Deadline: Crime with Tamron Hall Season 1 Episode 8 The Heart Knows

In this episode of Deadline: Crime with Tamron Hall titled "The Heart Knows", we delve into the case of a young woman named Tammy Jo Alexander. Tammy Jo was found murdered in a cornfield in upstate New York in 1979, and it took over thirty years for her identity to be discovered.

Tammy Jo's body was found by a passerby, and at the time, the police were unable to identify her. She had been shot in the head and left in the field to die. With no leads or identification, the case quickly went cold, and Tammy Jo became known as the "Jane Doe of Caledonia".

Years later, a young woman named Marsha Loritz became obsessed with the case of the Jane Doe. She began to investigate the case on her own, determined to discover the identity of the woman who had been left to die in the field. Marsha's determination paid off, as she was able to convince the authorities to reopen the case and conduct a DNA test on Tammy Jo's remains.

With the help of Marsha and DNA evidence, Tammy Jo was finally identified in 2015. She was originally from Florida and had run away from home as a teenager. Her family had been searching for her for over thirty years, not realizing that she had been killed all those years before.

The investigation into Tammy Jo's murder was reopened, and new leads were discovered. The police discovered that Tammy Jo had been staying in various locations in the months leading up to her death, and they were able to track down people who had seen her during that time.

One person they spoke to was a man named Richard, who had been dating Tammy Jo at the time of her death. Richard claimed that he had no involvement in her murder and that he had dropped her off at a bus station the day before she was found dead. The police were skeptical of Richard's story and continued to investigate him as a suspect.

Another lead in the case came from a tip from a woman named Wendy. Wendy was a former classmate of Tammy Jo's and had known her before she ran away from home. She reported that Tammy Jo had confided in her that she was pregnant and wanted to keep the baby. The police followed up on this lead and discovered that Tammy Jo had in fact been pregnant at the time of her death.

As the investigation continued, the police were able to piece together a timeline of events leading up to Tammy Jo's murder. They discovered that she had been involved in a love triangle with Richard and another man named Brian. The police believe that Richard and Brian were both involved in Tammy Jo's murder, but there was not enough evidence to prosecute either of them.

Despite the lack of justice for Tammy Jo, her family was finally able to have closure and bring her home for a proper burial. The case of the "Jane Doe of Caledonia" serves as a reminder of the importance of never giving up and the power of DNA technology in solving cold cases.