Parker County Jane Doe

In 1998, the body of an unidentified woman is found in a field near a Weatherford, Texas truck stop. Like many unidentified women, little is known about her case.

The Discovery

On October 7, 1998, some individuals who were unhoused and camping in the fields and woods near the Petro Truck Stop off of Interstate 20 in Weatherford, Texas, discovered human remains in some thick brush.

Weatherford Police responded to the call and the individual’s body was removed and sent to a neighboring county’s medical examiner’s office. Due to this person’s clothing along with their feet and hand size, they determined this person was likely female.

The release of information about her places her between 35 and 55 years old, 5’3” to 5’6” and between 130-160lbs. She was wearing a tracksuit and sneakers. Her brown hair was pulled into a bun and pinned in place. Nearby was a large purse with some water and a wig inside. In addition to finding expensive glasses with her remains, they also noticed that she had expensive dental work, likely costing around $30,000-$35,000. Additionally, it looked like she may have a hysterectomy scar and it was possible that she either had breast implants or wore prosthetic breasts. The bra found with her body did have facing that allowed for these to be added to the bra.

She died by a gunshot wound to the right temple and the gun was found nearby. Investigators hypothesized that she may have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. 

Suicide and Missing Persons
Because we often find it uncomfortable to talk about suicide, it isn’t suprising that cases that may have involved suicide get less coverage. In addition, the intersection between suicide and missing persons cases is understudied.

We did find a research study that used information from Australia. In this study, researches looked at both those who died from suicide and those who died from suicide but were first noted as missing persons. They determined that cause of death between these two groups differed as well as demographic information.

It is hard to apply this information to American experiences because the prevalence of gun violence both in deaths from suicide and homicides greatly outnumbers those from Australia due to differences in gun laws.

It is important to note that gun deaths from suicides in the United States outpaces gun deaths from homicides in most years. Men as well as women use guns as a means in deaths from suicide.

Working with incomplete information about how this intersects with missing persons reports in the United States makes it difficult to draw or report any conclusions, but it is in the realm of possibilities for Parker County Jane Doe.

Nellie Gillespie
Parker County Jane Doe is still listed as an unidentified individual. In January of 2024, though, a new profile was added to NAMUS for a missing person named Nellie Gillespie. Nellie’s profile did include a photo of the clay bust that was made for Parker County Jane Doe drawing a lot of comparisons between the two and questions about why the Jane Doe’s photo would be used.

Nellie’s profile was taken down within a month indicating that her case may have been solved, but we do want to include information about her and her case here. Nellie was a professional woman living in Jackson, Mississippi. She had worked as an internal auditor for Jackson State University. In her free time she volunteered extensively throughout the Jackson area.

On August 15, 1998, she informed her son that she would be traveling to Arizona. That was the last report of anyone interacting with Nellie. 

One of the reasons that Nellie has been talked about is that the two women have a striking resemblance. In addition, if Nellie left Jackson to head to Arizona, one of her possible routes would have been on Interstate 20 taking her through Weatherford, Texas. 

In addition to this, the possible date of Parker County Jane Doe’s death matches closely with the date of Nellie’s last known communication. 

Because little else is known about her disappearance, it’s impossible to draw more comparisons between the two. At this time, investigators have not linked the two so any other connections between the two is, at this point, speculation.

We at she goes by Jane hope that resolutions can be found in both of these cases in the coming months.

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People and Cases Mentioned in this Episode:
Parker County Jane Doe (unidentified woman case)
Nellie Gillespie (possibly solved missing person case)

If you have any information about Parker County Jane Doe please contact:

Weatherford Police Department

(817) 598-4310