Identified! TX - Huntsville, 'Walker County Jane Doe', WhtFem 14-16, 91UFTX, Nov'80 Sherry Ann Jarvis

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Carl's original rendition of Michelle Garvey made her look late teens/early twenties instead of her actual 15.
Was it the sketch by Karen Taylor? That sketch made me think that WCJD looked like a woman in her early-mid twenties. That sketch also made WCJD look more like Orange Socks IMO.
I am talking about the one with the Walker County badge and signed G. Bean. Her hair is much longer and she looks more like a 20 something. Is that their official sketch?
 
Carl's original rendition of Michelle Garvey made her look late teens/early twenties instead of her actual 15.

I think it's hard when all you have to go by is a morgue photo with a washed face and wet hair, especially if the person was living a bit rough prior to their death.

As a more general comment, there's definitely challenges making matches from NamUs photos to sketches and reconstructions. A lot of times the comparison photo is much younger, or for an occasion (school pictures, etc.) where one might want to look more pulled together, with styled hair and makeup. I find that for most women, for early twenties or younger, makeup makes the wearer look older, while past about 35, it tends to make someone look younger or at least more refreshed. It's also true for teenagers in general that some are going to be further along in puberty than others and look more like a kid or more like an adult at the same age.
 
And most reconstructions aren't meant to make an identification from, at least not the way we do it. They're meant to jog the memory of people who knew the person to say, "Hey, that's my cousin," and call LE about it.
 
I disagree with any theory that she wasn’t intending to go to the prison but rather visit somebody “near” the prison. Every prison I’ve seen, and a Google Maps image of the Ellis Unit is no exception, is situated in a place where there are no houses/neighborhoods around it, just farm fields and desolation.

Which makes sense. It’s a matter of public safety. I mean, would you buy a house near a prison?
I still find it hard to fathom she was intending on visiting an inmate - the last two sightings of her when she was asking directions were at 6.30pm and later at night at that time of year when it's dark. Surely she didn't think she'd be able to get to visit an inmate at night. IMO if she were going to visit an inmate she'd be more likely asking around to find a bed for the night than directions to the prison. That's what makes me think it was someone who worked there who she thought would be either finishing a shift or able to give her access to where they worked, or that she was looking for a residence right by the prison.

I know teenagers aren't always logical but it just seems too weird to me.
 
I still find it hard to fathom she was intending on visiting an inmate - the last two sightings of her when she was asking directions were at 6.30pm and later at night at that time of year when it's dark. Surely she didn't think she'd be able to get to visit an inmate at night. IMO if she were going to visit an inmate she'd be more likely asking around to find a bed for the night than directions to the prison. That's what makes me think it was someone who worked there who she thought would be either finishing a shift or able to give her access to where they worked, or that she was looking for a residence right by the prison.

I know teenagers aren't always logical but it just seems too weird to me.

I have always felt like the prison may be a red herring in this case. It's Halloween night, it's getting dark outside and a teen girl is trying to get to a prison? She later ends up murdered and left by the side of the road. It is like something out of a horror movie. At the same time, I remember being a teen and doing things to try to scare or shock adults on Halloween-- like asking for directions to the nearest cemetery so we could look for ghosts. It was often a desire for attention (although I didn't realize it at the time) and out of boredom because we were too old for treat or treating. I almost wonder if she was hoping someone would show concern for her trying to get to the prison and offer her a safe place to stay that night. Why didn't the adults who questioned how old she was also tell her that the prison wouldn't be open for visitors at night? I'm not blaming them, of course, they had no way of know what was about to happen to her. But it makes me feel like her request for directions might not have been taken seriously. Perhaps she wasn't actually trying to get to the prison at all. IDK. Every time I look at WCJD's case I think of new things.
 
Hello all,
Wanted to give everyone a heads up I made a video for our Jane Doe, please check it out and share.This video was personal and special for me,I composed the music so this is her very own song.Every melody....emotion....I tried to put myself in her shoes,what was she thinking....feeling?A stranger in a strange land.....I hope I got it right.
Anyway please share,let’s get the word out.

Thanks
Moises

 
Hello all,
Wanted to give everyone a heads up I made a video for our Jane Doe, please check it out and share.This video was personal and special for me,I composed the music so this is her very own song.Every melody....emotion....I tried to put myself in her shoes,what was she thinking....feeling?A stranger in a strange land.....I hope I got it right.
Anyway please share,let’s get the word out.

Thanks
Moises

That's a great summary of the case. Thanks for sharing with us.
 
I'm sorry if this has been asked before... Has somebody talked to her agency about the DDP? If so, do you know if they're contacting DNA Doe Project anytime soon?
 
They should do an Isotope testing then it will give a general idea of the location she was from which might bring new leads. I truly think she was someone in the foster system because I think if she ran away from her family, she would have possibly been ID'ED by now.
 
that assumes that her family *wanted* to look for her or cared what happened to her.

I've named WCJD "Ruth Ellen" as my own personal name for her
 
Could she have been apart of some group home for teens or girls? That at least would explain her good condition if there weren't any family looking for her. It's just baffling that she hasn't been identified yet, considering she's probably one of the most well known UID's.
 
Could she have been apart of some group home for teens or girls? That at least would explain her good condition if there weren't any family looking for her. It's just baffling that she hasn't been identified yet, considering she's probably one of the most well known UID's.
That suggests that people that know who she is are not looking for her or don't want to identify her.
 
I still find it hard to fathom she was intending on visiting an inmate - the last two sightings of her when she was asking directions were at 6.30pm and later at night at that time of year when it's dark. Surely she didn't think she'd be able to get to visit an inmate at night. IMO if she were going to visit an inmate she'd be more likely asking around to find a bed for the night than directions to the prison. That's what makes me think it was someone who worked there who she thought would be either finishing a shift or able to give her access to where they worked, or that she was looking for a residence right by the prison.

I know teenagers aren't always logical but it just seems too weird to me.
If she was going to visit someone she knew and had some type of communication in the past then I think she would have asked for a phone or phone book instead of directions to the prison. That wouldn't been a good place for her to show up if it was some type of romantic meeting with an older man.
It just feels to me like she might have been with someone who told her they would let her sleep in their vehicle that night and drive her to the prison in the morning. She left the diner with a map but it hasn't been said how long she stayed. It sounds like she wasn't there long, probably because the waitress was asking too many questions.
I believe that was a Friday night. The prison would most likely have visiting hours on Saturdays.
The Ellis Unit held the death row inmates. There were some well known guys there at that time. Candy Man was one of them. The guy who poisoned his son with a pixi stick. I have found a couple inmates that have ties to the coast.
The idea of her coming from a juvenile center is interesting. That might explain why she had nothing with her. She would have been released with what she went in with. Might be why her clothes looked slept in (according to the waitress). Perhaps whatever landed her in detention landed her friend in jail?
 
Could she have been apart of some group home for teens or girls? That at least would explain her good condition if there weren't any family looking for her. It's just baffling that she hasn't been identified yet, considering she's probably one of the most well known UID's.
The one that seems to be brought up every so often was down in Corpus Christi so it was very close to the area she claimed to be from. However, in the videos I have seen of the school, girls were required to wear long skirts and not jeans like WCJD. I think if she had been there then she would have had any jeans she brought taken away. It also appears they were very aggressive when it came to hunting down any girls who managed to run away. Stories from the Louisiana version of that place include grabbing girls from cars when people tried to pick them up. It would have been extremely lucky for her to get away and make it up here.
An article I read from 1980 said that home for girls was actually shut down in the summer because of the legal problems the leader was facing. I don't think it was opened again after that.
It is possible she was in some other facility or group home. They might have had more lax control of the kids and she managed to slip away. Or her time for being there ended and she was released without anyone picking her up.
 
Charles Bronson would've been good to deal with whoever killed WCJD - "Do you believe in Jesus? Well, you're going to meet him".
 
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