Person Buried In Grave May Not be Loved One

by Todd Matthews
Special to the Livingston Enterprise
Livingston, Tennessee
1-17-2006

Early tests results indicate the possibility that the woman buried in
Leoma Patterson grave might not be her. If this is the case, family
members have tended the grave of their mother -- a Jane Doe for 28
years.

The body thought to be Leoma Patterson were found in Campbell County
in 1979 were quickly related to the missing Anderson County woman.
Leoma was reported missing October 20 of 1978. She was last seen
leaving an Anderson County bar with unknown companions by the
bartender.

Early news reports state that she was tentatively identified through
extensive medical testing. The identification was made by the tools
of the time period. It was determined that hair samples matched
(visually) Grind marks on the teeth suggested the use of snuff which
was also conclusive with Leoma Patterson. All in the midst of a trail
of false tips and rumor. Old newspapers clipping indicate there was
always some degree of doubt, enough for the family to desire more
definite answers.

One strong indicator was that a man had confessed to the killing of
Leoma Patterson. He is now in prison serving a life sentence for that
and other crimes. He should indeed be questioned again in this case
if possible.

Many of the family members now live in this area and have retained
Livingston attorney Lynda Simmons to assist with the recent DNA test
though a private lab. Last summer the grave of "Leoma Patterson" was
exhumed and DNA was gathered by Dr William Bass, founder of the "Body
Farm" at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

Images of the skull were reconstructed to help glean a better look
into the face of the woman who rested in this grave.

Campbell County officials have been notified that they might have a
Jane Doe on their hands. Early police efforts took and Anderson
County direction as it was through that the remains were those of a
missing Anderson County resident. If this is a Jane Doe her origins
are actually as unknown as her identity, so we must begin at square
one - Campbell County.

Further testing is currently being conducted for a more definitive
result. All information gathered during the testing will be routed to
officials in Campbell County. As new information is being found, and
new technology is now available, this case might finally have a
scientifically prove status.

Initial phases of the look back into what seem see as a "closed case"
have been a private venture of the family. Now, efforts are being
taken to involve the official in Campbell County as further
investigation might become necessary. It's not at all uncommon for
older cases to be re-examined as family members dissatisfied with
earlier findings see new technology being developed.

Often even when the original outcome is confirmed it often serves to
put the family members minds at rest. There's not must worse than
being haunted with uncertainty.

If further lab testing proves that this is NOT the body of Leoma
Patterson, several steps should be taken.The unidentified remains
should be placed into the NCIC as a Jane Doe.It's also submit the DNA
of the Jane Doe into the DNA database for Potential identification
through a nationwide DNA comparison of known missing persons.

Also a missing person report for Leoma will then be put into place as well.
After 28 years, more waiting must be endured by the family, and the
question is still the same, where is Leoma Patterson?

 

---

editor's note- "Local sleuth Todd Matthews has worked
for years helping identify Jane & John Does. He is presently working
with filmmakers on documentary, tentatively titled "Resurrection"
which chronicles his work on these cases - particularly a Jane Doe in
Kentucky known as the Tent Girl. It is expected to be released in
late 2006."
 

---

Body In Grave Is Not That Of Patterson

By Todd Matthews
Livingston Enterprise
3-8-06

After years of wondering, a family’s suspicions have been confirmed. The body in Leoma Patterson’s  grave is not that of their mother.

The second DNA test from the remains once known as Leoma Patterson has been completed. The DNA from another daughter of Leoma was tested against the DNA from the remains buried in Anderson County. The second test indeed concludes that it is not a match. The two samples taken from the daughters of Leoma were also compared with each other as a “control test,” and they did match as siblings.

Next will be a request from the family’s attorney, Lynda Simmons, to re-open the case in Campbell County. The body thought to be Leoma Patterson was found in Campbell County in 1979, and it was
quickly related to a missing Anderson County woman. Leoma was reported missing Oct. 20, 1978. She was last seen by a bartender leaving an Anderson County bar with unknown companions. The remains  were exhumed last summer and testing begun.

Early news reports from the time stated that she was tentatively identified through extensive medical testing. The identification was made by the tools of the time period. It was determined that hair samples
matched (visually), and grind marks on the teeth suggested the use of snuff which was also conclusive with Leoma Patterson. All in the midst of a trail of false tips and rumor. Old newspapers clippings indicated there was always some degree of doubt, enough for the family to desire more definite answers.

Now the family must begin the journey that might be even more difficult than the past decades. The fact that they might never know what happened to their mother is indeed a possibility now. It is hoped it can
be resolved quickly. It has caused much pain over the years for this family.

Click Thumbnails for Larger Detail Pics

Sketch created from skull found in Leoma's grave.
Please contact us with any information you might have!

 

__________________________________________________

Bones aren't those of long-missing woman
By BOB FOWLER, fowlerb@knews.com
April 27, 2006

www.LeomaPatterson.com

CLINTON - For years, some of Leoma Patterson's children
doubted that the few bones resting in a remote grave in
Anderson County were those of their mother.
Now, after those bones were exhumed and underwent two rounds
of DNA testing, the family's fears have been confirmed.

That's not Leoma Patterson.

A closed case has been reopened, famed forensic
anthropologist Dr. William Bass of Knoxville said Wednesday.

A new investigation has been launched, and TBI Agent Steve
Vinsant has been assigned to the case, Campbell County
District Attorney General Paul Phillips said.

Footnote: According to family members they were told by Phillips if they could prove this was not their mother, he would re-open the case. This forced them into action and they have spent a lot of money and time trying to get help and progress.  - Todd

Bass said he is involved in that probe, which will include a
re-exhumation of the bones.

Footnote: The family have had no confirmation about a re-exhumation. -Todd

Wednesday's announcements deepen a mystery that has hounded
Patterson's descendants for years, and new questions have
emerged.

Whose bones are those in the grave with Leoma Patterson's
name chiseled on the headstone?

What really happened to the Anderson County woman after she
went missing in October 1978?

"It's an interesting, interesting case,'' Bass said. "You
have the original person who is still missing, and another
person who was mistakenly identified and buried in the first
person's coffin.''

Patterson, a 52-year-old divorcee who frequented taverns
along Clinton Highway, was last seen leaving a bar called
Peggy's Place on Oct. 20, 1978.

Footnote: The statement that she frequented bars is much lighter than the terms used in earlier reports. Not to mention the harsh commentary heard from some involved in original investigation. None of which excuse the fact that someone died and a woman is missing. -Todd

Children playing on the banks of Norris Lake in Campbell
County's Twin Cove area found human skeletal parts on March
12, 1979.

Dogs had scavenged much of the body. Only a section of
spine, part of the skull and a shock of hair remained.
Authorities immediately thought of the missing Patterson.

Forensic pathologist Cleland Blake conducted all of the
then-available scientific tests on the remains, which stayed
for years in his Morristown morgue.

"I concluded that it was Leoma Patterson based on ancillary
evidence,'' Blake said Wednesday.

A surprise murder confession by Patterson's great-nephew
came years after Patterson's disappearance.

In August 1985, Jimmy Ray Maggard, then 26, drove a car
stolen from Knoxville into a ditch in front of the Floyd
County, Ga., Sheriff's Department.

Maggard confessed to a crime spree that spanned Tennessee
and Georgia, including the murders of an Atlanta drug
dealer, a Nashville man and Patterson.

Footnote: I-75 Serial Killer theory -  possibly connected? - Todd
http://www.angelfire.com/tn2/masterdetective/I-75serial.html

Maggard said he killed Patterson over a drug deal gone sour.
He is now serving a life sentence in a Georgia prison.

Footnote: Maggard is not spending time for the murder of Leoma Patterson.
It is for other crimes committed. -Todd

Leoma Patterson's family interred what they believed were
her bones in September 1985 in Phillips Cemetery in Anderson
County's New River area.

But some of her children, especially Barbara Adkins of
Jamestown, remained unconvinced that they had buried what
was left of their mother.

"My mother has always thought it wasn't her (Patterson),''
Elizabeth Pendergrass said Wednesday of Adkins.

Adkins hired Livingston, Tenn., attorney Lynda Simmons to
look into the case.

Simmons, in turn, enlisted Todd Matthews of Livingston, an
amateur sleuth with a history of solving missing-person
cases.

They petitioned Anderson County Chancery Court for an
exhumation order, signed last summer.

Bass said he was there in August when the family members
videotaped the exhumation.

DNA samples from teeth taken from the grave were compared
with DNA from a cheek swabbing from a daughter, Matthews
said. They didn't match, he said.

Another daughter's DNA was then taken and compared to the
teeth, and again, there was no match.

The daughters' DNA samples matched, Matthews said.

Footnote: We completed the 2nd DNA test on a different child of Leoma as a control test. We wanted to be sure of what we were seeing. The siblings DNA was also compared with each other to assure that it showed relationship between the two of them as a secondary control. It did prove relation between the siblings, but no relation to the remains. -Todd

"This family would have been better off if this was her,''
Matthews said of the bones.

"Now, they know for a fact that when they take flowers to
that grave on Mother's Day that this is not their mother,''
Matthews said.

"But I bet they'll take the flowers anyway.''

Footnote: I had originally sent the case file from Simmons office to Campbell County Detective Don Farmer. Apparently it was eventually passed along to the TBI. The family, nor their attorney have been notified to any efforts or progress in this case. -Todd
 

 

LeomaPatterson@gmail.com