Kills of redheads

Wetzel County Victim

The naked body of a white woman was discovered on February 13, 1983, along Route 250 near Littleton , Uetzel County , West Virginia . A pair of elderly people reported that they found the remains, which were first considered a mannequin. The body appeared on the site recently: snow lying on the ground was absent on the body itself. Tire tracks indicate that she died in another area and was taken to the place of detection by people. It is believed that she died two days before she was found. It is difficult to say whether the woman was a victim of sexual assault, although perhaps she was raped before her death. The cause of death of the woman was not officially determined, but she is a possible victim of the murder, because she was most likely hanged or strangled. This woman was one of the most adult victims, as her age ranged from 35 to 45 years. The woman’s hair was auburn in color that met the criteria for a killer ^[10] . Her height was estimated at approximately 168 cm, and weight 61 kg. Her eyes were allegedly brown, although the decomposition made it difficult to accurately determine their color. She had two distinct scars, including one in the abdomen from a cesarean section that indicated that she had at least one child, and the other was found on one of her index fingers. Her legs and armpits were shaved, indicating grooming, not characteristic of a tramp or hitchhiker. Her murder was suspected of a white middle-aged man about 178 cm tall and weighing from 84 to 91 kg. He was seen near the area where the body was discovered and could be associated with it. The victim herself may have been spotted alive in Wheeling , West Virginia — she was an employee or client of the bar. This woman was buried ^[11] .

Lisa Nichols

The body of 28-year-old Lisa Nichols, or Jarvis, was found on September 16, 1984 along Highway 40 near West Memphis, Arkansas. She lived in West Virginia, and for some time the authorities could not find her relatives, because everything indicated that she did not communicate with them, as a result of which she remained unidentified for almost a year. Her body remained unidentified until June 1985, exactly nine months after she was strangled and left in only one sweater. Nichols is also believed to belong to the Redheads Kill series, as she was found along the highway, her hair color at the time of death was light chestnut. Her remains were identified by a couple from Florida, which allowed Lisa to live with them for a while. Perhaps Nichols was killed after leaving a truck stop on the highway and possibly trying to catch a ride ^[7] .

Campbell County Victim

On January 1, 1985, another victim was discovered in Campbell County on Highway 75 near Jellico, Tennessee. Although her murder occurred three days before, i.e. supposedly December 30, 1984, her body was badly decomposed ^[12] . Like others, she was white and had short, slightly curly red hair. At the time of the murder, her age ranged from 17 to 25 years, although perhaps she could have been older than 30 years. The victim was found wearing a pullover, shirt and jeans. Jane Doe had green or brown eyes, the color of which also could not be precisely determined due to her body condition. The young woman also had freckles, various scars and burn marks on her body. At the time of the murder, she was in the second and a half month of pregnancy. ^{[13] [14]} Her teeth showed no signs of dental interventions, with the exception of a partial denture with two false teeth in the upper jaw. It is believed that at the time of death, her height was approximately 163 cm and weight from 50 to 52 kg, although The Doe Network and NamUs (the national system of missing and unidentified people) stated that the body decomposed too much to estimate the weight of the victim ^{[12 ] [13] [14]} .

Campbell County Second Victim

A second victim from Campbell County was found on April 3, 1985, but her hair color was not known, which does not mean that she was the victim of a series of murders of redheads. Presumably, she died between 1981 and 1984, from one to four years before being discovered. Unlike other victims, she was younger, her age ranged from 9 and 15 years, some were estimated at 16 years. Her body was located next to the roadway about 200 yards from Big Wil Gap Road, four miles southwest of Jellico in Campbell County, some distance from Highway 75, near the strip shaft. ^[15] The cause of the death of this girl is unknown, since only fragments of her remains were available, but it could still be a murder. Thirty-two bones, including the skull, were completely removed from the spot. The presence of a skull allowed her face to be restored. She was wearing a necklace and a bracelet made of plastic buttons. At the site of the discovery of the remains, a pair of fifth-size boots were found that might not have belonged to the victim, as well as trimming clothes. ^[16] Due to her body condition, it was impossible to assess the height, weight, eye color and hair color ^{[17] [18]} .

Chiatam County Victim

The skeletonized body of a red-haired woman was found on March 31, 1985 in Pleasantview, Chiatam County, Tennessee. It was believed that she died three to five months ago for an unknown reason. However, her case may have been related to the killing of redheads, as her remains were found on the side of Highway 24. ^{[2] [19]} Unlike some other victims, she had clothes on her body: shirt, sweater, trousers and underwear. She was white, with a height of 157 cm. It was not possible to measure weight. After examining the victim’s teeth, it was possible to judge that she had some signs of crowding and over-laying of teeth. ^[19] It is believed that the age of this woman at the time of death is thirty-one to forty years ^[20] .

Knox County Victim

The body of a woman who died of suffocation was discovered on April 1, 1985 in a white Admiral refrigerator in Gray, Knox County, Kentucky, along Route 25 ^{[2] [4]} . On the front of the refrigerator was the inscription “Super Woman” ^[21] . The victim was dead for several days, and her body was naked, except for two different pairs of socks (one pair white and one white with green and yellow stripes) ^{[4] [22]} and necklaces: one in the shape of a heart and the other an eagle gold color. It was reported that the victim may have searched for fellow travelers to North Carolina on CB radio ^[21] . At her funeral, which was also broadcast on television, five hundred people attended. The case in Gray became a local sensation, since the city was “quiet” and “sleepy,” usually nothing unusual happened there ^[4] . Distinctive features of the body: several moles (on the right side of the neck, about one ankle and under each breast), the upper incisor is yellowish, as well as a scar and other marks on her stomach, indicating that she gave birth. Her eye color was light brown, and her hair color was bright red and almost all the way down to her legs, which corresponded to the model of the red-haired killer. After the autopsy, it was found that her age was from 24 to 35 years, and the growth was 1.5 m ^[21] . A pair of boots, possibly belonging to the deceased, were also found next to the refrigerator. Several missing persons were excluded as possible coincidences with the victim ^[22] . After the case was made public in January 2013, the police received new data; it is not known whether they played any role. ^{[4] [23]} .

Green County Victim

On April 14, 1985, the body of a young white woman was found in Greenville, Green County, Tennessee. ^{[24] [25]} She died from a severe blunt trauma, possibly inflicted three to six weeks before being found, and her body was in a very decayed state ^[26] . However, she managed to take fingerprints, as well as collect DNA and make a cast of teeth. Shortly before her death, she was pregnant for a period of six to eight weeks, but survived a miscarriage ^[25] . She was 14-20 years old (maybe 25, but not more), and her height was approximately 168 cm, and weight from 59 to 64 kg. She had a minor occlusion defect, and some of her teeth were filled, which indicated the fact of going to the dentist. Her nails were painted pink. Since the color of her hair was determined from light brown to light with a redhead, it is possible that her case could be related to the killing of redheads. In late April 1985, authorities began identifying the body by comparing her fingerprints with those of other people, but the attempts were unsuccessful, so the identity of this murder victim has not been established to this day ^{[2] [27]} . As her possible identity, it was suspected, but six candidates were excluded ^{[27] [28] [29]} .

Other possible victims

According to amateur online detectives, it is possible that Jane Doe from Risin Fawn, who was found in Georgia in 1988, was also a victim of the killing of redheads ^[30] . This victim was sexually assaulted and strangled. She was from 16 to 25 years old. She had red hair, like that of other victims, and her body was found near Highway 59 ^[31] . In addition, a victim from Pemiscot County, found in Arkansas in 1978, Jane Doe from Desoto County, found in 1985, Jane Doe from Pulaski County, found in 1985 in Arkansas, Jane Doe from Hawaire County, were included as possible victims. (identified as Priscilla Ann Blevins), Jane Doe from Roane County, found in 1987, Jane Doe from Benton County, found in 1990, Jane Doe from Hebron, found in Ohio in 1990 and Jane Doe from Simpson County, found in Tennessee in 2001 ^[31] .

• The Mississippi County victim had a disagreement with the killings, as she was still seen alive with a man also unidentified, his body was found in Missouri, but it is believed that the same person killed them. She also had blond hair, but she was killed by a shot, moreover, several years before the majority of the killings of red-haired women. However, her body was found near Highway 55 ^[32] .

• Priscilla Blevins was discovered in March 1985 in North Carolina on Highway 40 ten years after she disappeared from her home in Charlotte. Her remains were identified in 2012. The cause of death of Blevins has not been established, but it is believed that she died in July 1975 during the disappearance and that her body was thrown out near Highway 40 after death, where she remained until she was discovered ^{[33] [34]} .

• Although the victim from Roen County was found in Tennessee and was white, her body was burned, which was not characteristic of any of the alleged victims. Her trachea was also dissected and the uterus removed, which also was not observed in any of the other victims. In addition, it was not indicated whether her remains were near the highway. The color of her hair could not be determined due to her body condition ^{[35] [36]} .

• The body of Jane Doe from Pulaski County was also found in 1985 next to the road. She had brown hair, but her body was not found off the highway. The cause of her death is unknown, and she probably died much earlier because her body was skeletonized ^[37] .

• Jane Doe from Benton County was found in 1990 on Highway 102, a gunshot wound caused her death. Her skeletal remains were burned, and only some of the bones were restored. It is known that she was shot before being burned in the same year that her remains were discovered. She was found off Highway 102 ^[38] .

• The body of Jane Doe from Hebron, allegedly a prostitute, was discovered in Ohio in 1990, a considerable distance from the states where the red-haired victims were found. She was also killed five years after most of the killings took place, but she also had red hair and her body was found near a highway. She had sexual intercourse shortly before her death ^[39] .

• April Lacy was killed in 1996, and her body was thrown out on a road heading to Texas. Some believe that she was also possibly the victim of the same killer, although the date of her death did not coincide with the approximate dates of the deaths of other victims ^[40] .

• The date of death of Jane Doe from Simpson County does not coincide with the dates of deaths of other victims, since she died in 2001, as suggested by the degree of decomposition of her body. However, it was found near Highway 75, and was ginger ^[41] .

It is believed that most of the victims remained and remain unidentified due to the fact that they did not maintain contact with their relatives, or did not live in the states in which they were found. In 1985, shortly after a victim was found in Green County, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi turned to the FBI for help. Inconsistencies were identified with some victims, as some were found with or without clothing, while others had sexual contact until death ^[24] . During the conference, it was pointed out that the four victims found in Texas and the victim found in 1981 in Ohio, nicknamed the Buckskin Girl, were excluded from the list of possible victims in 1985 ^[24] .

In the mid-eighties, a possible suspect appeared when a 37-year-old truck driver attacked and tried to strangle a red-haired woman, but was later deleted from the list of suspects, although he left the woman lying near the highway, believing that she was dead ^[2] . Another suspect was a 32-year-old Pennsylvania truck driver who was interrogated after abducting and raping a young woman in Indiana before she managed to escape. This suspect was also struck out after being interrogated by Tennessee police. ^[3]