeth".

I don't believe Sherri's timeline would have allowed for orthodontic treatment.

As a family member, I would have been looking at descriptions of her teeth.

The teeth threw me off too.

Her hair, nose, and chin look like how I expected, but she also looks quite different from what I thought. I think the beating she suffered and post-mortem bloat really changed her appearance.

 

[squish]

Lovely photos of her from a more carefree time. She looks absolutely nothing like what I’d imagined from the PM photos or the resulting reconstructions. I guess we’ve never seen her smiling until now.

I am totally surprised that she’s from the opposite end of the country. When I heard she was not from Texas I was assuming nearby states. Also very shocked that a child could be removed from their family just for truanting. What a horrific punishment for Sherri and her family. And a fat lot of good it did.

RIP young Sherri <3 may you and your family have peace now.

 

[squish]

The main difference from the photos of Sherri and the recons are her teeth.

She appears to have a distinct malocclusion, which was not noted in any of the descriptions. I believe the WCJD description was "perfect teeth".

I don't believe Sherri's timeline would have allowed for orthodontic treatment.

As a family member, I would have been looking at descriptions of her teeth.

I think the differences in teeth in her life photos are just milk teeth, or new teeth that are growing in. By the time she was 14 they might have been more regular looking.

 

[othram]

Folks, here is our story. We are a little late to the thread:
After 41 years, Walker County Jane Doe is Identified

Also here are two more pictures from the press conference.

 

[lonewanderer]

The main difference from the photos of Sherri and the recons are her teeth.

She appears to have a distinct malocclusion, which was not noted in any of the descriptions. I believe the WCJD description was "perfect teeth".

I don't believe Sherri's timeline would have allowed for orthodontic treatment.

As a family member, I would have been looking at descriptions of her teeth.

This has been an issue for multiple Jane/John Does.

For instance, I remember Mostly Harmless (Vance Rodriguez) was described as having "perfect teeth". That was never really clarified about his specific case, but the point is, to some people "perfect teeth" means absolutely no dental work ever done. For others, "perfect teeth" means he still had a few teeth left in his head that had not rotted out yet. It can vary from a wide variety of states.

 

[branmuffin]

"Walker County Jane Doe" identified after 41 years | kagstv.com
snipped
According to family members, Sherri had been removed from her home by the state of Minnesota due to truancy, or being absent from school. However, soon after being in the state's custody, Sherri ran away and never returned home. Not much is known how Sherri ended up outside of Texas; the records from the state of Minnesota have since been purged.
ETA: statement
A statement from the family was read at the press conference. Surviving family members expressed appreciation for the investigators who never gave up trying to find the truth and identifying Sherri. They said her parents passed away, never knowing what happened to Sherri and they never had closure. "She was a daughter, sister, cousin and granddaughter," the statement read. "We love and miss you, Sherri. May you rest in peace."
---
I wonder if the home she ran away from has any records that may be helpful in finding out why she went to TX ?

Now that we know her name, maybe we will be able to find out where she resided after being removed from her family home. After finding out that information we may be able to find out who was in that home with her. And whether one of them left to go to Texas and ended up in a work farm. Maybe that's who she was on her way to see. Who knows? But it's a start to get the investigative ball rolling in a direction that may uncover who murdered her. Unfortunately I do have my doubts about that since it's 40 years later and it is almost 100% positive she hitched her way down to Texas from MN. If she did hitch was it one long run with a specific individual or did she hitch several rides to get to TX. It's a start, however tenuous.

 

[Triss]

Also very shocked that a child could be removed from their family just for truanting

I know, right? Kids skip school for many reasons, having problems in their personal lives is one of them. Removing kids from their families just creates new problems. I'm not saying this was the case with Sherri because I can only speculate, but it's just so tragic nonetheless.

 

[Mrs. Badcrumble]

My deepest sympathies to the loved ones of Sherri Ann Jarvis ♡

--------------------------------------------------------

It hit me that this is almost like Michelle Busha's (formerly known as Blue Earth Jane Doe) story in reverse.

 

[dotr]

KAGS
Walker County Jane Doe" identified after 41 years | kagstv.com
"Walker County Jane Doe" identified after 41 years | kagstv.com
''According to the Walker County Sheriff's Office, investigators began looking into forensic DNA testing in an effort to identify who had become the "Walker County Jane Doe. Authorities contacted David Middleman, who is the CEO of Othram, a company that specializes in identifying and analyzing trace quantities of degraded or contaminated forensic evidence. By the end of September in 2021, authorities had discovered Sherri's identity and at least six of her close relatives.''

''The case is far from over. Now that investigators have identified Sherri, they will start working on finding the person responsible for killing her. To call this a cold case, however, isn't something Walker County authorities want done.

"It's always been an ongoing investigation," Sheriff Clint McRae said. "She has always been a top priority," Sheriff McRae said. "We loved her too."

 

[Kitsey]

Also very shocked that a child could be removed from their family just for truanting.

With the caveat that we don't know the whole story and her siblings were themselves likely children at the time and may not have known the whole story either - I was shocked too!

 

[Friday Fan]

I think the differences in teeth in her life photos are just milk teeth, or new teeth that are growing in. By the time she was 14 they might have been more regular looking.

Her photo appears to be a school picture which was taken in the fall of 1979 or the fall of 1978 at the earliest. She would have been 13 or 12 at the youngest.

Orthodontic work was started on me when I was 11. Four permanent molars were extracted and shortly after, I got rear brackets and a headgear. (There were no milk teeth or erupting teeth involved) Several months later, after the headgear moved some of the teeth back, I got full braces. My braces came off four years later.

After they removed the four permanent molars, they told me that my next extraction would be my wisdom teeth.

I had severe malocclusion by the time I was 9.

Her malocclusion was not half as bad as mine. My siblings all had orthodontic treatment and they got braces between 12 and 13.

 

[Wossy]

Maybe she was going to see someone in the prison but due to her post-mortem pictures looking quite different from how she actually looked in life might have threw the prisoner off.

 

[Awsi Dooger]

Walker County detectives identify victim of 41-year-old murder

Here is a link from KBTX following the press conference, for anyone outside of the US who is unable to access the Kags website.

Thanks for that link. <modsnip>

I thought the family handled this well. After the identification was made they were obviously stunned and needed time. They allowed just enough time for themselves but not too long to allow this case to be semi-forgotten, or for wolves to attack the family for not releasing her name. That can hurt even indirectly, if the family is sampling related pages.

The family statement was well done. But again it suffered in translation from law enforcement. The young lady assigned to read it obviously wasn't familiar with words like aforementioned or albeit. Plus it sounded like she read it for the first time during the presser itself. A dedicated professional would have been proud enough to practice several times beforehand. That statement was written in a style requiring proper change of emphasis and tone during compound sentences. She was not capable of that.

More and more I appreciate the Doe cases and genetic genealogy cases that are solved in the Pacific Northwest. Frankly the caliber of presentation is dependably higher, plus there are often family members present. That really adds to the real world emotion.

BTW, who would have thought that Sumter County Jane Doe and Walker County Jane Doe would both be from Minnesota? During case discussion for decades they were theorized as borders apart if not oceans apart.

 

[Kiranerys]

So young, just so tragic.

Her background explains to me the ‘who cares’ comment when asked about her family.

I can also see since she’d been on the road for so long that she may have easily met a guy during that time who ended up in Ellis prison that she was going to visit.

if I were Sherri’s family I’d want my money back from the private investigator. Surely any investigator would check Jane does as a matter of course, and wcjd’s case was hardly difficult to find. A search of Namus in the right age bracket would have found the composite immediately.

I personally think its easy to see how she was missed. She was found far from home with nothing to identify her and the photos available of her in death aren't a glaring match to me of the photos of her we are seeing now. Couple that with the fact that resources then were nothing like we have now and I think we can cut everybody a little slack.
I wonder if her family have seen the photos while they were searching and discounted them as they do not represent Sherri how they remember her,so they didn't recognise her. They had no reason to think she would be in Texas and say they have no knowledge of anyone she may have known at the prison. Above all else I am sure they have spent the last 41 years hoping that she was alive and happily living her life somewhere.