Her body was discovered within hours of her sexual assault and murder, and remained unidentified for 41 years before investigators announced her identification via forensic genealogy in November Despite initial efforts to discover both her identity and that of her murderer s , the investigation into Jarvis's murder gradually became a cold case.
Prior to her identification, Jarvis was known as the Walker County Jane Doe in reference to the county in which her body was discovered and where she was later buried in a donated casket.
On November 1, , the nude body of a girl estimated to be between the ages of 14 and 18 [ 10 ] was discovered by a truck driver who had been driving past the Sam Houston National Forest. She was lying face-down in an area of grass approximately 20 feet 6.
The victim had been deceased for approximately six hours, thus placing her time of death around a. A rectangular brown pendant containing a smoky blue or brown glass colored stone on a thin gold chain necklace was found around her neck. The remainder of her clothing was missing. The decedent was approximately five feet six inches 1. The cause of death was certified by the coroner to be asphyxia [ 20 ] due to ligature strangulation , [ 21 ] possibly inflicted via a pantyhose, [ 7 ] fragments of whichβalong with the decedent's underwearβwere found inside the victim's vaginal cavity.
She had been sexually assaulted prior to her death with a large blunt instrument [ 18 ] both vaginally and anally. In addition, her right shoulder bore a deep and visible bite mark. Following exhaustive witness appeals and extensive media accounts regarding this murder, numerous individuals all of whom are now deceased informed investigators they had seen a teenage girl matching the decedent's description within the 24 hours prior to her murder. These individuals include the manager of a South End Gulf station and two employees at the Hitch 'n' Post truck stop, all of whom described this girl as wearing blue jeans, a dirty yellow pullover, and a white knit sweater with noticeably large pockets which extended past her waist.
