I’ve seen one or two posts about this case but thought I would do a more thorough write-up, as it was something that piqued my interest.
The Redhead Murders is a name given to a string of unsolved murders of young women, most of whom had red hair. The murders occurred between 1978 and 1992 in five different states, with several occurring in 1985. All were found abandoned on the side of major highways. Some were clothed, some were naked, and some had had sex not long before they died.
List of victims thought to be connected:
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Wetzel County Jane Doe: WCJD’s body was found on February 13th 1983 near Route 250 in West Virginia. She was believed to be between 35 and 40 years old, and had red hair. She had several scars, included a caesarean scar. Her ears were double-pierced and she had orange painted toenails. She had died two days earlier, possibly from suffocation. Her body was recently placed as there was snow on the ground but not on the body, and tire tracks and footprints were found nearby. No evidence of sexual assault was found. A middle aged white man had been seen near where her body was found, though was never identified.
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Lisa Nichols/Jarvis: Lisa’s body was found on September 16th 1984 along the I-40 in Arkansas. She was 28 years old. She had been strangled and was found wearing only a sweater. She was a resident of West Virginia, and was identified nine months after being found by a couple from Florida who she had been staying with. It is believed that she had become estranged from her family, hence why it took police so long to identify her.
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Campbell County Jane Does: Two victims were found in Campbell County, Tennessee. The first was found on the I-75 on New Year’s Day 1985. She was thought to have been dead for 3 days. She had red hair, freckles, and several scars on her body. She had been 10-12 weeks pregnant, and was thought to have recently given birth. Unlike some of the other victims, she was fully clothed in a tan-coloured top and men’s Levi jeans. She had no shoes on. The second Campbell County victim was found on April 3rd 1985 on the Big Wheel Gap road. She was younger than some other victims, estimated between 9 and 15 years old. Only 32 bones were found, but skull reconstruction was possible. It was thought she was dead for at least a year before being found. Her hair colour and cause of death were not possible to be identified due to decomposition. She was wearing a necklace and a bracelet made of plastic buttons.
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Cheatham County Jane Doe: CCJD was found a few days before the second Campbell County victim, on March 31st 1985. She had been dead for 2-5 months, and was found on the I-24. She was in her 30s, 5 feet tall and had red hair. She was clothed, and pictures of the items of clothing can be found on the Doe Network entry listed below.
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Knox County Jane Doe: KCJD was found just a day later in a refrigerator on Route 25E in Kentucky. She had been dead for a couple of days. There were reports that she may have been asking for a ride to North Carolina on CB radios before her death. She was under 5 feet tall, had red hair, freckles, and several scars and birthmarks. She had given birth at some point in her life. She died of asphyxiation, and was naked except for two socks on each foot and two distinctive necklaces. A pair of brown boots were found nearby that may have belonged to her. 500 locals attended her funeral, which was televised.
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Greene County Jane Doe: GCJD’s body was found on April 14th 1985 on the I-81 in Greene County, Tennessee. She had been dead for several weeks. She was approximated to be between 14 and 20 years old, had red-tinted shoulder length hair, and was between 5’4 and 5’6. She was between 6 and 8 weeks pregnant, but had unfortunately suffered a miscarriage right before her murder. Unlike the other victims, she had died from blunt force trauma.
There are several other victims which have been considered as being connected, most of whom are also unidentified. An extensive list can be found on the wikipedia page listed in the links below.
It is thought that a lot of the victims remain unidentified because they had lost contact with their families. The common opinion seems to be that the women were either hitch-hiking or engaging in sex work when they were picked up by their killer/s.
There have been a few suspects for these crimes. In the mid-80s, a trucker attempted to strangle a red-headed woman and left her on the side of a highway presuming her to be dead. He was later dismissed as a suspect in these crimes. A second trucker, a 32 year old from Pennsylvania, was questioned after raping a woman in Indiana but he was also dismissed after questioning.
While it's not a nice thought to have, it's possible that this wasn't the work of a serial killer, and in fact several women falling victim to different killers. Maybe them having red hair, or being dumped on highways is just a characteristic about them that has been drawn out but actually has no correlation. Whilst there are similarities between the cases, there are also inconsistencies which cast doubt over the theory that these are all the work of one killer (for example, some discrepancies in method of killing, and whether victims were clothed).
What do you think? Was this the work of a serial killer?
Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wr0T7Se5J7k
Wetzel County Jane Doe: http://ift.tt/2qjmIcn
Campbell County Jane Doe #1: http://ift.tt/2r3CbKJ
Campbell County Jane Doe #2: http://ift.tt/2qj8Yi3
Cheatham County Jane Doe: http://ift.tt/2r3C9m5
Knox County Jane Doe: http://ift.tt/2qiWNlh
Greene County Jane Doe: http://ift.tt/2r3Ofvx
Submitted May 26, 2017 at 04:33PM by postorl http://ift.tt/2qW4lsF UnresolvedMysteries
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