TN TN - Nashville, Harpeth River, "Sherry", NativeFem 14-17, UP8494, Mar'76

It's sad that she's been unidentified for 40 years. Hopefully, they are able to find where's she's buried so that they can exhume her for DNA.
 

In the DN link, one of the men who says he and a friend gave a lift to the deceased and her friend, says that the deceased claimed to have been at a mental hospital while being treated for alcoholism.

1. If the estimated age of the deceased (14-17) is accurate, how likely is it that someone of that age would be undergoing treatment for alcoholism? I would have thought that alcoholism sufficiently advanced to merit in-treatment would have been noticeable at autopsy; and

2. If there had been a blonde friend, what happened to her? Did she ever make it back to her husband in Florida or is she lying dead and undiscovered or unidentified somewhere? And if not, is she perhaps looking for her deceased friend? (Possibly rhetorical questions)

I'd have thought two young women going missing at the same time from a mental health facility in MN at around this time is something that could be established as to yay or nay fairly reliably.

I'm thinking that if the story is reliable, then assuming the blonde friend was 10 years older (she was apparently married) than the deceased, there's a good chance the friend is still alive. I wonder if enquiries in the Haines City area might be worth pursuing to find the friend.
 
I sort of think the whole story is BS. probably made up by the victim and her friend, because idk why the guy would come forward if it was his BS story.

In the DN link, one of the men who says he and a friend gave a lift to the deceased and her friend, says that the deceased claimed to have been at a mental hospital while being treated for alcoholism.

1. If the estimated age of the deceased (14-17) is accurate, how likely is it that someone of that age would be undergoing treatment for alcoholism? I would have thought that alcoholism sufficiently advanced to merit in-treatment would have been noticeable at autopsy; and

2. If there had been a blonde friend, what happened to her? Did she ever make it back to her husband in Florida or is she lying dead and undiscovered or unidentified somewhere? And if not, is she perhaps looking for her deceased friend? (Possibly rhetorical questions)

I'd have thought two young women going missing at the same time from a mental health facility in MN at around this time is something that could be established as to yay or nay fairly reliably.

I'm thinking that if the story is reliable, then assuming the blonde friend was 10 years older (she was apparently married) than the deceased, there's a good chance the friend is still alive. I wonder if enquiries in the Haines City area might be worth pursuing to find the friend.
 
interesting case. I think the key is those pictures of her. she does have a distinct look. too bad it'd not clear exactly where her body is located so they can make some tests on her. however. checking yearbooks from Minnesota would be a good idea. think she was mist likely native American and she was still a teen
 
I've been wanting to do a recon for this girl, but I haven't gotten around to it until now.

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I have an interesting lead on this case.

(I can't say her name here because this info has not been confirmed with LE)

A 14 year old Native American (Lakota) girl from Rapid City, South Dakota named either Sherry or Shannon L------. Leaves on a bus sometime around 1975 or 1976, along with an older female companion (who was "a little older" than she, to visit her father and grandmother in California. The father goes to the bus station to meet her, and she is not on the bus. She was never seen again.

Her father spent the rest of his life looking for her, but he passed in 2008. The cousin does not know if a MP report is on file with Rapid City PD, but she did say that the father was contacted several times about unidentified bodies. That would seem to imply that law enforcement was made aware of her disappearance.

Her cousin, who told me this story, is her only surviving close relative. Her cousin didn't know her very well, and says that her info was based on accounts told by the cousin's mother. The cousin provided me with the name of the girl's father. She doesn't remember the name of the girl's mother. The father remarried a couple of times, and his most recent wife passed in 2015. Neither a "Shannon" or "Sherry" is listed as a surviving (or deceased) relative in the father's obit, or that of the father's most recent wife.

The cousin does not have any photos of Sherry/Shannon. But she believes that she went to elementary school at General Beadle Elementary School, and then probably North Middle School (both in Rapid City). But she wasn't sure that she went to school regularly because she was said to be "a wild teenager".

Interesting info if it is true. I'll have to check with Rapid City PD tomorrow to see if they have any record of her.
 
I have an interesting lead on this case.

(I can't say her name here because this info has not been confirmed with LE)

A 14 year old Native American (Lakota) girl from Rapid City, South Dakota named either Sherry or Shannon L------. Leaves on a bus sometime around 1975 or 1976, along with an older female companion (who was "a little older" than she, to visit her father and grandmother in California. The father goes to the bus station to meet her, and she is not on the bus. She was never seen again.

Her father spent the rest of his life looking for her, but he passed in 2008. The cousin does not know if a MP report is on file with Rapid City PD, but she did say that the father was contacted several times about unidentified bodies. That would seem to imply that law enforcement was made aware of her disappearance.

Her cousin, who told me this story, is her only surviving close relative. Her cousin didn't know her very well, and says that her info was based on accounts told by the cousin's mother. The cousin provided me with the name of the girl's father. She doesn't remember the name of the girl's mother. The father remarried a couple of times, and his most recent wife passed in 2015. Neither a "Shannon" or "Sherry" is listed as a surviving (or deceased) relative in the father's obit, or that of the father's most recent wife.

The cousin does not have any photos of Sherry/Shannon. But she believes that she went to elementary school at General Beadle Elementary School, and then probably North Middle School (both in Rapid City). But she wasn't sure that she went to school regularly because she was said to be "a wild teenager".

Interesting info if it is true. I'll have to check with Rapid City PD tomorrow to see if they have any record of her.

I really hope this leads to something.
 
I have an interesting lead on this case.

(I can't say her name here because this info has not been confirmed with LE)

A 14 year old Native American (Lakota) girl from Rapid City, South Dakota named either Sherry or Shannon L------. Leaves on a bus sometime around 1975 or 1976, along with an older female companion (who was "a little older" than she, to visit her father and grandmother in California. The father goes to the bus station to meet her, and she is not on the bus. She was never seen again.

Her father spent the rest of his life looking for her, but he passed in 2008. The cousin does not know if a MP report is on file with Rapid City PD, but she did say that the father was contacted several times about unidentified bodies. That would seem to imply that law enforcement was made aware of her disappearance.

Her cousin, who told me this story, is her only surviving close relative. Her cousin didn't know her very well, and says that her info was based on accounts told by the cousin's mother. The cousin provided me with the name of the girl's father. She doesn't remember the name of the girl's mother. The father remarried a couple of times, and his most recent wife passed in 2015. Neither a "Shannon" or "Sherry" is listed as a surviving (or deceased) relative in the father's obit, or that of the father's most recent wife.

The cousin does not have any photos of Sherry/Shannon. But she believes that she went to elementary school at General Beadle Elementary School, and then probably North Middle School (both in Rapid City). But she wasn't sure that she went to school regularly because she was said to be "a wild teenager".

Interesting info if it is true. I'll have to check with Rapid City PD tomorrow to see if they have any record of her.

The Rapid City cold case detective contacted me back to say he found some info on the girl in question. Her name wasn't Sherry or Shannon. Her name is Donna Marie Larrabee.

She was reported missing in May 1976, and by LE located her shortly after that in Wyoming with two female friends. If in fact she was seen by LE in May, then she would not be our Jane Doe (who was found in March 1976). However, it appears that she was not seen after the brief LE contact in Wyoming. I am still interested in finding out more about her, if not for this Jane Doe, possibly for some other Jane Doe found between Rapid City South Dakota and California.
 

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