Spiritual Detectives

‼️IDENTIFIED: Jane Doe found in Tarrant County, Texas Landfill has been identified as missing Tennessee woman, Joyce Ann Hinson - the victim of a still-unsolved homicide.

Joyce Ann Hinson was a Tennessee woman who disappeared in late 1983 while traveling through Texas. She was identified in May 2026 as a homicide victim who had remained unidentified for more than forty-two years.

Hinson frequently hitchhiked and traveled across the United States. Prior to her disappearance, she briefly visited her parents’ home in Tennessee before leaving again. Family members stated that she was traveling through Texas, including the Austin and Dallas-Fort Worth areas, and maintained contact with them by telephone during her trip. Her final known communication was a phone call in late 1983 in which she reported that she was in North Texas. She was never heard from again.

On June 11, 1984, Hinson’s body was discovered at Crow’s Landfill in rural Tarrant County, Texas. She was found n**e, and her hands had been tied behind her back. Investigators determined that she had died elsewhere before her body was transported to the landfill. Due to the condition of the remains and the lack of identifying information, she became known as “Tarrant County Jane Doe.”

Authorities spent decades attempting to identify the victim. Her case was entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), and biological evidence collected during the original investigation was preserved. Despite numerous leads, no identification was made.

In 2025, the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office partnered with forensic laboratory Othram to apply advanced DNA testing and forensic genetic genealogy to the case. Scientists developed a DNA profile from preserved evidence, and genealogical research eventually identified a possible connection to the Hinson family.

Investigators located a man who reported that his sister, Joyce Ann Hinson, had disappeared in late 1983. A DNA sample provided by the man confirmed that he and the unidentified victim were full siblings. The identification was further verified through a comparison of partial postmortem fingerprints and fingerprints associated with Hinson’s 1981 arrest record.

In May 2026, authorities officially announced that Tarrant County Jane Doe had been identified as Joyce Ann Hinson. The identification ended more than four decades of uncertainty regarding her fate and finally restored her name.

The circumstances surrounding Hinson’s murder remain under investigation. Anyone with information about her movements in Texas in late 1983 or the events leading to her death is urged to contact the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office at (817) 884-1213.

The miraculous discovery of two kidnapped boys—Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby—in a Kirkwood apartment stunned St. Louis and the nation.

Hornbeck had been missing for four years and Ownby had been missing for four days when they were found in Michael Devlin’s apartment.

The FBI received a tip about a white pickup truck while searching for its owner, which led them to a Kirkwood pizza parlor, where Devlin was a manager. The boys were then found in his apartment.

Devlin is serving a life sentence for kidnapping and other crimes.

What is one missing persons or unsolved case you wish could be solved in your lifetime?

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