Tina Marie McKenney Farmer (March 7, 1963 - December 1984) was a woman discovered in early January 1985. She was identified in September of 2018, and as of December 2019, her murder case is now considered closed.
Disappearance
Tina was last seen on Thanksgiving Day in 1984. She left behind a daughter, who passed away in 2017.
Case
Tina's body was found near a highway near Jellico in Campbell County, Tennessee on Interstate 75. Although she had died recently, she was already in an advanced state of decomposition. The victim had been bound and strangled.
She may have been a victim of the Redhead Murderer, as she had red hair, may have been a hitchhiker, prostitution or a runaway, which met the characteristics of the killer.
It was announced the victim was identified as Tina Marie McKenney Farmer on September 6, 2018 through fingerprinting.
In December 2019, it was announced that her murder case was closed. In 2016, semen from the blanket containing her body was matched to Jerry Leon Johns, who died in prison in 2015. It is unclear if he is suspected of killing the other members of the Redhead murders, but was identified as the perpetrator of a 1985 assault with similar circumstances, but had actually been ruled out by detectives before the DNA match.
Characteristics
- She had curly, shoulder-length red hair.
- Her eyes were green.
- She may have had plastic surgery in the past.
- She had freckles.
- She had various scars and burn marks on both of her arms and legs and a scar on her forehead.
- She was 10 to 12 weeks pregnant.
- She had likely had another child before.
- She wore a partial upper denture.
- Her ears were double pierced.
- She had possibly had a laparoscopy in life.
Clothing and accessories
- New blue jeans.
- White velour long-sleeved sport shirt or blouse with a wide beige band at the bottom.
- The body was also wrapped in a blanket.
Gallery
Sources
- Knoxville News Sentinel
- Times Tribune
- Tina Farmer at Find a Grave
- Redhead murders on Wikipedia
- Fox 59
