Missing Stillwater girl, 41 years a Texas Jane Doe, ID'd via DNA

A Stillwater girl who ran away from home in 1980 was killed months later in Texas, authorities have announced, as modern DNA testing finally solved the mystery of what happened to Sherri Ann Jarvis, who was just 14.

Her nude and battered body was found along Interstate 45 near Huntsville, Texas, on Nov. 1, 1980, but the homicide investigation was stymied for 41 years as the body could not be identified. The case became known as the Walker County Jane Doe, generating years of work for Walker County Sheriff's Office investigators and true-crime podcast types who delved into the case on social media.

A Texas company that specializes in forensic DNA testing made its crucial breakthrough earlier this year, when it used DNA testing techniques not available even five years ago to generate the names of six people who were either direct relatives or aunts or uncles of Jane Doe. Walker County Sheriff's Office investigators then used the names to create a family tree, learning as they did so that a 14-year-old member of the family ran away in 1980.

"This case has been a top priority of ours for years," Walker County Chief Deputy Tim Whitecotton said. The identification made, the investigation can now completely turn to finding her killer or killers, he said.

Jarvis was slain shortly after she was last seen on Oct. 31, 1980, at a truck stop and restaurant near Huntsville. An autopsy determined she had been strangled. Jarvis spoke to employees at the truck stop, asking for directions to the Ellis Prison Farm, a state penitentiary run by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice about 12 miles north of Huntsville.

Jarvis also told people at the truck stop that she was from the Rockport or Aransas Pass area, two seaside communities in Texas about four hours from Huntsville. Authorities spoke to school officials and police officers in those towns but never found a connection there.

The fate of Jarvis has long bewildered her family, who said in a statement that she was removed from the family home at 13 years old because of habitual truancy. Once Jarvis ran away, her family attempted to solve the case themselves by hiring a private investigator but could not determine what happened. Their statement said the family wishes to remain anonymous.

"Sherri Ann Jarvis was a daughter, a sister, a cousin and a granddaughter," the statement read. "She loved children, animals and horseback riding."

Her parents died without knowing what happened to their daughter, but relatives who were recently notified by authorities that she had been identified have traveled to Texas to see Jarvis' grave at Oakwood Cemetery in Huntsville, Whitecotton said. Her grave marker, donated by a local company, reads "unknown white female." Locals have tended to the grave over the years, placing fresh flowers nearby. This week, someone added a paper sign reading "Sherri Ann."

The family's statement also thanked Walker County Sheriff's Office detective Thomas Bean, who led the inquiry.

"We love and miss you, Sherri, very much," the statement concluded. "You are with Mom and Dad now. Rest in peace."

Matt McKinney • 612-673-7329