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

[aThousandYearsWide]

There is always mention that she had no identification. I'm just trying to think back how old I was when I first started carrying ID. It was probably after I received my Social Insurance Number at the age of 16. Even now, I wonder how many 13 or 14 year olds carry ID. Do kids in grade school carry ID? The US has no compulsory ID card to carry, neither does Canada.

When I was in high school starting in 2005 we had ID school cards with our picture that we wore by clip or lanyard. No idea when this started. I went to high school in North Carolina.

 

[squish]

I completely agree! I mean taking her away from her family seems very harsh. I mean she could have lied to her family about going to school. If she was a latchkey kid or her parents both had fulltime jobs that would be easy. She could have told them she took the bus to school everyday but instead just stayed home.

Also she could have been avoiding school for serious reasons; maybe she was severely bullied or something?

Surely it’s better to try to make her feel comfortable going to school?

It’s a different country and time, but in the 90’s and in England me and my brother were placed on the at risk register for several years, because as a 4-7 year old I had severe separation anxiety and refused to go to school. This was made worse by my clingy dad who had mental health issues. My parents fought social services and eventually they left us alone. Even though it’s different circumstances and country it’s shocking to think that a girl did actually get taken away for non-attendance.

 

[AkitasAreLovely]

Rest in peace, Sherri, you are loved and remembered by so many people.

 

[Andreee]

Well, her older brother confirmed on WWWCJD that she was a habitual runaway. I'm not surprised they came to believe that she just started a new life elsewhere

It is good to know this Jane Doe's identity, for sake of her family and all who wondered who she was! Thanks to Ophram once again! I always wonder just how young teens like Sherri planned to survive after running away, with not much to live on. I wonder who she was trying to visit in that prison, and if authorities will try and find that out. I imagine so.

 

[Friday Fan]

When I was in high school starting in 2005 we had ID school cards with our picture that we wore by clip or lanyard. No idea when this started. I went to high school in North Carolina.

In the 70's we had student ID's, but they were pretty much a joke. Could never figure out why we had them. My hunch is for: Attending specific events, such as out of town sports or possibly identifying a random non-student running around campus. (Yep, we had them, but they were usually someone's boyfriend..sometimes they were former bored dropouts...too lazy to re-enroll, but too bored to stay at home, so they would come to school to hang out with their friends)

However, I never carried my student ID and nobody ever did

 

[Springrain]

Speaking as an education major and a soon-to-be-teacher, there's a plethora of reasons that a) Sherri may not have wanted to go to school, b) how Sherri specifically may have avoided going to school, and c) why/how academic truancy could lead to her being taken by social services (although this is not the norm, at least now). There were probably multiple factors that went into the state of Minnesota's (poor) decision to take her from her family home, and there may very well have been issues that her family could not handle because they were working or otherwise preoccupied. Like others have said, it could have been easy for Sherri to skip school if her parents were at work the whole school day.

Truancy is handled very differently from district to district, and her school district probably had stricter rules. Social services steps into a lot of these cases, because they are alerted of "academic neglect" or "academic abuse" (I am not saying it's not real; it is, but circumstances differ case to case), and tend to place the onus of the student's attendance onto the family, regardless of what role they play in it, which can, but usually doesn't, result in the student going into state custody. If she had other behavioral issues (she was a habitual runaway, according to her brother on the WWWCJD page), those probably played into Minnesota removing her from the family home to keep her under closer watch.

It makes me sad to think it is possible that sweet Sherri could still be alive and well today if these systems were different and had been changed earlier.

 

[Nell91]

Sherri's brother has said on FB that her father never changed his phone number in hope Sherri would get in contact. My heart.

 

[Susikatze]

I accidentally came across a photo of Sherri's mother and the resemblance is uncanny. I can't believe I'm using her name after 10 or so years of calling her WCJD. It still doesn't feel real

I did so, too. The same face. She looks so kind.

Sherris brother answered a lot of questions in the wwwjd group. They were six siblings in a loving home. Sherri got influenced by some shady kids she met at school. She frequently ran away and was often absent from school. She was the only child in the family doing that. It led to her being put into state custody temporarily from where she disappeared. Remember, truancy was a major offense, there were school truancy officers who "arrested" truants. Brother also thinks she hung out with kids involved in some sort of crimes.
Her parents and siblings never stopped looking for her.
My heart is breaking for Sherri and her family. The case also points out the shortcomings of state custody back then...

 

[othram]

Another article that mentions Websleuths!!
How Walker County Jane Doe Was Identified at Last

 

[Susikatze]

David, you are the best!

 

[Springrain]

Great article! Main points:

• Letter Sherri sent said she would contact her family again between her 18th - 21st birthdays. Exact contents are unclear.
• Letter was postmarked in Denver - possible Colorado connection?
• Othram reached out to Det. Bean to offer help ID'ing WCJD.
• Othram used DNA from Sherri's brain tissue to do genetic genealogy.
• Othram seems to hint that they might work on a DNA profile for the suspect in Sherri's murder? Possibly article wording is wrong.

I am very curious about the Denver and Colorado connection.

 

[CADwrest]

Sherri's brother has said on FB that her father never changed his phone number in hope Sherri would get in contact. My heart.

Marcia King's did the same, if memory serves.

 

[Kiranerys]

Sherri's brother has said on FB that her father never changed his phone number in hope Sherri would get in contact. My heart.

That's so sad.

 

[sloane7777]

When these identiy cases, we have been looking at for 25 plus years get solved its almost overwhelming...RIP Sherry Jarvis .

 

[Springrain]

Marcia King's did the same, if memory serves.

Yes, she did. A parents love never fades.

 

[Wossy]

Yes, She seemed to have a rebellious streak judging from her “who cares” attitude she showed to the waitress at the truckstop (assuming that was in fact her) but thats ok. I’m sure she was just trying to find herself and where she fitted in.

at least now that her name is known they can talk to some of the old criminals, thugs, and gangbangers that were active in East Texas back in the late 1970s-early 1980s. Maybe they might know who she has hanging around or staying with at the time of her murder.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

In 2020, Walker County investigators began working with Othram, a company that specializes in analyzing DNA from trace or degraded samples. Using tissue samples from the Jane Doe's autopsy, they were able to find six relatives, McRae said.

The five family members investigators spoke with identified Jarvis, and said she had run away in 1980.

In a statement read at the news conference, Jarvis' family thanked the people who worked to find her.

"We lost Sherri more than 41 years ago and we’ve lived in bewilderment every day since, until now as she has finally been found," the family said.


The statement said Jarvis had been removed from her home because she was frequently absent from school.

"Sherri never returned to our home," the statement said.

"Sherri Ann Jarvis was a daughter, sister, cousin and granddaughter. She loved children, animals and horseback riding," the family said. "She was deprived of so many life experiences as a result of this tragedy."

The family added that Jarvis's parents passed away before they got a chance to find out what had happened to her. "We love and miss Sherri very much. You are with mom and dad now, Sherri, may you rest in peace," the family said.

Now investigators will focus on finding Jarvis' killer.

"I know we like to refer this case as being a cold case," McRae said Tuesday. But "it has always been a top priority — we loved her as well."
Teen murder victim identified 41 years later

 

[imstilla.grandma]

 

[EGirl]

How many months were there between her last known contact and her body being found?

 

[Nell91]

I *think* she went missing in the Jan/Feb but don't quote me on that