Finding Kay & Toni

By: J. Kris Carmichael

Few things in life have touched me as deeply as the realization of restoring the name and the dignity of an unidentified person. Many times, such restoration comes upon the wings of Prayer, sifting through tons of data and applied research, as well as hours of web searching the endless photographs of possible candidates. For almost 40 years, one red haired Jane Doe lay among the unidentified of Mississippi, a Jane Doe in which I had no clue as to her name and little evidence as to where I might even look to find her. So, I adopted this lady, insomuch that she was to merit my full attention, because somewhere deep down in my soul, I knew someone was looking for her, somewhere.

The Town of Olive Branch, Mississippi, witnessed a crime near their town on January 24, 1985. That of a young red-haired woman, who was located/recovered just east of the Cold-Water River on US 78. It was this particular woman I took sole interest in, though she had been officially unidentified for well over 37 years. I had seen her facial photograph made during the autopsy, and read the account of her recovery. I noted the report, but I felt, oddly, that someone was looking for her, after so long. Perhaps that red hair reminded me of my Grandmothers, and Aunts, and so I was drawn to make her the center of my research. I felt strongly her blood was of Scottish origin. As I Bagpiper, with deep Scottish roots myself, I can attest to the Scot-Irish roots which run deep throughout the State of Mississippi. I strongly suspected that someone had been looking for her these many years. But why had she not been located? This feeling was hauntingly surreal. At the time, I was unaware that indeed someone was looking for her, a family in Australia, as well as an entire Nation.

Reflecting: I came to believe this lady was not local, because I felt if she was, her body would have already been claimed. But I began my search locally, then expanded it to the greater South, then went National. Canada was included, then Ireland/Scotland, and then…Australia. It was then I paused on the AFP Missing Persons Website and could not believe my eyes, I became numb as I saw a familiar face, that of Kay Docherty. I made a copy of Kays pic to compare it to the Olive Branch Doe, and when I made the comparison, I noted two things. One, is that the Autopsy photograph reflected an opposite mirror image on Jane Doe’s dental structure. In other words, it appears the autopsy photo had been reversed during development, which was easy to do when your dealing with negatives. This reversal assumed that the OBJD has been struck by a left-handed person, when in fact, after the correction was applied, it would have been a right-handed man which stuck her. So, I pondered could this mistake might have had consequences? For example, how long were Police Officials looking for a “left-handed” man, when the culprit was actually right-handed? But now with the “Correction” made, I knew the chances were most singular that I was looking at the face of Australian Kay Docherty. I don’t know how long I just sat in the night, and stared, reading her stats, doing the math, and pondering how in creation she got to Mississippi. This indeed was a “God” Thing, I invoked his Name in the dead of night, and asked if He would reveal her name (I did not say specifically to me) but He did, and about three days later, I sit gazeing in deep silence, upon the face of Kay Docherty.

While reading about missing person Kay Docherty, I then read about her friend Toni Cavanagh, but I didn’t like the black and white photograph of Toni which was displayed on the Missing AFP site. I desperately needed one in color. So, I located a Facebook site which was named: Help Find Kay Docherty & Toni Cavanagh, and sent a message to the last person posting, Ms. Marie Bleakley, which fortunately, did have a color photo of Toni. Looking at it, I remembered the face of a girl in which a reconstruction was made of her skull, and that hair, the hi-lights in the front, I turned again to Mississippi, moreover, Harrison County near the Mississippi Gulf Coast. There was a body (Skeletonized) recovered in November of 1980, but fortunately a reconstruction of her skull had been completed and comparing the color photo to the reconstruction of the head, it was as close to a match as I have ever seen in a reconstruction. Even the hi-lights in the hair, the general facial shape, it was Toni! The hair does survive after death, I remembered, Egyptians mummies after thousands of years, still had hair. She had probable died in 1979 or early 1980. I believe I notified Authorities just days after I located Kay, and here we are years later. I just wanted to get one girl back home, now two.

I had hoped that this chapter would have been closed out years ago and the remains of these two ladies would have immediately been flown back to Australia where their families reside, and to rest among their kin…

I have given of my personal funds for a DNA comparison, because I was unaware at the time if the Police were doing anything with the case. I am also a Private Investigator, and felt I should have been kept in the loop if that was the case. I was kept out of the loop. I was told the DNA was bad and was also told it didn’t match. Personally, I think otherwise. But with all due respect, I noted that NAMUS (https://namus.nij.ojp.gov/) did begin making a disclaimer when I submitted potential candidates in other cases, which basically stated that “Information may not be forthcoming, pending a Police Investigation”. I have made an inquiry regarding viewing the remains to substantiate facial features on the OBJD, but have been denied. That tells me something is afoot, and they might have well said, You did good Kris, thank you… They are on their way home…but this I cannot confirm either… And I’m one of the good guys… But I will remain to see this resolved….

Olive Branch Jane Doe + Kay Docherty