National Center for Missing & Exploited Children reconstruction image of "Jane Arroyo Grande Doe," left, recently identified as 17-year-old Tammy Terrell, right, who was murdered in 1980. | Wikipedia - NCMEC/Henderson Police Department
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children reconstruction image of "Jane Arroyo Grande Doe," left, recently identified as 17-year-old Tammy Terrell, right, who was murdered in 1980. | Wikipedia - NCMEC/Henderson Police Department
Last week's identification of the murder victim in a 41-year-old Henderson County cold case recently caught the attention of a Texas man.
Twitter user @yourboyPat47 of Texarkana, Texas, said in a post on his Twitter page that Henderson Police's identification of 17-year-old Tammy Terrel, for more than four decades known as "Jane Arroyo Grande Doe," is "Great news."
"After 41 years, the Arroyo Grande Jane Doe has been identified," @yourboyPat47 said in his Friday, Dec. 3, Twitter post. "Rest in Peace Tammy Corrine Terrell. May they find her killer now."
In a pinned tweet, @yourboyPat47 describes himself as "well educated, graduated high school in 96, joined the Army 95-03 honorable discharge, no police record, went to college, became a chef, father of 3, and living a wonderful life."
The Dec. 3 Twitter post linked to Inside Edition's coverage of Henderson Police Departments announcement that Terrel, a Roswell, New Mexico, resident, had been identified.
In its announcement, the police department recalled the date when Terrel's body was found, Oct. 5, 1980, in the desert near Arroyo Grande Boulevard and Lake Mead Parkway. The Clark County Coroner's Office subsequently ruled her death a homicide and investigations into her death continued through the years but her identification remained elusive through the decades.
"Tammy was last seen at a restaurant in Roswell, New Mexico, on the evening of Sept. 28, 1980, with an unidentified white male adult and white female adult; possibly planning to leave New Mexico for an unknown destination in California," the announcement said. "Due to the fact that this is still an open investigation, no additional details will be released at this time."
Last month, Terrell was positively identified through investigative genetic genealogy, which uses a DNA to find relationships between individuals and identify possible relatives of the unidentified victim.
The Henderson Police Department is asking that anyone with information in the case to call the department at 702-267-4750 or anonymously at Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555 or the Crime Stoppers website. Tips directly leading to a felony arrest, or an indictment processed through Crime Stoppers, may result in a cash reward.
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