The last big break in Tammy Jo Alexander's homicide was her identification in 2015. Before that, she was Cali Doe, an unidentified teenager who was murdered and left in a cornfield in Caledonia in 1979.
Since she was identified, much more has been learned about her. She was from Florida. She had family and friends who missed her. She had just turned 16. She often ran away from home.
And for a short time just before her death, she stayed at a Georgia prison ministry.
It was there that she recorded cassette tapes for her boyfriend, Kevin Williams.
For the first time, the Livingston County Sheriff's Office has released parts of those tapes, sharing Alexander’s voice with the world.
"Hi Kevin," she says in one short snippet of tape. "How ya doin? I’m fine. It was nice to hear from you."
Investigators are hoping this information will spark renewed interest in the case. After her identification, the Sheriff’s Office and FBI received many leads, but they have not helped find her killer.
The tapes are just a piece of information that make up a fuller picture of the girl.
In them, she has a slight Southern accent. Her tone is light. She reads off a postcard: "It says 'Moon over Miami, the alluring beauty of moonlight shimmering over the Atlantic Ocean in Florida.' It's got two palm trees, the moon, the ocean, and a girl in a white shirt and black pants. And it's blue. Beautiful."
WXXI and the Democrat and Chronicle also obtained letters and pictures from friends and family. They were released in a podcast in 2016.
Finding Tammy Jo · Episode 6: Runaway
The FBI is still offering a $20,000 reward for information that leads to her killer.
