Mystery couple murdered in South Carolina, 1976 - #6

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Does anyone know if Ronald and Theresa Yakimchuk missing from Alberta, Canada have been ruled out? Saw their names tossed around in this forum, but didn't see anything that indicated if they have been submitted and/or ruled out. Theresa doesn't look so much like Jane Doe from the missing persons pic I saw, but I think Ronald looks a lot like John Doe.
 
I was reading on another case here where changes in eye color after death were discussed. If I remember which case that was, I'll put up a link. That discussion was in reference to yet another case which had people stumped when a missing person looked very much like the UID, but was discounted over and over because of wrong eye color. Dna proved the two were a match.

Hair color can both darken and lighten with age, although the former is much more likely. However, eyes can only change color in the first six months of life. I think with that case the uid had been dumped in a waterway and the chemicals in the water changed the eye color.
 
I have been reading this thread for about 3 years- this is my first post.

Some thoughts-

It really wasn't comon during the 70s to get manicures or pedicures, so it's likely that any reference to that simply means that the victims had neat fingernails/toenails, and that the woman had some kind of polish on her nails. I don't rememeber reading if the ID said she had polish or what colour it was.

I also don't recall if it was reported whether the female had shaved her armpits. The only relevance her not shaving her legs would be if her armpits were also not shaved. In the 70s, some people shaved their legs or not, but most Americans shaved their armpits. Unshaved armpits would be a bigger clue than unshaved legs.

The jewelry described was not expensive jewelry. The Lindy Star ring was way common back then, and unless it was set in white gold or platinum, was not expensive. The watch was not really that expensive either. The jewelry involved does not show that this couple were wealthy or involved with people who were. The jewelry was not taken, probably because it was obvious it had no resale value.

I think the couple look like bother/sister, however, studies have shown that many couples resemble each other. I recall being a little taken aback at a party I attended with my ex where someone commented on us being brother/sister, and I thought... sick... didn't you just see us holding hands and kissing? So, I don't think the similarity of looks can be ruled out either way. I lean towards unrelated people because it seems like a missing brother/sister duo would get more interest/attention.

If the couple were actually from Canada, the name 'Jock' makes no sense. More likely it was 'Jacques'. And, if they were actually from Canada, they most likely would be Indian and white.

It isn't likely that a rich person (from anywhere except the movies) would stay at camp grounds or associate with the people reported.

Habitual hitch-hikers would not have worn the clothes/shoes described and would have had a less refined appearance. Not bagging on hitch-hikers, but they do have less access to showers, and they don't usually paint their nails. Lack of comfortable stereotypical hitchiker shoes would imply that their stay at the campgrounds was by choice, that they were middle-classed, and that had a means of transportation somewhere nearby, probably their own car. I don't recall reading any description of where the couple stayed on the campgrounds... tent? Motorhome?

I'm not sure it means anything that the victims did not have ID on them- in the 70s people were not forced to carry ID every day the way we are today. However, lack of money on the bodies implies they were robbed. The matches were probably left because the killer did not need them.

The matches (unless autopsy says either of them smoked) were probably picked up somewhere. They could have been souveniers (as in they had been to the place on the matches) or they could have just been picked up somewhere as a means to start a campfire. If the victims smoked, and the killer stole their cigarettes, they most likely would have taken the matches as well, since lighters were not common back then.

European hitchikers, drug mules, or drug deal gone bad are sexy solutions, but they don't fit the evidence. Every once in a while when people go missing, it's a shocking case that is bizarre in some way, but most often it ends up being a pretty stereotypical case of the husband killing the wife, or the boyfriend killing the baby. Meaning, it's likely this couple was robbed and killed, that it was not personal, and that it was done by a local.

I would like to see this case marketed as the victims possibly being Indian from Canada.
 
It would be nice to find out if this couple had possibly been picked up at one time for vagrancy, so many hitchhikers being singled out especially when they are spotted as outsiders in a small town.
 
Habitual hitch-hikers would not have worn the clothes/shoes described and would have had a less refined appearance. Not bagging on hitch-hikers, but they do have less access to showers, and they don't usually paint their nails. Lack of comfortable stereotypical hitchiker shoes would imply that their stay at the campgrounds was by choice, that they were middle-classed, and that had a means of transportation somewhere nearby, probably their own car. I don't recall reading any description of where the couple stayed on the campgrounds... tent? Motorhome?

I'm not sure it means anything that the victims did not have ID on them- in the 70s people were not forced to carry ID every day the way we are today. However, lack of money on the bodies implies they were robbed. The matches were probably left because the killer did not need them.


I would like to see this case marketed as the victims possibly being Indian from Canada.

Hiya, glorybug--all good stuff to think about, definitely. Thanks for your insight :)

Re. the campground, KOAs were often equipped with shower rooms...I know this because my parents took me on road trips back then in their various campers (a VW pop-up top and then they got a Winnebago) and we used to stay in KOAs all over the US & I can remember showering facilities (I was a pre-teen/teenager then). It is possible that if this couple were staying at a KOA, keeping clean would have been easy. A witness did state that he had met a couple at a local KOA campground.

Re. the IDs: True that they may not have carried them, but if they were from Canada, they would have needed either passports or valid Canadian ID to cross the border. Again, this is based on having travelled to Canada from the US with my folks, in 1967 and then again in the mid-70s. My parents only needed to show their driving licenses to enter/leave Canada. I lean towards the theory that any ID they had on them was removed by the killer(s).

Also, do you mean Native American or Asian Indian? Just curious :)

Hmmm...I still think the Interpol contact's theories are more on the mark, or at least shouldn't be discounted. I don't think it's glamourous, per se, but having lived in the UK for nearly a decade, I can tell you, there are some pretty elaborate schemes out there for trafficking of any kind.

anyway...it's always good to put your thoughts out there...thank you!!
 
Hi, I've been reading this board for a couple of months now. I heard of this story long ago. I was born and raised in Sumter, SC. When this actually happened, I was only 2 years old. I no longer reside in Sumter, but I do still work there. My father was a deputy sheriff when I was a little girl and I'm going to ask him if he recalls anything about this case. I'm not sure exactly the years he worked, but maybe he will have some knowledge of it, if only for the fact that he has resided in Sumter his entire life also. I read the local paper almost every day hoping they will write an article to generate some interest or at least keep this case in the residents' memories. This is a small town (and even smaller back then) and it's hard to believe noone has come forward with any information. My fear is that a witness or someone involved has passed away since it has been so long.

Hi Southerngirl! Just wondering if you had ever had a chance to speak to your father about this couple? I am also from South Carolina, but not near Sumter.
 
Can you stay at a KOA without a tent, camper or car? It's been a long time since I've camped, but I seem to remember having to have something like that. I certainly wasn't trying to imply that people at KOAs can't keep clean- pretty sure I've used their showers in the past. What I was trying to say was that since they were well-groomed AND were not wearing appropriate hitchhiking shoes that I wasn't comfortable guessing that they were hitchikers. Campers, possibly, but not hitchhikers.

I also travelled a lot between the US and Canada in the 70s- my parents owned a sailboat and we would sail from CA to Canada every summer. I have never had a passport, and I don't recall my parents ever having to show ID when we entered, or anywhere we went in Canada. I do recall using all the free showers along the way, since our sailboat had none. I would guess that they needed none, or their IDs were taken.

I was suggesting Native American Indian. I am Pottowatomi and Blackfoot, both of which tribes have quite a few members in Canada. I think that if the victims really were from Canada, and one was named Jock, it was actually 'Jacques'. Yet, they were not fair-skinned, as other French people might be, which is why I thought NA. I have done my genealogy charts, and have tons of relatives that are NA from Canada with French names, for example, Jean Baptiste. Anyone here would think they said their name was 'John'. Many Indians in Canada and the US have French names. Most Indians (like myself) have very straight hair, but if Indian/European, they could very well have hair like the female UID.

Just an option. Other than that, I would guess European/Columbian, something like that, but not hitchhikers. And, I'd guess related, but if not, at least the same nationality. I remember the 70s and hitchhikers and 'hippies'. Hitchhikers did not dress like that, and hippies did not shave their legs or their armpits. Europeans I knew then shaved their legs, but not their armpits. IIRC, the female UID had shaved legs but not shaved armpits? I could be wrong- this case has been out here for so long. When I was growing up it was VERY common to hitchhike, and I do remember what the girls looked like who did it frequently. I also remember they would not get a ride if they were with a guy. On the other hand, couples who hitchhiked longhaul together looked nothing like those girls- they usually had backpacks, were unkempt, had sturdy shoes and wore scarves, etc. They did not shave, the men or the women.

I recall the autopsy said both of the UIDs had very long eyelashes? Too bad there is no mention of whether the female was wearing makeup. Makeup would definitely mean not longhaul cross-country hitchhiker. I definitely wouldn't rule out drug trafficking, because coke was getting pretty big by then, and the dealers were usually pretty well-groomed.

This case frustrates me because it has been around so long. In the cases where there is a missing person but no body, there's always a chance a body will be found sometime. But in cases like this, where you have bodies but no report of a missing person, every year that goes by means less chance anyone will report them missing. Sad.


Hiya, glorybug--all good stuff to think about, definitely. Thanks for your insight :)

Re. the campground, KOAs were often equipped with shower rooms...I know this because my parents took me on road trips back then in their various campers (a VW pop-up top and then they got a Winnebago) and we used to stay in KOAs all over the US & I can remember showering facilities (I was a pre-teen/teenager then). It is possible that if this couple were staying at a KOA, keeping clean would have been easy. A witness did state that he had met a couple at a local KOA campground.

Re. the IDs: True that they may not have carried them, but if they were from Canada, they would have needed either passports or valid Canadian ID to cross the border. Again, this is based on having travelled to Canada from the US with my folks, in 1967 and then again in the mid-70s. My parents only needed to show their driving licenses to enter/leave Canada. I lean towards the theory that any ID they had on them was removed by the killer(s).

Also, do you mean Native American or Asian Indian? Just curious :)

Hmmm...I still think the Interpol contact's theories are more on the mark, or at least shouldn't be discounted. I don't think it's glamourous, per se, but having lived in the UK for nearly a decade, I can tell you, there are some pretty elaborate schemes out there for trafficking of any kind.

anyway...it's always good to put your thoughts out there...thank you!!
 
hi, glorybug--

I see, that helps, thanks :)

That's why I think the Interpol contact theory is more spot-on than most--their alleged story is just so contrived, imho. And yep, there was a lot drug trafficking then...loads of cocaine everywhere.

Never read anything about her armpits, so can't comment there.

As far as I know, you would have to have had a tent or camper or something to stay in one of their sites.

As for their origins, well, DNA testing could answer those questions, as could the isotope testing. It's so frustrating that this has never been done. They remind me of people from the Mediterranean (Spain, Italy, France, Greece, Turkey, etc)...and I've read that their skin tones were described as 'olive'. But who knows? They could have been NA or bi-racial or whatever, as you have noted. Again, I think the technolgy might help pin down some of these points.

It's really frustrating!!!!
 
It has been awhile since I last posted on here. This case still haunts me and I've been doing a lot of thinking about this case.

I think that the guy's name was "Jacques" and I believe the story about him being from Canada. I also think that the woman was from outside of the United States. Jacques said that he was the son of a prominent doctor in Canada. The initials on the ring he was wearing were "JPF". With all due respect to the man who said he talked with Jacques, I do not believe he had the creativity or intelligence to come up with such a story involving Jacques and his Canadian father, the physician.

Jacques allegedly told the man in SC that his father disowned him for foregoing a medical career to become a teacher. Jacques and "Jane" were traveling in the summer of 1976. Had he been a teacher, he would have been on summer vacation. Matches from Grant's Truck Stop were found on Jacques. This place reportedly is/was located in Montana. Speculation is that Jacques and Jane were traveling across the United States. This took place in 1976 which happened to be the year of the American Bicentennial. Could they have been traveling across the country because of this?

Police said they found no evidence of drugs or tobacco on the two dead bodies of the kids. Some have speculated that these two could have been involved in drugs somehow. We know that Jacques was wearing a t-shirt that was from the Sebring auto race in Florida. The I-95 interstate during the 1970s and 1980s was known as "Cocaine Alley." Could these two have been involved with drug trafficking? I personally don't think so.

I think that these two were innocent kids who were murdered and it most likely was a robbery. No identification was found at the crime scene. No wallets. No money. No vehicles. Just because someone was shot execution-style doesn't mean that it couldn't have been a random robbery IMHO.

I am puzzled that no one has came forward to inquire about missing family members, friends, associates, etc.
 
I agree. If Jaques' father disowned him, it wouldn't surprise me if he wasn't listed as missing. But someone has to be missing "Jane." One "failure to report missing" is plausible. But two people missing and no one reports it? Improbable. UNLESS there is something else going on. We really don't know much about Jane. Perhaps she was someone who no one would notice was missing - maybe a prostitute, or run away, or maybe had no family?
 
Thinking of Jock and Jane today on the anniversary of their deaths.
You are not forgotten, there are many people around the world that want to help to give you your names back and get you both back to your families.

This is my first post on Jock and Jane's forum, so "hello" to all of you dedicated people who are doing sterling work to help these two get their identities back.
I've been reading all I can and getting up to speed and will post again soon, I just hope I can contribute in some small way.
 
I have followed this thread for a while but have never posted until now. I saw the possible match of Maria Anjiras to the Jane Doe and agree that the similarities are strong. Even the reported sitings of Maria during the weeks and months following Feb 1976 suggest that she could have traveled south with an older male. I really like this match. Have there been any updates from LE on where they are with this possibility? Has she been ruled out?

Thanks to all who have put so much effort into this thread.
 
IMO, drug runners don't stay at KOA's and hang around to shoot pool. Staying in a KOA makes you much more visible as opposed to the seclusion of a motel. Drug runners are usually on the move and don't hang around a small southern town where they would stand out. Drug runners are nervous creatures, they are on the move, time is money, and secrecy is important. And, drug runners have the means to stay somewhere nicer than a KOA. I also don't believe they were hitch hikers. To stay in a KOA you have to have at least a tent.

All that being said, I still can't shake the fact that this was a drug deal gone bad. I 90 is still a drugway and maybe they weren't runners but consumers and even for non-locals it's not hard at all to find a supplier. As we all know, when dealing with a drug dealer, the least thing can flip them out, espescially as so many are hopped up on drugs themselves, nervous, antsy and somewhat paranoid.

The style of execution and location of bodies says to me it was more than robbery. I believe it was a drug deal gone bad, for whatever reason. Maybe the dealer decided they were informants, or worked for a competing dealer, or they didn't have money that was owed, or he didn't like their looks, or they weren't satisfied with the quality of drug provided and got too vocal about it. Who knows, but they definitely made the wrong person mad or feel threatened.

Also, with the gun used being found later in the possession of a local, I will always believe the perp was a local or had local ties, that LE knew plenty and this is a case of LE cover up with probably LE involvement.

I'm a SC gal and I love my state, however I live in a corrupt county where some LE members turns their head at the drug trade here and for personal reasons. A county where some LE officers gives friends and family guns with the serial number filed off. The "good ol boy" system is alive and well and in my neck of the woods you know who to stay on the good side of and who not to mess up with. And none of what Ijust wrote is a secret to other county citizens. We do have honest LE and I admire them greatly, but unfortunately the corrupt ones have lots of power and it's hard for the honest officers to do much.

I do not understand why the UID's are still UID's, with so much effort going into finding their identity it is suprising that nothing solid has turned up.

Just MOO
 
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As you can see by the map they could have come from any province. I have been searching out missing people from here. It is possible he was from Canada and she was from the States.

They are listed in the Canada UID.

http://www.missing-u.ca/UIs.aspx
 
I can't bring myself to believe these two beautiful young people did not have family members, brothers, sisters or school friend looking for them.

Even though Jocks father may have disowned him, what about the mother and other members of his family?
What are the odds of no one looking for either Jane of Jock?

Which has lead me to highly suspect, the killers sent Jane and Jocks families a letter with an excuse, like 'bodies lost at sea' so there would never be a full investigation by their families.
What other explanation can there be for 2 seemly wealthy young people's parents, families, brothers, sisters never searching for them??

IF we ever find the families and a letter was sent to them in 1976, we could find out who the killer was and why the DNA test is still not tested after 10 years...
let's keep this case alive...for those 2 kids.....jmo
 
Like you, we don't understand why nobody (living family & relative members, friends) come to ID recognizable deceased faces. There's no advance technology (own computer at home) before 1990's. Some of the victim's family members are long dead before technoloy finally arrived. Some are still don't own computer at home. For unknown reasons, they do not know how to use the tools from online for searching their missing love ones. They might miss out some sites during their search.

Like the ID victim Daniel Dewey, his living brothers assume he walk out of their life when he hopped in the bus for unknown destination during Fall 1979 after being homeless and never heard again. They never check out what happened to him nor report him as missing brother until the detective called Billy Dewey in 29 yrs later.

It's hard to believe that some are out there never bothering to check out the person they've not heard or seen for awhile. You saw some were surprise by the news. Surette Clark's Mom & some relatives knew what happened to her but they waited so long to report it. I know it's sad as there are so many UID out there and the killers including some parent(s) are walking into the streets today.
 
If Jock or Jane were an only child, after their parents die, there wouldn't be anyone in the immediate family anymore. Sure, extended family could search if possible, but no one knows those specific circumstances. If Jock's father was the prominent doctor who disowned him, his mother may be of the submissive sort. Or she may have passed before that.

As far as school friends? I have friends I would like to find from school, but I'm not going to go through missing person sights to find them. Facebook, myspace, classmates.com and the like, but not Doe Network. If I could not find my friend, I would think perhaps he or she does not want to be found.
 
All one has to do is to look in Crimes in the News to see how many bad parents there are in this country, and we probably don't even list 1/4 of the cases of child abuses or deaths attributable to child abuse in this country.

There are simply parents that could care less about their offspring. Sometimes the parents are on drugs or suffering from alcoholism or suffering from physical abuse from the other parent.

Every day, kids run away from abusive homes, and chances are, no one in those homes cares enough to go looking for them or list them as missing. So if they turn up dead, they may stay lost forever. Makes me sick.

It's probably a good bet that the kids from abusive homes are or were acting out their inner turmoil. In some cases the parents may even kick them out--one less mouth to feed.
 
Which has lead me to highly suspect, the killers sent Jane and Jocks families a letter with an excuse, like 'bodies lost at sea' so there would never be a full investigation by their families.
What other explanation can there be for 2 seemly wealthy young people's parents, families, brothers, sisters never searching for them??


That would presume the killer knew who these two were, knew how to locate their families, etc. The circumstances surrounding their deaths indicate to me otherwise... I think the likely answer is that the families thought these two were out on their own, having their own life, and never bothered looking. Wasn't there a case recently about a boy's body being identified after years of being a John Doe, and his brother was contacted and said he presumed he was off having his own life?
 
Some families just aren't that close.

Some cultures and societies are like that. You raise your children until they marry. Once they've started their own family, you let them go.
 
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