177. Looks Like THEY Are Hiding Something - Uncovering Tamara Tigard

One day in March 1980, a member of the U.S. Army (her rank still not clear) named Tamara Tigard, who was living (or was she stationed?) in Las Vegas, went for a walk.  And then vanished.  One month later, 1,200 miles away near the small town of Jones, Oklahoma – on Tamara’s 21st birthday, as it happens – the unclothed body of a young woman was found in a shallow grave on the banks of the North Canadian River.  The body had been covered with “wet” lime, which, intentionally or not, had acted to preserve the body to a remarkable degree.  Even so, authorities could not identify the body – and no reported missing persons reports matched the dead woman’s description, so “The Lime Lady,” as she came to be known, was buried in an unmarked grave there in Central Oklahoma, leaving law enforcement with a mystery that would last for the next four decades.  Almost exactly four decades, as it turns out.  Because in 2020, through the unending determination of the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office, in particular Captain Bob Green, familial DNA technology through assistance of The DNA Doe Project finally identified the “Lime Lady” as none other than Tamara Tigard,  who had disappeared 40 years before in Las Vegas.  But with that mystery solved, an entire universe of new questions arose.  How did this young soldier get from Las Vegas to Oklahoma?  Was she dead or alive when she arrived in Oklahoma?  Obvious suspects (such as Tamara’s ex-husband, who had a long rap sheet, have been vetted with no success.  There’s also the conundrum of Tamara’s manner of death – forensics experts have determined that she was not only shot with a .45 caliber handgun – she died with her clothes on – her shooter was actually walking toward, or charging, her as he (or she) was shooting.  So why was she buried with no clothes?  And just what was a member of the Army doing living in Las Vegas, when  no army base is located there?  And how come the Army continued to show Tamara as being on active duty even after she disappeared, never reporting her as AWOL or otherwise discharged?  And how about that “Tamara Tigard” living in Ohio who evidently stole Tamara’s identity – has that ever been looked into?  These are all mystifying questions that Melissa explores in this episode – and even though the crime happened 40 years ago, those questions even today leave the mind to wander from the mostly plausible to the possibly conspiratorial.   And of course, as is usually the case – even all these decades later, there must be someone still alive who knows the true story behind Tamara Tigard’s untimely death.  If you think you might know who that person is – or if you are that person, call Captain Bob Green of the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Department at (405) 713-1000.