TN TN - Jennifer Wyant, 21, Nashville, 28 June 1980

Jennifer's car was parked across two parking spaces. She was very proud of that car and hadn't had it a long time. I feel like she parked it, since it was parked like that. It was one of those black trans ams with the big bird on the hood. Very popular back then. I think she came home and left with someone she knew or was taken in the parking lot after she got home.
 
Jennifer's car was parked across two parking spaces. She was very proud of that car and hadn't had it a long time. I feel like she parked it, since it was parked like that. It was one of those black trans ams with the big bird on the hood. Very popular back then. I think she came home and left with someone she knew or was taken in the parking lot after she got home.

So you think she parked it after the party as opposed to having parked it prior to the party, then walked or got a ride to the party?

I remember those Trans Am's, I loved them but was way too young to drive then!
 
Mallen,

I really appreciate the clarification of Harding Place verses Harding Road. However, the Oct 17, 2012 Murfreesboro Post reports that China's car was found "at an apartment complex of Harding Road in Antioch." That would actually be Harding Place. My map search does not turn up a Harding "Road", unless Harding Pike is also known as Harding Road. But Harding Pike is West End-Belle Meade-Bellevue. So to me, the last traces of both Jennifer and China are in Antioch, off Harding Place. Does that makes sense? Also, would you happen to know if my assumption regarding the Tanglewood Apartments now being Whispering Oaks is correct?

Thanks again for your reply. It is useful in this forum to be able to communicate with someone who knew the victim. Hope you don't mind me bothering you with questions. I'm going to be in Nashville again soon and plan to visit the area.
 
You are right, Cornfed. Antioch is definitely Harding Place. Didn't realize Harding Pike is what I was referring to as Harding Road. Just knew it was West Nashville, Bellevue area. When she disappeared, they were very strange things happening I think. First of all, there was a PI working on the case. Supposedly, the stepfather of a guy she was dating. He drove her Trans Am while he supposedly investigated. He came to our work and questioned several of his. He questioned me and asked if I got suggestive(sexual) calls late at night.. At the time, I was single and three years older than Jennifer. Believe it or not, that same night I started getting hang up calls between 1 and 2 in the morning. Went on about 2 weeks. He also told things that we didn't believe were true about coworkers and their families. We were told the case got cold because the police didn't want to get involved because of him. He was murdered execution style in the same area a few years later. Right over the hill closer to Harding Place exit. Working as a security guard at the time. I think she went to the party by herself and left by herself.
 
Wow, that IS a strange tale. Hmm, how'd the guy get possession of her vehicle? Was it ever processed by the PD? Hard to believe that they would drag their feet on this one given the number of high profile rapes and homicides that had occurred in the mid to lates seventies there. Do you know if there were any coordinated searches for Jennifer? Has the family been outspoken and has there been any substantive media coverage in the ensuing years? Sorry for all the questions. If this "PI" had anything to do with her disappearance, the secret to the case would seem to be forever lost. Was his murder ever solved?
 
No to everything that I'm aware of. It was put to me that her parents were so distraught that he came forward or they turned to him. Why he drove her car, I don't know. It seemed he was fly by night if you know what I mean. There was never a search or vigil or anything that I'm aware of. Don't think I ever saw it on the news. Read it in the paper a couple of times. And then, it was along with other Nashville Missing. Not sure if there was a headline about her or not. Don't think so. I worked at the same place until 1999 and we never heard anything positive about the investigation. It just kind of died down. My boss talked to her several times, but no news. She didn't collect her life insurance till many years later. Remember the movie " Walking Tall"? It was about Buford Pusser, McNairy County Sheriff. He was killed in a car crash. His mother thought he was murdered. Well, we heard that this same PI beat his mother out of a lot of money. Jennifer is the person that has been missing the longest on the Metro Nashville Police Department Website. Sorry, my boss spoke with her mother several times.
 
You are right, Cornfed. Antioch is definitely Harding Place. Didn't realize Harding Pike is what I was referring to as Harding Road. Just knew it was West Nashville, Bellevue area. When she disappeared, they were very strange things happening I think. First of all, there was a PI working on the case. Supposedly, the stepfather of a guy she was dating. He drove her Trans Am while he supposedly investigated. He came to our work and questioned several of his. He questioned me and asked if I got suggestive(sexual) calls late at night.. At the time, I was single and three years older than Jennifer. Believe it or not, that same night I started getting hang up calls between 1 and 2 in the morning. Went on about 2 weeks. He also told things that we didn't believe were true about coworkers and their families. We were told the case got cold because the police didn't want to get involved because of him. He was murdered execution style in the same area a few years later. Right over the hill closer to Harding Place exit. Working as a security guard at the time. I think she went to the party by herself and left by herself.

BBM

Wow, that is creepy and seems like a rather irrelevant question to ask.

Do you know if Jennifer had been getting those sorts of calls prior to her disappearance? The only reason I can possibly think of for him to ask you that, is if Jennifer was getting calls and he thought they might be work related.

Otherwise, my hinky meter is up.
 
Man, what a shame for this girl. I would hope that someone there is clamoring for the cold case guys to take a look at it. Maybe they have and there's just nothing. But if that's the case, then publicity is the best tool they have. I wonder if her parents are still living. And I wonder if the PD would finance a billboard campaign. I have a daughter about the same age Jennifer was when she disappeared. Very sad.
 
Wow, that IS a strange tale. Hmm, how'd the guy get possession of her vehicle? Was it ever processed by the PD? Hard to believe that they would drag their feet on this one given the number of high profile rapes and homicides that had occurred in the mid to lates seventies there. Do you know if there were any coordinated searches for Jennifer? Has the family been outspoken and has there been any substantive media coverage in the ensuing years? Sorry for all the questions. If this "PI" had anything to do with her disappearance, the secret to the case would seem to be forever lost. Was his murder ever solved?

bbm

I did some research and it appears that his murder was solved. They presumed robbery to be a motive and the suspect was incarcerated. This was in 1986 so I doubt the murder of the PI was any connection to Jennifer's disappearance, although that doesn't rule out the possibility that the PI himself was.

Here's a little more info on the PI, who was also involved with the highly publicized Buford Pusser case.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAIBAJ&pg=4231,5483510&dq=buford+pusser&hl=en

http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1986/-...ator-Shot/id-e63700f15f0b49729431af71fd199029
 
Thanks so much Odyssey for the info on Britt. Obviously you are much better than me at this. I have tried to research Larry Britt many times and couldn't find anything about his murder or remember when it was. Heard it on the radio on my way to work one morning. I have found Audrey Wyant on the white pages in Hermitage, TN. That was her Mother's name. She had a sister named Susan. Didn't really know them. Her mom and dad were divorced. He was named Dale Wyant. Still wonder about the girl that was found in Cheatham County, TN in October 1981. Says she's between 14 and 20 with brown hair. I guess it's been ruled out but sure does sound like it could be Jennifer. The reconstruction of the face reminds me of Jennifer's. That girl has never been identified. Seems strange to me. Cheatham County is not that far from Nashville. Jennifer was working hard to better herself. She worked full time and went to Nashville State at night. She hadn't been in that apartment long. She had bought furniture and that Trans Am. She had been engaged and they had broken up. His name was Jody. The stepson of the PI was named Rusty. There just didn't seem to be anything done back then. But, that's my side. I don't know what was actually done but I didn't see it. Wondered why it was never telecast to bring attention.
 
Wow, I had seen Walking Tall as a kid but never heard the rest of that story. With regard to Jennifer, I wonder if her folks got discouraged after dealing with this joker PI? And I wonder what substantive investigative efforts, if any, have taken place since then, via the PD or otherwise.

One thing, and again it's probably nothing, but I keep coming back to China's car being found close-maybe very close-to where Jennifer disappeared. Nineteen years is a long time, and it seems like a high traffic area, but one thing is for certain, the perp(s) in both of these cases knows that area. It seems an unlikely link, and I might not start there, but it's an angle to consider with what appears to be a lack of progress in both cases. Now that's coming from someone who is not in the loop, and not even from Nashville. And certainly, there may be non-public info that would preclude any such consideration. In any case, I hope the families of these girls can get some help with resolution.
 
Tomorrow is 33 years since Jennifer disappeared. How is this even possible?
I think about her often. Hope there is closure to this mystery someday.
 
Tomorrow is 33 years since Jennifer disappeared. How is this even possible?
I think about her often. Hope there is closure to this mystery someday.

1 year later. Today is 34 years.

:bump:
 
Bumping, Jennifer has been missing for almost 35 years. Her disappearance seems a little different from other cases where there are "few details" documented. It seems people are more than willing to come share everything they remember about the night she disappeared and yet her case has never really been brought into the spotlight. I can't find any articles from the last 15 years or so that are solely about Jennifer. If she is mentioned, it's usually as an "also missing from this area" kind of thing.

I know she's in NamUs and I see her on a lot of exclusion lists for Jane Does. If she is deceased, there's a decent chance that a match will be made with her. In the meantime, it would be nice to know any additional information on her disappearance.
 
Nehemiah, how do you know she has been ruled out?
 
Bump for Jennifer. I really wish we could get more information. What do you think of the serial killer Coral Eugene Watts? His M.O. is to attack women when they are arriving home and if you read the below link, he has murdered in Tennessee (and around the same timeframe that Jennifer went missing).

http://www.dallasobserver.com/news/evil-eyes-6388157
 

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