The homicides became known as the Redhead Murders. [43][44], On April 14, 1985, the body of a young white female was found in Greeneville, Greene County, Tennessee. On March 14, 1986, 32-year-old year old Betty Carol Thomas, of Lexington, Tenn., received a phone call at her residence by an unknown male who asked to meet her at Waugh's Pizza in Lexington. In the morning, she was picked up by her husband from her overnight job at a nursing home. Darrell arrived shortly thereafter with groceries and opened the residence. This victim was identified in 2018 through fingerprints asTina Marie McKenney Farmer. In November 2016, TBI Special Agent Brandon Elkins, who has been investigating the case for more than a decade, resubmitted Farmer's clothing, along with the blanket that was wrapped around her body, to the TBI Crime Lab for testing. Although little remained of the victim, a facial reconstruction was completed. The missing person must be seen in person by a police officer at any police station to be removed from our database. The decedent had brownish, strawberry blond, auburn or red, shoulder-length hair with frosted ends. Missing: Jennifer Enyart. [52][53] She was identified through a DNA match after a DNA profile was obtained from Lamotte's family by New Hampshire police in 2017. Her body, clad only in a sweater, was discovered by a hitchhiker about 20 miles west of West Memphis. Her body was twenty feet south of the highway and her shoes, undergarments, and jacket were missing. "Sometimes it's frustrating the length of time it takes and we don't have a lot of control over that. Missing: Danielle Mouton. If the person is within San Francisco, you may call the SFPD non-emergency line at 1-415-553-0123 to have an officer come to you. Darrell has been arrested several times for assault and theft since 1986. In April 1985, representatives from law enforcement agencies in Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Kentucky, Arkansas and Tennessee met in Nashville to discuss the killings and disposal of a series of redheaded women along interstates. At the time the couple were having a lot of marital difficulties, and Judith had met with an attorney two days before she disappeared. [32] Distinguishing features of the body included a number of moles (on the right side of her neck, near one ankle, and below each breast), a yellow-stained upper incisor, and a scar and other marks on her abdomen, indicating that she had borne a child. [23], The cause of death is undetermined, which does not rule out homicide. A family of four pulled in behind them and offered to help. Chahorski had informed her mother, via telephone, that she was planning to hitch rides from her current location in North Carolina to her home state of Michigan, to the cities of Flint and Muskegon. Rachael Anderson Gregory Bacon Steven Billman Edith Claver Kelsey Collins Kayla Croft-Payne The body was located off of the westbound lanes of Interstate 24. Donna Sue Nelton, formerly known as Benton County Jane Doe, was a woman who was found murdered on May 7, 1990 in Rogers, Arkansas. [15] She was Caucasian, and had shoulder-length curly red hair. Blevins' sister, however, commented that the circumstances of the decedent's discovery appeared to be involuntary. Her eyes were presumed to be brown, although postmortem changes may have affected eye color. Only, Lisa Jarvis (a.k.a., Lisa Nichols) one has been identified. She, too, had once had a Caesarian, and she was pregnant when she was killed. Martha said she was scared and Lawson said she should come with him and the family so they could get gas, but she said she'd stay behind. She was clothed and possibly as old as 40 when she died. Dill's mother Tresea Majors died of Small Cell Carcinoma in late November last year.. Her height was estimated at fivefeet sixinches (168cm) and weight as 135 pounds (61kg). This victim is considered the third victim in the Redhead Murders She was in an advanced state of decomposition. On the day she disappeared Nancy made brownies, wrote Christmas cards, and fed her puppy, Bocephus. We're just waiting and it'll be one day and it'll happen and we'll know the answer.". The . The murders believed to be related have occurred in states including Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Since the time of Jack the Ripper women without roots, abandoned by family, or rejected somehow have been favorite targets for predators. Eye Color: Brown A 53-year-old woman was swept away in the water over Pond Creek . The Jane Doe in Knox County, Kentucky was found wearing a distinct necklace. She was reported missing by her family at the time, yet authorities in Indiana did not enter her into national databases. 615-789-4130, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Inside a white refrigerator with a Super Woman decal on the door was the nude body of a petite woman 24 to 35 years of age, clad only in mismatched socks and wearing a pair of necklaces. Cheatham County, Tenn. victim There isn't much known about the woman found March 31, 1985, along Interstate 24 in Cheatham County because all that remained of her was her skull, a couple bones and some clothing. The first step is giving them their name back, then finding their killer. (TBI) A young, white redheaded woman was found nearly nude in an old refrigerator at a landfill April 1, 1985, in Gray, Ky., about 4 miles east of Corbin, Ky. Two men searching for scrap metal stumbled upon a refrigerator. The clearinghouse was established in 1993 to provide a central location for resources to identify and assist local, state, and national efforts to locate Tennessee's missing persons. The Doe Network is a 100% volunteer organization devoted to assisting investigating agencies in bringing closure to national . Missing since November 26, 1986 from Ashland City, Cheatham County, Tennessee. Hair Color: Dark brown hair, streaked with gray cheatham county, tennessee The sweater worn but by the Jane Doe discovered in Cheatham County. An anonymous tip in New Hampshire reportedly claimed Lamotte was the woman in the barrel. Richards was subsequently murdered in prison and was never charged in Martha's case, but he is still considered the primary suspect in her disappearance. In 2019, the TBI announced DNA evidence conclusively connected Johns to the death of Tina Farmer. Agency Contact Person: N/A They were partially clothed. Judith was last seen on November 26, 1986 at approximately 7:00 a.m. She had been approximately six to eight weeks pregnant shortly before she died, but had miscarried before death.[46]. She is estimated to be between 25 and 35 years of age and five feet five inches in height. There was a note placed in a typewriter in the Ehmkes' residence, stating that Judith was tired of her husband "controlling" her and had decided to leave him for another man. [21], Recent forensic analysis of the victim's remains indicated she was not native to the area where she was discovered. [47] Police were able to obtain her fingerprints, as well as DNA and dental information. Police ultimately concluded none of the men were connected to the crimes. Investigators believe she had been dead for two to three days when she was discovered. The area was often used to dump trash illegally. She has a pin-sized hole at the top of each ear. JavaScript is disabled. The list of definite victims spanned eight months and five states starting with victims found Sept. 16., 1984, in Shearerville, Ark. The first victim in the Redhead Murders was found along Route 250 near Littleton, West Virginia, in February of 1983. "Robert Evans" was later revealed to be a serial killer Terry Peder Rasmussen. Case Classification: Endangered Missing She was a white woman between 14-20 years old, standing 5'4"-5'6", weighing around 130 pounds. Download the News 2 app to stay updated on the go. In 2005, he was stripped of his medical license due to incompetence. Nashville police were familiar with Jarvis, who had "the second longest prostitute record in Nashville and Davidson County," a Metro Nashville Vice squad sergeant told The Tennessean in 1984. May 07, 2018 at 12:00 pm by "Nobody is looking for them. [8], On January 1, 1985, the bound body of a woman was found near Jellico, Tennessee, in Campbell County, down an embankment off the southbound side of Interstate 75. The knot in the cloth found in a piece of material found tied around the neck of the Campbell County victim was very similar to the knot in a piece of material found tied around Linda Schacke's neck two months following the Campbell County victim. This was about half a mile from the Holiday Inn. Johns died in prison in 2015. [38][39][40], On February 13, 1983, the naked body of a white female was found alongside Route 250 near Littleton, in Wetzel County, West Virginia. July 29, 1985 5690DMAL J. This suspect was also dismissed from this investigation, after being questioned by Tennessee police. They believe she may have been a sex worker in Pittsburg or a member of a Hare Krishna commune, known as New Vrindaban, in Marshall County, W.Va. She was described as being between 35 and 45 years old, standing around 5'6" and weighing about 135 pounds. Thirty-two bones, including her skull, were recovered from the scene. Lisa Nichols was the second victim in the string of murders. The perpetrators are mobile by nature and often dispose of their victims miles away from the abduction in a different jurisdictionor even a different state, leaving few witnesses and little evidence behind. This Cheatham County Tennessee Most Wanted List posts the top 50-100 fugitive criminals on the run. Who are Tennessee's unidentified juvenile victims? [13] Lamotte had disappeared on April 6, 1984. Martha's twin brother, Lawson Green, picked up from her hostess job at the Holiday Inn on April 15, 1987. Some were likely hitchhikers; others likely sex workers. Authorities determined that the body had been burned and suspect that was done deliberately to hinder identification efforts. Artist rendering of the Jane Doe found in Westel County, WV. [57][58], Roane County Jane Doe was a woman found on August 29, 1987 in Roane County, Tennessee. HIGH SCHOOL SOCIOLOGY CLASS IDS POSSIBLE SERIAL KILLER", National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, "TBI identifies suspect in 1985 "redhead murders" case as Cleveland, Tenn. man", "Agents ID body found in Tennessee in '80s as Indy woman, ask public to help solve murder", "Body found 33 years ago has been identified", "TBI identifies suspect in nearly 35-year-old Campbell County cold case slaying", "Solved: Grand jury decides who killed Tina Marie Farmer in 1984", National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, "Remains of 'Baby Girl' found in Tennessee nearly 40 years ago finally identified", "Sheriff's office re-opens Tracy Sue Walker's 1978 missing person report", "Identification provides new hope in 'Redhead Murders', "Serial Killer Likely Preying On Redheads", "CRIME HUNTER: Giving names and justice to the Jane and John Does | Toronto Sun", "After 37 Years, DNA Helps Family Find Missing Loved One", "WFU grad missing for 37 years identified with DNA, dental records", "UNTHSC plays a role in solving 37-year-old cold case", "Dead Woman May Be Linked to 5-State Redhead Murders", "The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)", "OFFICIALS PUZZLE OVER STRING OF REDHEAD MURDERS", "Law enforcement agencies face startling numbers and staggering odds to identify young Jane Does Unclaimed UNNAMED", "11th Red-Haired Victim Found in Series of Baffling Homicides", "Body found in East Tennessee three decades ago identified as missing New Hampshire woman", "Remains of missing Manchester woman last seen in 1984 identified, possible link to string of homicides", "New Hampshire's Most Infamous Cold Case Leads to Unrelated 1985 Tenn. A skeletonized red-haired female was found March 31, 1985, in Pleasant View, Tennessee. Additionally, she had been wrapped in a blanket, which was later found to have seminal fluid on it. Abbitts skepticism inthe case was proven right when a rest stop employee named John Allen Chapman was arrested for the murder of Metzger and a convenience store clerk. Please enable JavaScript to view the page content. To some, the deaths seemed like they could be a coincidence, but to investigators, some clues tied the deaths together. A killer with a taste for red-haired women. "It's important to keep looking because somebody out there is waiting for answers.". Do You Have Any? The last significant report to mention the Redhead Murders may have undercut the theory of its existence. Police said that tire tracks and footprints nearby indicated that she was likely transported to this site after death from another location. CHEATHAM COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) - Authorities are searching for a missing 17-year-old girl from Cheatham County who has not been seen since last week. We know who they're connected to. She had two scars, one typical of a Caesarean section, and another on one index finger. She could have been as old as 45 and there was evidence shed had a Caesarean section. Her fingernails were painted pink. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said the body was. Lisa Nichols may have been victim no. Updated: November 4, 2011 Biography ID: 60357209 Facial reconstructions of victims from the Redhead Murders. First Name: Judith Ann Middle Name: Ann Last Name: Ehmke Details Age When Last Known Alive: 40 Race: White Sex: Female Height: 66.0 to Weight: 170.0 to Location City: Ashland State: Tennessee Zip: 37015 County: Cheatham Donations are accepted but not expected; the site remains free-access to all. It also found that she was around 10-12 weeks pregnant and had recently given birth. The second was found a short time later near Interstate 40 in Memphis. The young woman wasn't reported missing until January 2017 when investigators into another serial killer,Terry Peder Rasmussen. She was found in the Tennessee River in 1994. [28][3][29], Unlike some of the other victims, she was wearing clothing: a shirt, sweater, pants and underwear. NPS image. CHEATHAM COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) - One person was killed in a crash in Cheatham County Saturday afternoon. She has never been seen again. She was last seen alive around 2 a.m. April 1 at a truck stop in Corbin on I-75, according to the (Louisville) Courier-Journal. Several missing persons have been eliminated as possible matches for the victim. He was previously convicted in 1987 of aggravated kidnapping, assault, and other crimes in the attack on a woman, Linda Schacke, that he had picked up in Knox County, Tennessee, two months after Farmer's disappearance and death. The victim may have been seen alive in Wheeling, West Virginia as an employee or customer at a bar. Her family had reported her missing the day after Thanksgiving 1985. They were driving back to their family's residence in White Bluff, Tennessee in a Monte Carlo with tinted windows that Lawson had borrowed, when the vehicle ran out of gas on Highway 46 near Fabric Road in Dickson County, Tennessee at approximately 9:00 p.m. [16] It has not been specified whether he is considered a suspect in other victims of the Redhead murders. As for why ginger women were targeted? Authorities hoped in late April 1985 that they would identify her body through fingerprints but were unsuccessful. The co-worker also stated that Judith suspected she was pregnant by the neighbor, but this was never confirmed. She was found by a passerby. The Cheatham County Sheriff's. 615-952-4989. The victim wasnt raped, but she was asphyxiated. Marvin Alvin Clark (ca. She was a few months pregnant when she was killed. Her hair was auburn; by 1985, she was linked possibly to other redheaded women found as homicide victims whose deaths seemed to be related. DNA samples were taken and submitted to CODIS, from which the UNTCHI identified Walker's remains. Her fingernails had pink polish. He was charged with kidnapping and rape but was ruled out as a suspect in the Redhead Murders. Filter by: Filter by. Bruton was sentenced to life in prison for drug-related offenses. She has never been seen again. In addition to hair color, there were undeniable commonalities in the Redhead Murders: Pregnancies, choices of location. She may have been as young as 14and shed had a recent miscarriage. She had no outward signs of assault. 615-792-4341. Anyone with information about these women should call the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-TBI-FIND or the Forensic Anthropology Center at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville at 1-865-974-4408. Authorities were not able to identify and contact her family members for some time, indicating that Nichols was estranged from them. Like Farmer, Schacke had been choked with a piece of cloth ripped from her T-shirt, bound, and left for dead inside a storm drain under I-40, near Watt Road. Age: 39 years old Then again, it could be the public perception of the mostly unknown victims led to disinterest in the casea bias in some members of the media and in law enforcement that these women had led lives that could only naturally end at the hands of a predator. West Virginia authorities are skeptical of whether this victim is related to other victims in the Redhead Murders. She is believed to have been murdered. Last updated February 25, 2021; details of disappearance updated. She was wearing two distinct necklaces: a gold eagle and heart pendant. Sign up for InsideHook to get our best content delivered to your inbox every weekday. Missing: Tami Kowalchuk. Donations are accepted but not expected; the site remains free-access to all. The body was the third redhead found strangled and dumped near an interstate in a two-year span. She had three piercings in each ear and her fingernails were deeply bitten. She was estimated to be between 35 and 50 years old and five feet or five feet eight inches in height. "It's important to keep looking because somebody out there is waiting for answers," Matthews said. "We have runaways on a daily basis," Morgano said. A neighbor saw an unfamiliar white car at the house Nancy shared with husband Ken the day of the disappearance, but that was nearly the only lead investigators had. Donald and Jennifer Cheatham have been charged in Butte County Superior Court on felony counts of cultivating marijuana and possessing it for sale. Additional Personal Items: Unknown. Still missing since 01/24/2015. Homicide", "After 34 years, Stacy Lyn Chahorski's Murderer is Identified", "Tennessee special agents identify suspect in Indiana woman's 1985 murder", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Redhead_murders&oldid=1138068964, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, West Virginia, This page was last edited on 7 February 2023, at 21:42. She was found Sept. 16, 1984, on an entrance ramp on Interstate 40 near Shearerville, Ark. Middle Tennessee Mysteries is dedicated to shining a light on cold cases, unsolved murders and missing people in Tennessee. The woman's legs and underarms were shaven, indicating attention to grooming not characteristic of a transient or hitchhiker. The possibility some killer targeted red-haired women across the south from the late 1970s through the early 90s is a nearly-forgotten mystery today. AZ - Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea, allegedly shot and killed with an AK-47 by rancher George Alan Kelly, 75, Kino Springs, Jan 2023, 4 Univ of Idaho Students Murdered - Bryan Kohberger Arrested - Moscow # 73, http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/695dftn.html, https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/10549/, https://www.websleuths.com/forums/sCo-Adult-skeletal-remains-in-cistern-May-2018, https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Bla20ffdf930c!2m2!1d-87.0641699!2d36.2742207!3e0, Judith Ehmke: The Choice Is Yours | Free Podcasts | Podomatic". Bruton had spent time on the FBI Most Wanted List for three months in 1979 after taking two families hostage and wounding two officers in Utah. At the April 1985 meeting, they included as many as 11 victims in the probe. He may have been suffering from delusions and had a substantial amount of money on him. [20], In 2019, DNA evidence identified convicted kidnapper Jerry Leon Johns as the man that killed Tina Marie McKenney Farmer in December 1984. She has a scar on the right knee, a scar on the right finger and a scar on the left knee. Agency Name: Cheatham County Sheriff's Department [49][50][51], She was not identified until November 2018, when officials announced that the victim was New Hampshire native Elizabeth Lamotte. Investigators believe the victim or the bones may have been run over with a vehicle to make identification difficult or impossible. Blevins was identified via DNA and dental records in 2012. We have such a large area that we would like to give all focus on the Cheatham County area. Darrell threw the letter away, but one of their children read it before it was destroyed. Kidnappings & Missing Persons. The only thing they have in common is the color of their hair. It is believed she had been placed at the location around the time she went missing a decade earlier, in 1975. The victim was found by a truck driver driving southbound on US Highway 78 a hundred feet east of Coldwater River Bridge at around 7:30a.m. She had several scars remarkable scars: healed burn scar inside her left arm; scars on both knees; faint 2-inch long scar on her forehead near her hairline; and a scar on her right hand, according to theDoe Network file. He discovered she had vanished upon his return about ten to fifteen minutes later. Nickname/Alias: Unknown Until Thursday, all but one victim were Jane Does. She was no older than 25 and clothed. Agency E-Mail: N/A "We're just now getting to where we can use all of these resources to make sure these kids are safe.".