TX TX - Huntsville, 'Walker County Jane Doe', WhtFem 14-16, 91UFTX, Nov'80 #2 *NAME NOT RELEASED*

[Mrs. Badcrumble]

The nose is all wrong.

And Kelle's daughter was born December 29th, 1980, soooo... no.

Kelle's WS thread:
TX - TX- Kelle Fernstrom, 20, Houston, 1980

 

[daisy6441]

I've been taking a break from the message boards but WCJD is always on mind. I turned on the Henry Lee Lucas series on Netflix today. I know it has been proposed that he might have killed her. One part of a tape they showed has Lucas talking about his time with Toole. He said Toole like to dress up like a woman and pick up men in bars. That could explain WCJD's missing clothing. Toole could have kept them for himself or Lucas could have taken them for Toole. I know WCJD was very thin but her clothes were described as being big on her. I've been trying to find any physical description of Toole to see if he could fit. I doubt her shoes would have fit him so that could be why they were thrown out with her. Most descriptions of WCJD list her as 5'6" and Toole was about 6' tall.

 

[daisy6441]

Hi! I just tagged and shared the post with a few people that I’m friends with that were officers on the Ellis Unit at that time. One of them was actually the major over the Ellis training academy while I was there but was a CO for death row while housed at Ellis. I asked him basically if they did spread the story around like stated and what were visitation rules for the unit at that time. The night that she was trying to get directions was a Saturday so maybe she was actually planning to go to Ellis in the morning for visitation hours?!? I’m assuming that since she was just walking around that she had someone to stay with that night and a prepared ride for the next...if she was planning on walking to Ellis from where she was it would probably take her a good 12 hours

October 31, 1980 was a Friday. She was killed on a Friday night/Saturday morning.

 

[Sweetluv]

Welcome back Daisy. I have also heard that clothes are sometimes taken as a trophy.
How can our girl be considered for the DNA project?

 

[Melt71]

How can our girl be considered for the DNA project?

She's likely too young for DNA Doe Project - they recently posted an explanation on Facebook about their 'no children' policy.

 

[yogasleuther]

Melt,71 and Sweetluv, I don't understand the DNA being only for adults, but 15 is not a small child, how are we ever supposed to ID her if we don't use the DNA DOE Project??

This thread has been going on and on a long time!!

 

[Melt71]

Melt,71 and Sweetluv, I don't understand the DNA being only for adults, but 15 is not a small child, how are we ever supposed to ID her if we don't use the DNA Doe Project

from DDP’s FAcebook post...and gladly I am wrong about it being an age-based policy

Q: Why won't DDP take cases of young children or babies?

A: From the beginning in order to keep our mission clear and focused we chose to take cases that only involved victims, not suspects. When young children are discovered and the parents did not report them missing they are obvious persons of interest. Particularly in the case of newborn infants - from the agency's point of view the real objective would be identifying the mother, not her infant who likely never was given a name. In that sense, these cases are actually assailant cases.

When it's clear the mother could not be involved we do accept these. The policy is not about age, but about whether there is an obvious direct link to a suspect.

Thankfully, there are other organizations who handle these cases. We wish to see justice served for these young victims as much as anyone.

 

[carbuff]

We're still thinking of you, angel.

 

[ilovepierre]

I take DDP’s policy to mean they don’t take on cases of YOUNG children...like babies and elementary school aged children. Teenagers/young adults are still ok.

IMO

 

[cyberbunnie]

I take DDP’s policy to mean they don’t take on cases of YOUNG children...like babies and elementary school aged children. Teenagers/young adults are still ok.

IMO

Long time no post?
Yeah, I'd think so. They've identified teenagers before such as Annie Lehman. Since our girl is most likely around the same as Annie, I don't see why she wouldn't be a candidate

 

[cyberbunnie]

Speaking of DNA Doe Project, does anyone know the process of choosing a doe to work on? I'm quite clueless.

Regardless, I hope with all of my heart 2020 is the year we can bring our girl home. We won't give up on you, angel. <3

 

[PropaneYeeter]

Speaking of DNA Doe Project, does anyone know the process of choosing a doe to work on? I'm quite clueless.

Regardless, I hope with all of my heart 2020 is the year we can bring our girl home. We won't give up on you, angel. <3

I'm pretty sure that LE themselves have to reach out to DDP and offer up the case to them.

 

[rosesfromangels]

I'm pretty sure that LE themselves have to reach out to DDP and offer up the case to them.

With their pathetically thin resources, I wouldn't assume this.

Amateur opinion and speculation

 

[Gardener1850]

I'm pretty sure that LE themselves have to reach out to DDP and offer up the case to them.

Yes, that is correct. DNA Doe Project won't take a case unless LE asks them to. If we want Walker County Jane Doe to be taken on by DDP then someone has to contact the Walker County Sheriff or the ME who might have her DNA saved somewhere and request it. Unfortunately, it seems like some LE agencies are resistant to the genetic genealogy method until they see another Doe in their jurisdiction identified with it or hear about it directly from a colleague in another county. WCJD would be an easy case to raise funds for so that should not be an issue. I'm certain that DDP is aware of WCJD's case since Carl K did several sketches of her and he is a DDP volunteer. I have assumed that her age might be the issue but that might not be it-- it might be that LE is resistant or something else is preventing her from becoming a DDP case. Do we know if there is DNA stored for her already or would she have to be exhumed to get fresh DNA? Sometimes that legal red tape of getting a Doe exhumed takes time even if LE wants to have it done.

MOO.

 

[Friday Fan]

Yes, that is correct. DNA Doe Project won't take a case unless LE asks them to. If we want Walker County Jane Doe to be taken on by DDP then someone has to contact the Walker County Sheriff or the ME who might have her DNA saved somewhere and request it. Unfortunately, it seems like some LE agencies are resistant to the genetic genealogy method until they see another Doe in their jurisdiction identified with it or hear about it directly from a colleague in another county. WCJD would be an easy case to raise funds for so that should not be an issue. I'm certain that DDP is aware of WCJD's case since Carl K did several sketches of her and he is a DDP volunteer. I have assumed that her age might be the issue but that might not be it-- it might be that LE is resistant or something else is preventing her from becoming a DDP case. Do we know if there is DNA stored for her already or would she have to be exhumed to get fresh DNA? Sometimes that legal red tape of getting a Doe exhumed takes time even if LE wants to have it done.

MOO.

DNA was not successfully extracted from WCJD. To the best of my knowledge, they exhumed her in 1999 and tried a jaw bone, but they couldn't get a decent sample. Not familiar with specifics and if another technique will work. Someone posted on Oct 31st that the DNA sample was too degraded.

It is a bit vague as to what exactly went wrong with her DNA sample. I suppose very few know the details.

It will cost $10,000 to exhume her again. Currently, Walker County does not have an plans.

 

[carbuff]

DNA was not successfully extracted from WCJD. To the best of my knowledge, they exhumed her in 1999 and tried a jaw bone, but they couldn't get a decent sample. Not familiar with specifics and if another technique will work. Someone posted on Oct 31st that the DNA sample was too degraded.

It is a bit vague as to what exactly went wrong with her DNA sample. I suppose very few know the details.

It will cost $10,000 to exhume her again. Currently, Walker County does not have an plans.

With the techniques in 1999, it wasn't uncommon for DNA in older remains to be too degraded for analysis. The material breaks down as it ages. But many new techniques have been developed since then, so a second attempt might well be more successful.

 

[TmmEye]

I thought DNA was available in this case, though? That’s what DoeNetwork says at least.

 

[Friday Fan]

I thought DNA was available in this case, though? That’s what DoeNetwork says at least.

I'm going by what those who have posted in this thread who are more familiar with this case. I know it's a long thread, but it has come up numerous times. There are those who have spoken/visited the WC Sheriff's Dept.

 

[ilovepierre]

I'm pretty sure that LE themselves have to reach out to DDP and offer up the case to them.

Yes, you’re correct. LE has to ask DDP to take on the case.

 

[Feme98]

Hello everyone! I saw this on a forum, there's a strong likehood that WCJD is Pem Michelle Briggs, went missing around 1977 from Portland and was 15 at the time, i'm unsure if this tip was forwarded to LE to make a positive match, thought, i'm sure it was submitted.