Original subtitles

(slow dramatic music)

- [Narrator] Tammy Jo Alexander,

once known to the rest of the true crime world

as the Caledonia Jane Doe prior to identification,

was an independent and colorful young soul.

Her deep-rooted insistence on exploration

and achieving adventure, as well as her inclination

to travel without worry and engage

with the wider world around her, was cut short

by an unexplainable unsolved murder

in the open fields of Caledonia,

New York on November 9th, 1979,

leaving all who knew her back home in Brooksville, Florida,

and the entire country at large, grasping for answers

in a sea of evidence that drowned us all in doubt.

As I hope to provide more substantial reasoning

built upon observable evidence and situational analysis,

this is an examination of the murder of Tammy Joe Alexander

and the long years she spent as the Cali Jean Doe

without an identity for three and a half decades.

This is "Cold Case Detective."

(slow dramatic music)

(slow music)

Tammy Alexander was born on November 2nd, 1963

in Atlanta, Georgia to parents

Joe Alexander and Barbara Jenkins.

From birth through childhood, Tammy lived through

incredibly turbulent and terrifying times.

Her parents' negligence

and filling the household with dread,

their unruly choices permeating into the psyche

and overall emotions of their children.

As a mere toddler, Tammy would walk in

on her mother abusing pills in the bathroom,

addicted to prescription medicine

after Tammy's father, Joe moved out.

These bouts with addiction and other mental illnesses

spiraled into occasional suicide attempts,

including times where Barbara would slit her wrists

right in front of her own daughter.

Despite the chaos, and Barbara's endangerment

to both her family and herself,

there was no true intervention during Tammy's early years.

While she did survive with the help

of the infrequent relative or family friend,

Barbara never achieved the help she needed,

and the hardships carried over into Tammy's adolescence.

After Joe Alexander left Tammy and her mother, however,

Barbara did bear another daughter with a different man.

Tammy was blessed with a half sister

and family ally in Pamela Dyson.

The two girls used each other as lifelines

during the rough bouts at home

and clung to each other's spirits

when the tides of terror rolled in.

Sadly, Pamela was subject to the same tantrums as Tammy

and she would later tell reporters

that had Barbara been properly diagnosed

by a mental health professional,

she would have received treatments

and she and Tammy would have lived much more peaceful lives.

Nevertheless, the sisters fought onward.

And at age 11, Pamela escaped the Jenkins household

to live with her paternal grandmother.

She presumed Tammy was able to find a similar escape

and move in with fellow relatives.

But little did she know, Tammy continued to be stuck

in the presence of her volatile mother,

left to process that trauma alone

and into her teenage years.

Luckily Tammy's end of middle school

and beginning of high school years

weren't completely isolating.

At school Tammy was able to form a few close friendships

with like-aged girls in her Brooksville, Florida classrooms.

One girl in particular was Laurel Nowell,

who shared multiple personality traits with Tammy

and quickly clicked with her go-getting demeanor.

Laurel and Tammy would often write letters to one another.

Tammy consistently informing Laurel

of her most recent boy crushes and desire

to escape their Brooksville home.

Soon after their high school careers began,

Tammy found love in another classmate,

an older boy named Kevin Williams.

Tammy was certain she wanted to marry Kevin,

despite their relative youth.

In helping ends meet, Tammy joined her mother, Barbara,

as a waitress at a local truck stop,

busing tables and collecting tips

to prepare for her future abroad and away from trouble.

In an intriguing twist though,

trouble still followed Tammy despite her best intentions.

Due to her crumbling relationship with her mother,

Tammy often sought temporary escapes

from her home in Brooksville.

And she and her friend Laurel would hitchhike

around the country as means of adventure.

Often they would go places they had no connection to,

just two teenage girls wandering the open United States.

One time the pair hitchhiked all the way to California.

However, upon arrival, Laurel called her parents

out of confusion, and Mr. and Mrs. Nowell

flew both their daughter and Tammy back to Brooksville.

Tammy's parents, however, didn't seem to care.

And she often wrote new letters to Laurel

professing her desire to hitchhike again,

viewing these cross-country escapades as fun journeys,

never questioning the overall safety of their trips.

These letters would become the defining artifacts

of Tammy's final weeks alive and well.

She and Laurel, weren't always

on the same page about things.

Like many high school friendships,

they took part in their fair share of arguments.

But one thing was for certain in the letters.

Tammy was not just a person defined by her rough upbringing

or occasional carelessness.

Rather, Tammy displayed a natural charisma,

an enigmatic mode of operating

that reflected her love of independence.

Tammy was strong-willed and vastly imaginative.

And above all, incredibly introspective,

in tune with her emotions

while understanding exactly what she wanted.

She sought a sturdy life, at least something sturdier

than she knew as a child, hopeful for a post-grad marriage

and a happy life far, far away.

Her exuberance pushed her to new heights,

and tragically to new places for unknown reasons.

For in 1979, Tammy Jo Alexander went missing

from her sleepy town in Central Florida,

only to be found dead in autumn of that same year,

left unidentified as the Cali Jane Doe for over 35 years.

(slow dramatic music)

Let's now turn to the timeline of events

leading up to Tammy's disappearance.

The last stretch of Tammy Alexander's known whereabouts

begin at 11:35 p.m. on May the 26th, 1979

in Brooksville, Florida.

She writes a final letter to her best friend, Laurel Nowell,

announcing her desire to get married

before the year is out and her plan to leave

the Sunshine State in September of the following year.

The letter acts as a goodbye of sorts

due to Laurel and Tammy's impending parting of ways.

This would be the last time

Laurel hears from her childhood friend.

A short while after Tammy sends her final letter to Laurel,

around the time spring transitions to summer of 1979,

Tammy ends up at the Rainbow Prison Ministry

in Young Harris, Georgia.

Young Harris is a rural yet mountainous region

in the northern sector of Georgia,

and the Rainbow Prison Ministry hosts inmates

who have either been released on parole or on probation.

However, why Tammy attends the camp is unknown,

and could either be as a volunteer of sorts

through a summer school program or an actual attendee,

considering her runaway incidents in Florida,

seeking an alternative form of corrections.

Yet none of Tammy's friends nor family

know of her whereabouts, and assume she has run away again.

During Tammy's stay at the prison ministry in July of 1979,

she leaves a series of voice recordings via phone

for her boyfriend, Kevin Williams,

who remains back in Florida.

Kevin isn't privy to Tammy's exact location,

but in her messages she sounds at peace and hopeful.

Not at all disturbed nor in danger,

thus prompting no anxious reaction from Kevin.

This is the last confirmed communication made by Tammy.

Later that summer, Tammy's trace disappears.

She theoretically leaves the ministry

in Young Harris, Georgia and travels

either back to Florida or westward.

Due to her history of hitchhiking

and taking rides from strangers,

it's believed that Tammy journeys

on a cross-country road trip with strangers,

and most likely not by herself for the time being.

As the dog days of summer give way

to the mild chills of autumn,

Tammy remains missing from her Brooksville community.

She continues to travel,

most likely northeastward this time around.

Either at the end of October

or the beginning of November that year,

Tammy lands in Upstate New York.

How she gets here

or why she chooses this location is unknown.

But again, she is most likely accompanied

by either one or multiple companions.

In the early evening hours of Friday, November 9th, 1979,

Tammy is reportedly spotted at a diner in Lima, New York,

a small town of less than 4,000 people

in the northwest area of the state.

A waitress, who later accounts as an eyewitness,

serves a girl matching Tammy's description

and an older male figure who accompanies her.

Tammy doesn't appear distressed or in any real danger.

And the male figure pays for the meal

before departing with Tammy a little while later.

This is the last known sighting of Tammy Jo Alexander.

Later that night of November 9th, Tammy is taken to a road

on the edge of a farm in Caledonia, New York

of Livingston County, another small town,

only a 20 minute drive west of the Lima diner

along Interstate 20 and New York State Route 5,

23 miles south of Rochester.

Here she is shot in the back of the head once via handgun,

stripped of all identification,

and dragged into the neighboring corn fields.

In the fields, the perpetrator fires one more bullet

into Tammy's back and leaves her for dead.

The gunshot wounds hemorrhage

and Tammy passes away before sunrise,

her murderer escaping into the night.

As the clock strikes midnight and the calendar flips

to Saturday, November 10th, a series of rainstorms

hit upstate New York and wash away

most of the evidence from Tammy's body.

Vital DNA destroyed, and Tammy Alexander's story

is blemished almost beyond any understanding.

The following morning, a Caledonia farmer awakens

and walks outside to check on his pastures

after the inclement weather of the night before.

As he approaches the corn fields,

the farmer spots a bit

of red fabric settled in the distance.

Believing it to be a trespassing hunter or unwanted visitor,

the farmer approaches with caution.

Upon reaching the red clothing, however,

the farmer instead finds the body of a young girl

shot twice and covered with dirt.

He quickly returns to his farmhouse and alerts the police.

Not long afterwards, authorities show up at the scene

and begin collecting evidence.

They find a small pool of blood

on the edge of the corn field where the girl was shot,

along with a trail leading from the blood to the body.

The body itself shows no signs of sexual assault

and was fully clothed.

However, her pant pockets had been turned inside out,

as if ransacked prior to abandonment.

At the coroner's office later in November,

the medical examiner notices that the gunshot wounds

indicate that the girl had not flinched

or moved as she was shot,

a peculiar yet common phenomenon in murder cases.

The coroner is unable to find anything else peculiar though,

and rules the death as a homicide,

while the police continue searching for the girl's identity.

As November 1979 comes to a close,

law enforcement announced the female corpse

as the Caledonia Jane Doe,

failing to find her family, origin points, or even name.

She is initially described as a young girl

between the ages of 13 and 19, standing at around 5'3"

and weighing around 120 pounds,

with brown eyes, wavy brown hair at shoulder length

that had been dyed four months prior to death,

and coral colored nail polish painted on her toenails.

She displays no signs of dental work.

Her blood type comes back as A negative,

and her stomach contains sweetcorn,

potatoes, and canned ham.

The analysis of the composition

and mineral content in her teeth

reveal a North American drinking water pattern.

Despite these revelations and biological clues,

police are unable to identify the Cali Jane Doe

as 1979 comes to a close.

About a year later, on October 20th, 1980,

authorities release a sketch of the Cali Jane Doe,

asking for anyone who recognizes the girl

to come forward with information.

Her case is quickly shipped to major news networks.

And before long, the entire state of New York

is searching for Cali Doe's identity.

Even with the advanced efforts of investigators

to share the Cali Doe story with the general public,

very little advancements are made in the case

over the next few years as the 1980s progress.

A few tips here and there make their way

to the proper channels, but none turn out to be of any use.

The first major bend in the case arrives in 1984,

when the notorious serial killer Henry Lee Lucas,

murderer of 11 women and friend of fellow murderer,

Otis Toole, confesses to Texas State Rangers while in prison

that he had killed the unidentified girl

known as Caledonia Jane Doe back in 1979

without ever giving away her true identity.

Rangers relay this information

to fellow New York State detectives.

However, even through joint investigations,

each branch is unable to find

sufficient evidence in this claim.

Lucas's involvement is then all but ruled out in 1985,

when it's discovered that he had falsely confessed

to over 100 murders in which he had zero connection.

It is widely believed that the Caledonia confession

is one of these 100 plus bogus claims.

As the 1980s come to a close, police interview

their fair share of other serial killers

and small criminals with potential links to Caledonia.

However none prove fruitful

and the case remains as cold as it was

that November morning of 1979.

In 1989, newly elected sheriff

of Livingston County, New York, John York

promises the public that the Cali Doe

investigation will remain active

as long as he remains sheriff.

York was deputy sheriff and one of the first

responding officers at the scene of the crime,

and acts as the strongest voice

for the still unidentified teenage girl

well into the new millennia.

Over 15 years pass until the next major development in 2005,

when forensic scientists perform a successful DNA extraction

from Cali Doe's remains due to improved technology.

This allows for the possibility that her identity

will be found someday through another DNA sample match.

Another break in the case helps authorities

inch closer to solving Cali Doe's mystery

one year later in 2006, when an analysis of her teeth

display an isotopic oxygen ratio,

hinting she may have been from the south

or southwestern regions of the United States.

These tests are paired with a palynological analysis

done on the Cali Doe's clothing,

in which pollen pulled from her body

can be traced back to trees grown in California, Arizona,

and other southwestern regions in the United States,

leading investigators to recognize

that their Cali Doe was not a Caledonia native.

A few years later, in 2010, Websleuths moderator

and California artist Carl Koppelman

catches wind of the ongoing Cali Doe cold case

and opts to before a facial reconstruction

of the girl's profile in hopes that a newly-drawn image

will aid both investigators and the general public

in identifying the body.

The facial reconstruction is uploaded

to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System,

also known as the NamUs database,

but no new information is discovered.

Coincidentally, around the same time in 2010,

Laurel Nowell, Tammy Alexander's

best friend from Brooksville, starts searching

for her old high school classmate via social media,

but cannot find Tammy or her name on any internet platform.

As the next few years trickle by,

Laurel doesn't give up her efforts.

She eventually reaches out to Pamela Dyson,

Tammy's half sister who now resides in Panama City, Florida.

Pamela tells Laurel that she moved away from Tammy

and their mother, Barbara, when she was only 11

to live with other relatives

and figures Tammy did the same not long afterwards.

However, both women also discussed

Tammy's inclinations to run away from home,

and wonder if she simply left Brooksville

to start her own life

free from her haunted history in Central Florida.

When Laurel informs Pamela of her own research

and the lack of Tammy's presence on the internet,

Pamela digs deeper into the connections

with the surviving members of the Alexander family

and learns that Tammy hasn't been heard from

since her initial disappearance in 1979.

Barbara Jenkins, the girl's mother, had died in 1998

and listed Tammy as deceased in her obituary,

a commonly-held belief when she had never returned home

after the summer of 1979.

In 2014, both Laurel and Pamela share with one another

their concern that Tammy had wandered

along a dangerous path after she vanished,

and wonder if she is a victim to an unknown crime.

Pamela tells Laurel that she believes police

may not have taken a missing persons report seriously

if they knew about Tammy's hitchhiking history.

And so even if Barbara had filed one,

it may have been disregarded or lost.

Thus in August of 2014, Pamela and Laurel

pay a visit to the Hernando County Sheriff's Office

in Central Florida to inquire about

a missing persons report for Tammy Jo Alexander.

The officers at the station check and say no report

had ever been filed in 1979 or since.

So the two women file one

and the authorities launch an official investigation.

About one month later, in September of 2014,

the Cali Doe artist, Carl Koppelman

spots the new listing for Tammy Alexander

on the NamUs database and realizes her face

is strikingly similar to the reconstruction

of the Caledonia Jane Doe.

He promptly emails the Livingston County Sheriff's Office

in New York, the Hernando County Sheriff's Office

in Florida, the NamUs regional admin,

and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Law enforcement quickly responds

and arranges a DNA test with Pamela Dyson,

since her blood relation to Tammy Alexander

could provide an accurate match.

A few months later, in January of 2015,

the DNA results come back

to the Monroe County Medical Examiner

and reveal Pamela's mitochondrial DNA samples

match perfectly with Cali Doe's samples.

(slow music)

For the first time in 35 years,

detectives know the body's identity,

and Pamela knows the tragic fate

of her half sister, Tammy Alexander.

Not long after, on January 26th,

authorities announce during a news conference

the identity of the Caledonia Jane Doe

and shift the focus of their investigation

from identification to solving Tammy's murder.

A mere month passes by, and at the end of February 2015,

the Livingston County Sheriff's Office reports

that a record number of tips

have flooded through their various channels.

A drastic change to the slowly decreasing number of leads

they had acquired up until then.

One call from a Tennessee truck driver

gives detectives what they describe

as their most sizable development yet.

However, what this is is never disclosed.

Another month flies by, and in March of 2015,

the revelation regarding Tammy and her time spent

at the Rainbow Prison Ministry is revealed to detectives.

However, the Young Harris ministry has long since closed,

and the husband and wife who started the ministry

have passed away, along with one of their children.

The lack of public information

regarding Rainbow Prison Ministry

doesn't deter investigators,

and at least gives a bit of insight

into Tammy's final months of life,

details which had been lost for three and a half decades.

A few months later, on June 10th, 2015,

Pamela, Laurel, and about 100 other attendees

visit Tammy's cemetery in Dansville, New York

for a ceremony replacing the Jane Doe tombstone

with one that reads Tammy Jo Alexander.

The family decides to keep her in New York

rather than transfer her back to Florida,

thanking the Livingston County officials

for their hard work on the case.

In what might be the biggest discovery in Tammy's case

since her identification in 2015,

another piece of DNA evidence is procured

from an auto racing jacket found on her body in early 2016.

This sample is different than the one

used to identify Tammy Jo,

and is found to be that's of an unknown male subject.

Three separate male persons of interest

are brought in for questioning, and their DNA is taken

in order to match against this new evidence.

Almost a year passes until November of 2016,

when the Federal Bureau of Investigation,

now a major player in the cold murder case,

announces none of the three male subjects

matched the new DNA sample from Tammy's body,

but that they are still following any

and all leads that they may obtain.

The most recent update delivers

on what would be Tammy Alexander's 57th birthday,

November the 2nd, 2020,

when the Livingston County Sheriff's Office

releases three segments of the audio recording acquired

from her high school boyfriend, Kevin Williams,

who had kept a voicemail he received from her

on a tape cassette prior to her disappearance in 1979.

Detectives hope that someone out there

recognizes Tammy's voice from around the time

she went missing.

Another effort to bring the final closure to a mystery

with so many twists and hardly any answers.

(slow music)

In most cold case detective investigations

I like to hone in on one specific aspect to the case

that signifies the mystery's biggest clue,

or in some cases its most microscopic detail

that could cause the fissure needed

to crack the case wide open.

In regards to Tammy Jo Alexander's murder,

I'm going to bend the rules a bit

to highlight two separate case points,

as they both reflect vital pieces of evidence

that we all must take seriously

when considering Tammy's case.

The first major case point is the description

of the male subject seen with the girl

thought to be Tammy Alexander at the diner in Lima, New York

on the night of November 9th, 1979.

The man was first spotted and described by the waitress

who served him and Tammy, and is thus far the only suspect

with a verified eyewitness account

and corresponding profile.

He was a middle-aged white man standing around 5'9".

He wore black wire rimmed glasses and reportedly drove

a tan station wagon to and from the diner.

The waitress told police that he paid

for both his own and Tammy's meal,

but never aroused much suspicion or concern.

The man in the black rimmed glasses

is still considered a prime suspect by police,

and his facial composite sketch is still used

on wanted posters across the country.

You can see a copy of this sketch

in the show notes on this podcast.

If the man in this drawing is familiar to you,

if you recognize his face

from the Livingston County, New York area

or any area in general dating back to the late 1970s,

please call the Livingston County Sheriff's Office

at 1-844-527-6847.

The second major case point is the recordings

released by police revealing Tammy Alexander's voicemails

left to her former boyfriend in 1979.

I have three segments here that I will play to you now.

These recordings are thought to be from the time

Tammy spent at the Rainbow Prison Ministry

and showcase her personality

mere months before she was killed.

These are the three excepts played one after another.

- [Tammy] Hi, Kevin.

How you doing?

I'm fine.

It was nice to hear from you.

I'm very glad that you're better.

I got to go now, so you take care and be careful.

Cool, I'm looking at a postcard that says, "Moon over Miami,

"the alluring beauty of moon rise

"shimmering over the Atlantic Ocean in Florida."

It's got two palm trees, the moon, the ocean

and a girl in a white shirt and black pants on it

and its blue, beautiful. (indistinct)

(slow music)

- [Narrator] While investigators have come forward

and said they believe there is nothing incriminating

or suspicious involved with these recordings,

they do give us a rare opportunity

to hear Tammy's true self, to get a glimpse,

even a small one, into the caring

and optimistic person she was,

and maybe even trigger someone's memory

who may remember hearing that voice

back during her final months spent alive

in the autumn of 1979.

While the chances of such recognition happening are slim

as it was over four decades ago, cold cases such as these

deserve every opportunity to be solved.

Every avenue must be explored,

as far fetched as it may seem.

Again, if you recognize this voice

or know someone who might, please share this audio

and call the Livingston County Sheriff's Office

at 1-844-527-6847.

Now let's turn to the most prominent theories

surrounding the murder of Tammy Jo Alexander.

(slow music)

For years, the central theories revolving

around Tammy's case file focused on her true identity,

considering her Jane Doe moniker.

Luckily that aspect of the mystery has been solved

and we can focus our theories on who killed her

and how she wound up in Caledonia, New York,

hundreds of miles away from Central Florida.

To start, it's vital to track Tammy's first movements

when she left in the summer of 1979

to theorize where she may have gone

and theorize who she may have met

between Brooksville and Livingston County.

We do know that Tammy spent time at Rainbow Prison Ministry

in Young Harris, Georgia, but where did she go after this?

Like many theories surrounding Tammy's murder,

we can draw incredibly helpful clues

from the clothing she was wearing the night she was killed

and the artifacts pulled from her body after her discovery

on the morning of November 10th.

As we've previously mentioned, scientists completed

a palynological analysis of pollen samples

extracted from the exterior of her garments in 2006

to trace the origins of the samples

and track her movements via United States pollen patterns.

The tests were conducted at the palynology lab

at Texas A & M University, and researchers found

four distinct types of pollen grains.

That of Australian pine, oak, spruce, and birch trees.

These grains were then compared

to a control sample of pollen grains

extracted from the rural upstate New York area in 1978,

one year before Tammy's tragic arrival.

Oak trees are found all across the United States,

alongside birch and spruce trees,

which are especially popular in the state of New York.

That being said, there were no oak, spruce,

or birch pollen grains detected in the 1978 control sample.

And it should be mentioned that no birch or spruce trees

were located in the general vicinity

of the body's discovery in Caledonia.

In fact, the birch and spruce varieties

found on Tammy's clothing were eventually matched

with birch and spruce species found most often

in the mountainous regions of California,

on the other side of the country

and 3,000 miles away from Livingston County.

The fourth and final pollen grain extracted

from Tammy's person, the Australian pine

is considered an invasive genus, grown sporadically

across the United States and in surrounding countries,

but in finite quantities.

Australian pine can be found in Mexico, South Texas,

South Florida, the campus of Arizona State University,

the campus of the University of Arizona,

and some regions of California.

We know that Australian pine cannot survive

the cold winter seasons of upstate New York.

Therefore we know at least one of these strains

was picked up away from Caledonia.

And the one area that shares overlap

in all four pollen grains, the Australian pine,

oak, birch, and spruce is the southwest mountainous area

of California, including San Diego.

While detectives are confident these findings

paint a clear picture of Tammy's movements prior to death,

do a few pollen grains certify Tammy's presence

in the Southwestern United States?

No, but that's not all that hints of her westward journey.

Another piece of clothing, or in this instance, jewelry,

supports that very theory.

A handmade necklace found on Tammy's body

the morning of November 10th.

The necklace, chain, and prongs are made of imitation silver

with three turquoise stones fitted to each prong,

one resembling a bird.

You can find a picture of this necklace in the show notes.

The overall shape and craft of the necklace

strongly supports a homemade origin,

as it bears no brand name or identifiable match

in any jewelry catalog from the time period.

Rather, investigators view the necklace

as a replica of Native American jewelry

made and sold mostly in the Southwestern United States.

Of course, there is no way to confirm Tammy

didn't already own the necklace prior to her 1979 departure,

as she could have potentially brought it

at a thrift store or antique stand somewhere in Florida.

But experts don't think so.

This would be far too coincidental.

And it also ties in with Tammy's wishes

to return to California that she expressed

in her final letters sent to Laurel Nowell.

So the routes that Tammy Alexander most likely took

after leaving Young Harris, Georgia track

southwest across the United States, through the Bible Belt,

through the deserts of Texas and New Mexico,

and then through Arizona into Southern California.

She most likely stayed in that area

for more than a few days, as the tan lines

found on her body post-mortem

hinted at a lengthy stay in a sunny climate.

It was here she probably picked up

the regional Australian pine pollen grains,

and then headed back east.

Detectives believe Tammy then tracked through

the Sierra Nevada mountain range,

picking up the exclusive birch

and spruce species of pollen before heading through Nevada

and most likely hitchhiking eastward towards New York State.

In terms of the remainder of Tammy's belongings,

police also recovered two metal key chain pendants,

which were traced to vending machines

set along the New York State Thruway,

a series of controlled access highways

that cross a mere 4.5 miles north of Caledonia.

The pendants were a lock and key style of paired chains,

and the locket included the inscription,

"He who holds the key can open my heart."

Unfortunately, the key portion

was also included on Tammy's body,

meaning the perpetrator never took one half of the pendant.

This clue doesn't reveal too much,

except that Tammy most likely came into New York

heading east on Interstate 90.

Aside from jewelry, detectives took a deeper dive

into the rest of Tammy's outfit to see if they could match

anything else to an ulterior source.

Most of what was left behind seemed to make sense

belonging to a 16-year-old independent teenage girl.

The tan corduroy pants,

colored plaid cotton polyester shirt,

blue knee high socks, and brown ripple sole shoes

all fit Tammy's demographic.

However, there was one piece of clothing

that did not fit a girl of her age's profile,

and was thought to belong to another male,

a red nylon-lined windbreaker with black stripes

along the sleeves with a collar label reading

Auto Sports Products, Inc.

This is the garment that included a new DNA sample

belonging to an unidentified man,

and was tested against three other

male subjects' DNA in 2015.

That DNA has still yet to be matched,

but it is widely agreed upon Tammy picked up

the red windbreaker on her ventures out west,

either on the way there or on the way to New York.

Now this isn't proven to have belonged to the killer himself

since the killer went through the trouble

of removing Tammy's other identifiable belongings.

But there is a good chance whoever it does belong to

knows more about Tammy than anyone else

at this point in time.

(slow dramatic music)

One specific theory attached to the red windbreaker

does include a possible known killer, Christopher Wilder.

Wilder, also known as the Beauty Queen Killer,

was an Australian who immigrated

to the United States in 1969.

He raped 12 women and killed eight

on a cross-country crime spree

in a six week period in early 1984.

He is also thought to be the culprit

of two statutory rape cases in Florida in 1983,

as well as countless unsolved murders

both back home in Australia and in the United States.

Wilder's MO was to persuade young women

to get into his truck

after offering them a modeling contract,

using his background in photography

as a means to appear legitimate.

The crimes that have been confirmed to have been Wilder's

took place all over the country, including Florida,

Georgia, Kansas, Texas, Utah, Arizona, and California.

But one in particular really stands out.

In April of 1984, Wilder abducted a 16-year-old girl

named Tina Marie Risico, and forced her

to road trip with him across the country

while helping him abduct other unsuspecting female victims.

They eventually reached New York,

where Wilder again abducted a woman

by the name of Beth Dodge,

before killing her and dumping her in a gravel pit.

He then bought a plane ticket for Tina Marie

back to Los Angeles before heading back out on the road

to commit further crimes.

One of the elements that makes Wilder such a fitting suspect

in relation to Tammy Alexander's murder

is the way he traveled while committing crimes

and the places he was known to frequent.

Tammy was killed five years before

Wilder's six week homicidal spree,

but it is possible he was in the United States

during that time period, driving across the country,

scouting out locations, and understanding

the general routes between state lines.

It is entirely feasible Wilder ran into Tammy

during her own adventures out west

and pulled the same sickening stunt he would

on Tina Marie Risico half a decade later.

But that is not where the suspicions end.

Wilder was also a prevalent race car fanatic,

even dabbling in stunt driving

and other high speed endeavors himself.

In fact, he owned a fair share of merchandise

that was manufactured by the same company

labeled on Tammy's red windbreaker,

Auto Sports Productions, Inc.,

leading investigators to wonder

if that jacket Tammy had belonged to Wilder.

In addition, Wilder was also known

to have used a Colt Python .357 Magnum revolver,

a gun that can be used to fire a 38 caliber bullets,

the type of slug found at Tammy's crime scene.

Sadly, the ballistics of Wilder's gun

were never tested alongside the bullet

found at the cornfield in Caledonia.

And Wilder was killed in a standoff with police

in Colebrook, New Hampshire, before any interview

could ever take place regarding Tammy.

It should be noted that Wilder's involvement in Tammy's case

was theorized early on in the investigation,

and prior to the male DNA sample's discovery in 2015.

Now it is safe to assume that Wilder's DNA

has since been tested against the windbreaker's evidence

and rendered not a match.

However, until there is an official statement

made by the assigned detectives,

Christopher Wilder is still a solid suspect in the case.

Beyond a few other lower-tier criminals,

investigators have already ruled out using DNA evidence.

There just aren't many names

tied to Tammy Alexander's murder.

One could conceivably still chart Henry Lee Lucas

as a possible culprit using his MO and testimony.

But remember that officials have his DNA on file as well

and have most certainly tested it

against the mystery male subject's DNA.

Of course, there is also the family left to consider.

Anytime a person goes missing,

especially an underage teenage girl,

the focus always passes over the family.

There are those that wonder if Tammy's listing as deceased

on her mother, Barbara Jenkins' obituary in 1998

wasn't just an assumption, but rather admissible of the fact

that her family knew she was dead.

As previously mentioned, Barbara had various

untreated mental disorders, and working

at a truck stop with Tammy would've meant

frequent encounters with nefarious characters.

It's possible Barbara, or one of her boyfriends,

knew about, or worse, was complicit in Tammy's death

and then covered it up using her runaway status against her.

It should also be noted that no missing persons report

was ever filed, a mistake that could be rendered purposeful.

Some theorists also refrain from absolving Kevin Williams,

Tammy's high school boyfriend, of any guilt.

Kevin was reportedly the last person to hear Tammy alive,

and some suggest that if he caught Tammy

running away with another guy

on one of her hitchhiking escapades,

he may have taken things a step too far.

However, both we and the authorities

do not believe Tammy's family or boyfriend

are in any way involved with her disappearance and death.

Tammy was rarely home as a teenager,

and the fact that her mother and other family members

figured she simply ran away in 1979

does make sense when factoring in her known behavior.

Kevin Williams has been nothing but helpful

throughout the investigation,

and was only a boy at the time.

These theories also do not explain how Tammy

had pollen grains from terrain

on the opposite side of the country

and ended up thousands of miles away

from Brooksville, Florida at the time of her murder.

These theories simply do not fit in any way, shape, or form

with the remaining evidence left at Tammy's crime scene,

and should not seriously be considered

by the general public.

When considering killers, recall the fact

that the detectives have a DNA profile.

We don't know for sure it's the killer's,

but it likely been used to rule out

known players in Tammy's life who are still alive,

as well as criminals already included in the FBI's database.

Whoever the killer is,

they are not someone from Tammy's childhood.

(slow music)

Before we divulge our hypothesis

of Tammy Alexander's unsolved murder,

we want to make it known that our conclusions

presented in "Cold Case Detective"

are purely logical speculation based upon evidence,

circumstance, and factual subtext.

We are only privy to the same information

presented in each episode.

And we do not attempt to promise certainty

or an expert guarantee.

We simply observe research and report.

Pulling from the evidence analyzed for years

by scientists and investigators alike,

We believe Tammy Jo left Brooksville, Florida,

and later Rainbow Prison Ministry, of her own accord.

It was her nature to explore,

to find something better for herself.

And her youthful independence led to her decision

to escape the horrors she faced as a child and adolescent.

We believe she did travel westward

through the southwestern regions of the United States,

most likely stopping in New Mexico or Arizona

before making her way into California.

Taking into account the tan lines on her body,

her previous positive experience visiting the state,

as well as the amount of pollen grains

still attached to her clothing, it makes sense that Tammy

probably spent more than just

a few days in Southern California.

Who she met and what she did there

is impossible to say for now,

but she must have eventually felt the drive

to continue hitchhiking.

And this is where she met her fate.

We believe that at some point Tammy decided

to head eastward before running into the person

who would eventually kill her.

It is highly probable that whoever the killer was

met Tammy and persuaded her to join him

under the pretense of innocent ideals.

They were likely a practiced manipulator,

and took advantage of a young girl

desperate for transportation, but open-minded enough

to tag along with a stranger.

The two made it to New York

where Tammy bought her New York State Thruway pendants

from the vending machine and enjoyed one last dinner,

unaware her life was about to end.

We believe it was Tammy that night at the Lima diner,

that the waitress who reported her sighting

with the anonymous male subject is telling the truth.

The stomach contents in Tammy's post-mortem

matched the exact type of food served at the diner

in which the eyewitness waitress worked,

sweetcorn, potatoes, and canned ham.

It was after this final meal,

the killer unveiled his true colors,

callously murdering the young girl

via gunshot wound to the back of the head.

Who the killer is exactly

is at this point impossible to discern.

In 1979, it was common for people to not only ask for rides,

but for drivers to pick up hitchhikers too.

To narrow down the list of middle-aged white men

who gave a ride to young girls in the late 1970s

would pose an astronomical task, a feat without an end.

Whoever the killer was, however, he knew what he was doing.

He was likely a practiced criminal.

He may have escaped persecution

but be in prison for another crime,

or maybe he died via other means.

Their identity and role in the murder

lost to a grave hundreds of miles away.

Or maybe he is still out there,

lurking in the shadows in old age.

Whoever it is, and regardless of his fate,

there is always a chance for capture,

no matter how many days have passed

or how many leads have been exhausted.

If the Golden State Killer can go decades

between crime and capture, others can too.

And until the man responsible is behind bars,

we must operate with the belief

that justice can be done and will in time be served.

Remember his description, remember his face.

There is always hope for justice to be done.

Until that time however, we must remember

that the long and winding story of the Caledonia Doe

is not defined by a cornfield

in Livingston County, New York.

It is not defined by two gunshot wounds,

or a tattered red windbreaker, or a few grains of pollen.

It is the story of a promising young woman

named Tammy Jo Alexander who persevered

through extraordinary and terrible circumstances

to become the person she was supposed to be.

Too often a person who runs away from home

or hitchhikes into potential danger

is viewed as unstable or unintelligent,

a youth who is asking for trouble.

But remember, Tammy was surrounded by instability

and malevolence at home.

She fought through a chaotic childhood,

survived abuse and trauma, and found the strength

to seek out a bright future

through whatever means necessary.

The judgment of others, be damned.

Tammy was an explorer,

a courageous adventurer with a passionate soul.

More than just a survivor,

but a fighter and optimist as well.

Her legacy was that of an enigma for 35 years.

But from here on out it will be that of a human being

who deserved the chance to create the life

she sacrificed everything to pursue.

She had a right to start anew,

to make friends and relationships

with those that would listen to her story,

and to feel a part of this world.

It is our privilege and duty to not only listen

and learn from Tammy Jo's story, but to share it as well,

remembering her for the woman she was,

not the cruelty she endured.

This is "Cold Case Detective."

Thank you for watching

this "Cold Case Detective" documentary.

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