Neal Pinkston and Mike Mathis
Hamilton County District Attorney Neal Pinkston and the Cold Case Unit has asked the public to help with a cold case investigation. Around a decade ago, a woman was killed in the Hickory Valley area, but no body was ever found and her identity is unknown.
“She was, for a time period, stored in a Lincoln Continental vehicle that had been parked at a bar on Highway 58 called Dagwood’s, which is no longer in business,” DA Pinkston said. “The white female was murdered and then dumped in the area of Highway 58 and Hickory Valley. It was information (obtained) through other investigations that we’ve had, and information from that individual in the past has been very reliable.”
The district attorney also said there are no reported unsolved murders of a white female at that time, nor are there any missing persons reports either from Hamilton County. He said, “Every time we’ve held a press conference or interviews about cold case homicides, we always get the public’s help. It helps us solve these cases and gets loved ones answers.”
Cold case supervisor Mike Mathis said that many times, people do not report loved ones or friends as “missing” because they believe that person has left on their own free will.
“If you’ve got a loved one that’s gone missing in 2009, 2010, 2011 or somewhere around there, call us and let’s talk and we’ll figure out if this is related. These are the hardest cases, but we know this individual is very reliable, and that there’s someone dead or missing.”
DA Pinkston said the source who provided the tip has given true information in the past, and that they have known about the case within the last 18 months. Investigator Mathis said the individual has no reason to be lying about or fabricating details about this incident.
Investigator Mathis said that aside from knowing her race and the car she was found in, investigators know nothing else about the missing person. He also said that there are some details of the investigation that cannot be released to the public.
“We want to hear it from someone as facts, not because someone heard it third-hand,” he said. “We’re going to hold back some information, hoping this generates some information, while knowing we didn’t put this on the media so it has to come from a source with information.”
“Right now, we just have credible information that this crime occurred, and we’re trying to identify a missing person from this era that matches the description to the Highway 58 or Dagwood area. Then we can generate a different type of active case.”
DA Pinkston said “no body” homicides are not irregular around the country. He said there have even been a few of those variety within Hamilton County. He also said that once investigators do receive credible information, they will act upon it right away.
“If we get credible leads or timely information, we don’t like to sit on it. We like to act quickly and accordingly. It ruins our credibility with the community and the public if we ask for help and then we don’t do anything with the information.”
Anyone who believes they have information that may help the investigation can call 423-209-7470, or email coldcases@hcdatn.org and leave anonymous information.