Who is Cheryl Jane Doe?
On March 24th 1976, a fisherman on the Harpeth River in Nashville, Tennessee, came across the body of a teenage girl lying face down in the water. She had been deceased for 18–20 hours before her discovery, and the medical examiner determined she had died by drowning, although whether this was accidental or homicidal is unknown.
The girl was described as being between 14 and 17 years old, white, Native American or Hispanic with long brown or black hair, brown eyes, 5’2” and 120 to 130 lbs. She was found wearing only a white bra and a pair of jeans, and her top had been removed prior to her death. She also wore a choker adorned with white beads, a white dove and a rawhide bracelet.
No ID was present on her belongings, but investigators were not down and out. In the pocket of her jeans, they found a photograph of a young blonde-haired boy with the name ‘Little Charley’ written on the back. What’s more, the photo also bore a phone number, and investigators hoped this would quickly lead them to their victim.
Investigators called the number on the back of the photo and discovered it belonged to 24-year-old Charles Moore from East Nashville, Tennessee. Bizarrely, Charles was not the person in the photograph. Charles told investigators that on March 15th, he and his brother-in-law, Milton Collins, were driving along Interstate 24 southeast near Nashville when they came across two teenage hitchhikers.
Charles and Milton both positively identified the girl found on March 24th as one of the hitchhikers and said she was travelling with a white woman with sandy-blonde hair. The victim had called herself ‘Cheryl’ or ‘Sherry’, and the two claimed to have escaped from a mental hospital/rehab in Saint Paul, Minnesota (Twin Cities) and were trying to make their way to Haines City, Florida, to meet with the blonde woman’s husband.
During their ride, Cheryl, as she has become known, confided in Charles that she had been sent to the rehab facility for alcoholism, whilst her friend, who remains unidentified, was sent there because she had tried to take her own life. 85 miles later, Cheryl and the other girl parted ways with Charles and Milton in Winchester on the I24’s exit.
Before parting ways, Charles gave Cheryl the photograph with his name and number on the back. Telling her that if she found herself in Nashville and needed help, she could give him a call. This was the last confirmed sighting of Cheryl before her death on March 24th 1976. The medical examiner discovered that Cheryl had engaged in sexual intercourse days before her death, although it is unknown whether this was consensual.
Cheryl was also ‘heavily intoxicated’ when she was found, making her more susceptible to those with bad intentions. What stood out most to the medical examiner were Cheryl’s teeth and scars. Cheryl had undergone extensive dental work, with a left fang being ‘oddly positioned’ and a few fillings and crowns peppered in. She also had two surgical scars on her abdomen and faded scars or cigarette burns on her arms. for Cheryl’s abdominal scars remain unknown.
Charles and Milton became persons of interest in Cheryl’s case. There had been no reports of patients escaping facilities in Minnesota, and Cheryl’s body had been found almost 90 miles away from where they claimed to have dropped her off. Investigators noted that her body was also found in the opposite of her supposed destination of Haines City, Florida. No evidence has ever been uncovered to connect the two to the case.
Unfortunately, DNA analysis is not possible in this case as Cheryl’s body was buried in an ‘unknown location’ as records were not correctly kept and markers were not placed. Fingerprints and dental records are available and may be law enforcement’s only option to identify Cheryl. If you have any information, you are asked to contact the Metro Nashville Police Department’s Cold Case Unit at 615–880–2928, quoting case number 76–47535.
SOURCES: https://pastebin.com/ZtgCQCrq
