Post by Scumhunter on Nov 16, 2024 11:47:24 GMT -5
(Above photo credit: unsolved.com)
From the Pensacola News Journal (pnc.com)
You could hear the hurt, feel the loss in Dachel St. Mary's voice as she talked about her daughter.
On Nov. 12, 2009, Tyler Jefferson, a new sailor in training at Corry Station was murdered while out for a jog in Myrtle Grove outside the base. She was only 18, recently trading in her high school graduation cap and gown for a tidy Navy outfit. She was studying information technology at Corry Station. She hoped to be sent to Japan. Maybe the Navy would be a full career, St. Mary said.
Or maybe there would be something else. After all, she was just a teenager. The future was wide open.
"She had thought about the Secret Service or something like that," said her mother. "She would have been something else."
This time of year is hard for St. Mary. She thinks of her daughter often, but come late October, early November, she just feels the dread come over her. She feels in in her bones.
"It brings a lot of emotion, and I try to rein it in," she said. "But when it gets close to November, it's like my body knows. I can feel the loss in my spirit."
It's been 15 years since her daughter was killed. St. Mary lives in Heartland, Texas, outside of Dallas, and Tyler's other relatives also live out of state. But St. Mary and others have traveled to Pensacola a few times since Tyler's death to seek answers, ask questions and maybe find why the teenager died and who is responsible.
Those answers have never come, despite Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigators communicating with St. Mary frequently about the unsolved case.
"I get a text or a phone call every week," St. Mary said. "I want to believe they're doing all they can. I try to be careful and not think that they're not doing everything they can."
St. Mary was supportive of her daughter's decision to join the military.
"I was afraid she was going to join the Marines," she said. Nothing against the U.S. Marine Corps, it's just that's a level that might make any parent anxious. "I was afraid she would want to be out front. But I was supportive. I missed her for sure but went with her every step I could. I even went to Louisiana with her when she they took her off."
She was sent to Navy boot camp in Great Lakes, Illinois, then to Corry Station in Warrington to train as a computer technician. She was set to graduate from the Information Systems Technician A School at Corry Station less than two weeks after she was murdered. She was also days away from finding out her first duty station. She was hoping for Japan.
Tyler had only been in Pensacola for four months when she was murdered, dying from multiple gunshots, her body found in the 500 block of North 49th Street in Myrtle Grove.
A billboard featuring a smiling Tyler in her Navy uniform was up for years on Lillian Highway near where her body was found. It featured a reward offer and law enforcement numbers to call if someone had information.
Still, nothing.
The billboard is lone gone now. But a mother's pain endures.
"She was pretty impressive and really smart," St. Mary said. "She was very motivated, always very motivated. I remember when she was probably 10 or 11 and she would set her alarm for 5 a.m. so she could get up and do whatever she thought she needed to be doing. I'd go in and set it for a later time. But she just loved school."
During boot camp, Tyler talked to her mom and told her it was a bit tough being around so many other women − she just wasn't used to that dynamic. She asked her mom to send her a few Bible verses to help her get through basic training.
St. Mary sent her a camouflage Bible she had found, marking a few verses for her to focus on.
"She was so thankful," she said. "We had a close relationship. I would tell her I love her every day."
If you have any information on the death of Tyler Jefferson or any other unsolved crime, please contact Gulf Coast Crime Stoppers at 850-433-STOP, or call toll-free 877-433-TIPS. Gulf Coast Crime Stoppers works with local law enforcement agencies to help solve crimes. All calls and tips are anonymous.
www.pnj.com/story/news/local/2024/11/12/sailors-murder-in-myrtle-grove-15-years-ago-still-unsolved/76089557007/
Thoughts? I am placing Tyler’s case in the national media section since the Unsolved Mysteries website linked to the above article in their news archive section:
www.pnj.com/story/news/local/2024/11/12/sailors-murder-in-myrtle-grove-15-years-ago-still-unsolved/76089557007/
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