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What happened to Tammy Jean Daniel in 1987?
Our cold case database is in danger of no longer being maintained.
Tammy graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in the spring of 1980. She loved riding motorcycles and had a dog that she adored, named Shasta. She married her husband, Ronald “Gene” Daniel 18 months prior to her disappearance. She was described by those who knew her as a sweet, beautiful young woman.
Around 3:00 am on the morning of June 2, 1987, Tammy’s parents picked her up from the El Cid Club in Berkeley, WV. They took her to her trailer home where she lived with her husband, Gene, in Stanaford, WV. According to her parents, the trailer’s door was locked, and when her mother offered to knock on the windows to wake Gene, Tammy declined her offer. Tammy explained that she would just sleep in a tent in the front yard instead of waking Gene. Her parents felt uneasy about this choice, but Tammy insisted, so they left, last seeing her sitting on the steps of her trailer as they drove away.
Shortly after leaving, her parents turned around and returned to the trailer to make another attempt at convincing Tammy to come stay at their home. When they arrived, they heard what sounded like a storm door closing and they were unable to find Tammy. They left the trailer once again after assuming that Gene had let Tammy inside.
Tammy’s parents returned to Tammy’s trailer and asked Gene if he knew where she was the following day. He insisted that he did not know where she was. On June 5, 1987, Gene borrowed a vacuum from a neighbor. According to the neighbor, when he returned the vacuum, it had a bad smell and was covered in a sticky substance. Shortly after her disappearance, authorities visited her trailer to conduct a search. Inside, detectives found "a stain" on the carpet in the bedroom, which they believed to be blood.
In 1988, Raleigh County prosecuting attorney Kristen Keller indicted Gene for Tammy’s murder. The indictment was later dismissed due to lack of sufficient evidence that would be required to find him guilty in a court of law.
“I think one of the hardest parts of this case is weeding through the rumors that are out there. We still run down every lead that comes up, though. We do it for the family. Her mom has never given up. We haven’t given up either.” - Raleigh County Sheriff’s Office, Captain Larry Lilly.
Gene was arrested in January 1989 for the murder of Walter Morgan on July 8, 1988 at a nightclub in Daniels, WV. He claims that the shooting that resulted in Walter’s death was in self defense. He is found guilty of his crime, is sentenced and serves his time before being released.
In 2007, authorities received a tip that led them to search a property in the Sand Lick area of Raleigh County, WV. Officials from the Sheriff’s Office and forensic anthropologists conducted a thorough search of the property for any sign of Tammy, but they were unable to find anything.
“I’ve prayed for 27 years, every day, that God would allow me to find her and have some answers to what happened to her, and to have some justice. He may know I can’t even handle what happened to her.” - Norma Hensdill, Tammy’s mother.
At the time of her disappearance in 1987, Tammy was described as a 24 year old caucasian woman with light brown hair and blue eyes. She was 5’7” tall and weighed approximately 130 lbs. Tammy has a splenectomy scar on her abdomen and her maiden name is Hensdill.
Tammy’s case has remained unsolved for more than 35 years. If you have any information regarding Tammy’s disappearance or her whereabouts, please contact the Raleigh County Sheriff's Office at (304) 255-9300 or Crime Stoppers of West Virginia at (304) 255-STOP (255-7867).
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