On November 1, 1980, the body of an unidentified female was located along the northbound lanes of Interstate 45, approximately ½ mile south of exit 1696 in Walker County, Texas. The decedent is described as a well-nourished white female. She had brown hair, approximately 10 inches in length. She had pierced ears and her toenails were painted pink. She had a small scar at the right end of her right eyebrow. She was found wearing a gold colored necklace with a rectangular pendant containing a smoky glass stone. A pair of red, leather strapped, high heeled shoes was found near the body. The decedent may have been traveling to the Ellis Prison Unit in Huntsville, Texas. The reconstruction featured above is an artist’s rendering of what she may have looked like. Anyone with information should contact the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences, reference case number PA80-0254 or the Walker County Sheriff’s Department, reference case number 80-11-476.
NCMEC -
Have you seen this child? JANE DOE1980
Missing From: WALKER COUNTY, TX. Missing Date: 11/01/1980. On November 1, 1980, the body of an unidentified female was located along the northbound lanes of Interstate 45, approximately ½ mile south of exit 1696 in Walker County, Texas. The decedent is described as a well-nourished white...
api.missingkids.org
Date of Discovery: November 1, 1980
Location of Discovery: Walker County, Texas
Estimated Date of Death: 6 hours prior
State of Remains: Recognizable face
Cause of Death: Homicide by ligature strangulation
Estimated Age: 14-18 years old (most likely 14.5 to 16.5 years old)
Race: White
Gender: Female
Height: 5'0 to 5'6"
Weight: 105 to 120 lbs.
Hair Color: Light brown, 10" long. Cut in wing fashion. Natural color, no evidence of color treatment.
Eye Color: Hazel
Distinguishing Marks/Features: 1 1/2" scar at end of right eyebrow (some agencies list scar on right elbow, but it was confirmed with LE that it is the eyebrow). Pierced ears. Toenails painted pink. Possibly had inverted right nipple.
Dentals: Available. Her teeth had been well cared for.
Fingerprints: Available. RT: X0 63 11 09 04; LT: XI DI 08 07 06.
DNA: Available - mtDNA in CODIS. Ref #F-2713.
Clothing: She may have been wearing jeans, a yellow shirt with large pockets, panties, and pantyhose. A pair of red leather high-heeled sandals, 3" or 4" inch platforms with light brown straps had been thrown beside the body. Pantyhose and underwear (descriptions unavailable) were found at the scene as well.
Jewelry: A rectangular-shaped pendant with a smoky blue glass stone on a very thin gold chain (as seen in the victim's sketch above).
Circumstances of Discovery
A truck driver passing by the Sam Houston National Forest found the unclothed body of the victim. She was lying face down on the shoulder of I-45 north, a half mile south of FM 1696 exit, 2 miles north of Huntsville. She had been sexually assaulted with a blunt instrument, beaten, and strangled. The general condition of the body and her overall health and nutrition indicated she had probably come from a middle class home. There were no identification with the body. No semen was found on or in the victim's body.
When the murder became known through media accounts, several people came forward and said they’d seen a teenager matching her description the day before her body was found. A witness identified the victim as a girl who had been at the South End Gulf station around 6:30 PM on Halloween night asking for directions to the Ellis prison unit.She had been wearing blue jeans, a yellow pullover sweater with big pockets that hung below her waist, and she was carrying high-heeled sandals in her hand. To the best of his recollection, she had been let out of a 1973 or 1974 blue Chevrolet with a lighter colored top, possibly a Caprice, which was being driven by a white male. She looked disheveled like she had been traveling and perhaps sleeping in her clothes. She left the station, walking north on Sam Houston Avenue.
A waitress working at the Hitchin’ Post truck stop on Interstate 45 said the girl came into the restaurant the same evening and again, asked for directions to the Ellis Unit, saying she had a friend there. A map was drawn for her and she departed. The waitress asked the girl how old she was and the girl responded 19. The waitress thought that was an obvious lie and then asked the girl if her parents knew where she was. The young girl replied, "Who cares." The waitress then asked her where she was from. The girl replied the Aransas Pass / Rockport area. It has not been verified that the girl was the unidentified victim.
Her photograph was shown to every inmate at Ellis Prison Unit, but no one claimed to know the girl.
It has been speculated Henry Lee Lucas killed this girl, but investigators could not make a match between the bite mark on her left shoulder and his dental reconstruction.
On January 16, 1981, the unidentified girl was buried in the Adickes Addition at Oakwood Cemetery. The Huntsville Funeral Home buried her and Morris Memorials provided her tombstone.
Her body was exhumed in 1999 and examined by a forensic anthropologist to obtain better information regarding her age and height, and to obtain a DNA sample.
#IDENTIFIED! On November 1, 1980, #JaneDoe was located along the northbound lanes of Interstate 45, in Walker County, #TEXAS
She had brown hair, approximately 10 inches in length. She had pierced ears and her toenails were painted pink. She had a small scar at the right end of her right eyebrow.
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/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/O5463ULFNRC3BDWPG5IS4MKTFM.PNG "Composite sketch of Sherri Jarvis")
