Case History
A fisherman discovered the victim's body in the Harpeth River in Davidson County, Tennessee on March 24, 1976. She was located mere hours after her death.
The victim, believed to be Native American, or possibly Hispanic, was found just after 17.00, March 24, 1976, about 200 yards from a bridge on McCrory Creek Road, downstream from a recreational area and near the border of Cheatham County.
The victim, possibly named Sherry or Cheryl, had a photograph of a young blond-haired boy in her back pocket. On the rear of the photograph, "Little Charlie" was written. She also had a black comb and 1 nickel.
An autopsy showed she had sexual intercourse within a few days of her death, but it was not known whether she was raped.
A man claimed he and his brother-in-law, who both lived in Nashville at the time, saw the victim 10 days before she was found in the river. He said he and his relative picked up the victim and her friend, a slender blond woman, as the two hitchhiked from Nashville.
The two, the man claimed, had run away from a mental hospital in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and were headed to Haines City, Florida, to see the blond woman's husband. The victim, the man said, was being treated for alcoholism, while her friend had been suicidal.
Investigators said the men, who claimed they dropped the women off at Interstate 24's Winchester exit, were questioned but never labeled suspects.