OK OK - Sheryl/Cheryl Denise Taylor, 12, Picher, July 1978

[SimsGuy67]

Send me the info - I will send to the reporter - I am home and on my phone or I would look for it - it’s much easier to do from my computer at work

I did submit through NamUs but they usually take a long time and while I'm ok with being patient, I think this would be able to rule her out or in quicker. I'll copy-paste the email I sent. It includes why I think it's her and the links to both cases.

"I am writing to inform you of a potential match between Cheryl Denise Taylor (MP99217) and a Jane Doe found in Vidor, Texas (UP4574).

Firstly, I believe the reconstruction of the Jane Doe resembles Cheryl. The only part that doesn't is the mandible which was not recovered. Cheryl and Jane Doe both had short hair at the time. Cheryl was a full 10 inches shorter but my guess for this is that Cheryl's height is either an estimate or wrong. I can't believe that a 12 year old is 4'0. Also, police conceded that the height may be off as it was just an estimate. The age matches but hair color is slightly off. I have seen hair color change post-mortem in some cases so I don't think this is a large issue. The clothing description is consistent with what Cheryl was last seen wearing, a pullover/sweatshirt. It's true that Jane Doe wasn't found wearing shorts like Cheryl but this could be because of many reasons like the perpetrator removing them. The only thing truly off with this match is timing. Cheryl was last seen 6 years before Jane Doe was found. I would put this up to an estimated time of death for Jane Doe and the remaining discrepancy gives time for Cheryl to get to Texas, where Jane Doe was found. These were all the reasons I think Cheryl Taylor and Vidor Jane Doe are the same person."

 

[John/Jane Doe]

While I think she could be the Iola Doe, I am not convinced. There's another Jane Doe who IMO, matches up just a but better than the Iola Doe. Could she be the Vidor Jane Doe instead? Probably gonna have to submit through Facebook like @chaddylex did but if it means getting her name back I will.
View attachment 401740

Now, I will get the main point out right now, this Doe had short hair and Sheryl did not. I have two solutions to this.
1. She cut he hair if she ran away after her disappearance.
2. Her hair was short when she disappeared.
I have one piece of evidence for this and it is the unconfirmed yearbook photo of Sheryl from 1978 in Picher.

While I NEVER point out hairstyle, the hair length and style seem very, very close. From what I see, everything does match with face shape and proportions. Height is close and even has the potential to be even closer. Time for the table:

	Vidor Jane Doe UP4574	Sheryl Denise Taylor- Charley Proj.
Sex	Female	Female
Race	White/Caucasian	White/Caucsaian
Age	12 - 20	12
DLC/DOD	1983 - 1984	July 20, 1978
Height	4'10 - 5'2	4'
Weight	Unknown	60 pounds
Hair Color	Brown	Red/Auburn
Eye Color	Unknown	Hazel
Distinctive Features	Unknown	Supposed to wear a patch over one eye but often takes it off.
Circumstances	Found in field.	Last seen in Picher, OK. Notably didn't like it there.
Distance	Picher - Vidor	553 miles (9hrs 17mins)

I feel that timing and location are the only problems here. I know hair color but I have seen hair color change slightly post-mortem in some cases.

This could be a good match, Vidor Jane Doe died around 1983 and The Charley Project mentions that Sheryl Taylor "possibly ran away from home" so she may have been alive for 5 years and in 1983 she may have been murdered ( Sheryl would have been around 17 years old in 1983).

 

[SimsGuy67]

This could be a good match, Vidor Jane Doe died around 1983 and The Charley Project mentions that Sheryl Taylor "possibly ran away from home" so she may have been alive for 5 years and in 1983 she may have been murdered ( Sheryl would have been around 17 years old in 1983).

The 5 year gap also gives Sheryl time to get to Texas or halfway, and then her killer would transport her body the rest of the way.

 

[SimsGuy67]

I feel like if Sheryl isn't Vidor Jane Doe, I'm not even sure if her body has been found... The only other Jane Doe I could even think of her being is Bowling Green Jane Doe.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

A DNA test comparing the remains of a Texas woman to the family of a missing Picher teen came back on Monday, and they are not a match.

Cheryl Denise Taylor, 12, of Picher disappeared on July 20, 1978.

Debbie Stubbs, Taylor’s older sister submitted a DNA swab to a Texas laboratory to compare to “Grimes County Jane Doe” remains that were discovered by a highway worker on October 29, 1981.

“I was hoping – but not hoping,” Stubbs said about a possible DNA match.

“I want closure,” Stubbs said. “Our mother would never declare Cheryl dead and we (siblings) weren’t going to either. We wanted her found.”

“I also didn’t want Cheryl to have suffered as the Texas girl did – that’s what I meant by ‘not hoping,’” Stubbs said.

“Grimes County Jane Doe had several broken ribs in various stages of healing, Texas authorities said.

DNA not a match for missing Picher girl

MIAMI, Okla. — A DNA test comparing the remains of a Texas woman to the family of a missing Picher teen came back on Monday, and they are not a match. Cheryl Denise Taylor, 12, of Picher disappeare…

www.fourstateshomepage.com

Artist’s rendering of Grimes County Jane Doe
“We are not sure if the Tar Creek environmental problems led or might have created dental problems for Cheryl,” Wall said.

“She had a lot of dental work, including four fillings and she also had small circle discolorations on her teeth, and her wisdom teeth had not come in yet,” said former Justice of the Peace John LeFlore referring to the Grimes County case.

LeFlore was the lead investigator in the “Grimes County Jane Doe” case.

“The dental work was very professional,” LeFlore said.

LeFlore is also curious about the Tar Creek environmental problems.

The Environmental Protection Agency declared the 43-square mile of Picher and the surrounding area as the Tar Creek Superfund site in 1983. Decades of mining left poisoned mountains of chat piles which to this day still surround the area.

When the mining companies pulled out of the Picher area in the 1960s, not only did they leave mountains of chat piles contaminated with lead, zinc, cadmium and other heavy metals, but mountains of environmental and medical problems.

Tar Creek’s most vulnerable citizens – its children – suffered from high lead, zinc and manganese levels.

Cheryl Taylor’s home was surrounded by all those chat piles. Children played on the chat piles, playgrounds and sandboxes were built with chat as a filler and every summer children were swimming in contaminated swimming holes.

Tar Creek records could hold the clue to the disappearance of a missing Picher teenager

PICHER, Okla. – Investigators believe the Tar Creek lead and zinc fields hold the key to solving perhaps the state’s oldest cold case – the 1978 disappearance of an Ottawa County teenager. Ch…

www.fourstateshomepage.com

 

[Vern]

Cheryl is not Iola TX/ Grimes County Jane Doe. They are still waiting to see if she is another Jane Doe out there. The reporter just sent me her article she published DNA not a match for missing Picher girl

@chaddylex, please don't feel disappointed. Your work here resulted in Cheryl's case being re-opened, her finally being listed into NAMUS and NOT least - her sister providing a DNA sample which is now in @othram's capable hands.

I have confidence that what you've managed to accomplish on Cheryl's behalf will result in her making her way home one day and giving her fmily some answers.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Throughout World War I and World War II, much of the metal was produced in Picher and surrounding areas. That metal was then used for ammunition. The demand for the materials in the zinc ore mines continued even after the war.

For a quaint town in rural Oklahoma, Picher contributed to the war effort and created a name for itself.

It was until the 1970s when the mining had come to an end that the damage was really noticed. Decades of mining resulted in piles of toxic waste lining the roads. High levels of lead were found in the groundwater, and the ground itself was incredibly unstable.

Mine shafts would collapse, taking houses or cars with them. The elevated levels of lead carried risks of brain damage, especially in children. The residents were blissfully unaware of the toxic atmosphere they lived in.

Eventually, the federal government surveyed the area and determined it was inhabitable. With the government having shut down the town, many citizens agreed to leave and start a new life.

There were residents who stayed behind, unwilling to give up their homes. Then, in 2008, an EF4 tornado tore through the town, killing a few residents and destroying most of the homes. Nearly all of the remaining residents then left.

After Picher was deserted and before the tornado, some drug dealers and unsavory characters inhabited the abandoned homes for periods of time. It was the perfect place to commit a crime and get away with it. No one was there to enforce the law, and others who were there were willing to turn a blind eye to the shady dealings in the area.

It turned into a dark, malevolent underbelly.

Since the tornado, most of the town has cleared out and the buildings are empty. Blink when driving down Route 69, and the town could be completely missed. The only indicator of the past is the water tower that reads "Picher" in big red letters on the side, while the ghost town lingers quietly beneath.

Picher: The rise and fall of Oklahoma’s toxic ghost town

The small, former mining community of Picher sits in the northeastern corner of Oklahoma, just a short distance from the Oklahoma, Kansas border.

www.koco.com

 

[chaddylex]

@chaddylex, please don't feel disappointed. Your work here resulted in Cheryl's case being re-opened, her finally being listed into NAMUS and NOT least - her sister providing a DNA sample which is now in @othram's capable hands.

I have confidence that what you've managed to accomplish on Cheryl's behalf will result in her making her way home one day and giving her fmily some answers.

I just saw this, thank you so much for your kind words. I just hope one day Cheryl's family can find out what happened to her so they can have closure. All of these cold cases tear me up.

 

[rylie113]

Just gonna pile up a few matches here. These range from possible to likely. Also, height is not taken into account with these. I find it very hard to think that a 12 year old could only be 4'0.
633UFCA First is the Rancho Cucamonga Jane Doe. I do see similarities in the recons and Sheryl.
58UFNV Next is Sahara Sue. I see a resemblance but height (I'd say Cheryl was closer to 5'0 - 5'2) seems off. Not to mention the dentures. Possible but I'm not sure.
252UFNJ Next is this Jane Doe found in Sussex County, NJ. Age and height match but location doesn't. The development stage of the third molars seem consistent with a 12 or 13 year old IMO.
1225UFCA Next is the Newhall Jane Doe. I do see a resemblance with the sketch but height and location could be a problem.

526UFKY Finally, I want to mention the Bowling Green Jane Doe. She matches Sheryl's recorded height closest. She would be 16 in 1982, the longest she could have been dead, the oldest age the Doe could be according to NamUs. Even if she died in 1983 - 1984, Doe Network lists her oldest height as 20 instead of 16. I also see a resemblance in the sketch. Unless Sheryl ran away, location may be an issue.

That's them all. If one turns out to be her I'd be very happy.

Great work to everyone in this thread! It's unfortunate she wasn't a match to the Iola doe. While I'm unable to explain why Sheryl might have ended up in California, I had a look at the post-mortem pics for the Rancho Cucamonga doe and the resemblance is even more striking than the recons. Of course, we now know that Sahara Sue has been identified as Gwenn Story.

Might it be worth a submit?