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Grimes County Jane Doe

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Grimes County Jane Doe was a teenager or young woman recovered in 1981 in Texas.

Henry Lee Lucas confessed to the victim's murder, claiming her name may have been "Cheryl," and that he picked her up in Durham, North Carolina.

The overwhelming majority of such confessions have since been disproved; Lucas has only been definitively linked to three murders, which had clear motives against individuals whom he personally knew.

Case[]

A highway worker discovered the victim's body on October 29, 1981. Her cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head.

Her body was wrapped in a plastic bag also containing a white rag, believed to be the type used in mechanical work. The remains may have been stored at a different location before being deposited at the location, possibly years after her death.

Henry Lee Lucas Confession[]

In 1984, Henry Lee Lucas confessed to her murder, stating that he drove the victim to the area from Durham, North Carolina, and claiming that her name may have been "Cheryl". He claimed that while he strangled her, his accomplice Ottis Toole beat her in the head with a tire iron. He then led police to the area in which her body had previously been found, stating that he and Toole had dumped her there.

It is known that Lucas and Toole falsely confessed to murders they did not commit through coercion by the police. Lucas would later state he had only killed three people, including his mother in 1960, his adolescent girlfriend, and a woman he stayed with during 1982.[1]

Recent investigation[]

In February 2023, the sister of Cheryl Denise Taylor contacted investigators voicing a potential match to the unidentified remains. A resemblance to the sketch and other physical characteristics were noted. Taylor was last seen on the evening of July 20 or 28, 1978 in Picher, Oklahoma. Loved ones have expressed a voluntary disappearance was unlikely. The following month, Taylor was excluded as the identity of the unknown female, via DNA.

Othram is involved with genetic genealogy research, after successfully obtaining a sufficient DNA profile for testing. Their efforts revealed familial links from her father's side to Sapulpa, Oklahoma. They also confirmed her reddish hair color was natural, being a distinctive trait for individuals within the country's population.

Characteristics[]

  • Naturally red or auburn hair.
  • Right-handed.
  • Extensive dental care with 13 fillings.
  • Healing breaks to her ribs, appearing to have occurred at separate times.
    • The injuries may have resulted from trauma from one or more vehicle accidents, or physical abuse.

Clothing and accessories[]

  • Pink bikini-style panties with a black trim, near the body.
  • $20 gold 1904 coin, possibly a replica, that had been turned into a ring.

Gallery[]

Exclusions[]

Sources[]

Notes[]

  1. ↑ "War in Waco." The Confession Killer, season 1, episode 3, Netflix, 6 Dec. 2019.
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