Her Boyfriend Killed Her In An Arkansas Motel 30 Years Ago And Even Though Her Relatives Have Been Found They Have No Idea Who She Actually Is
El Dorado, Arkansas. She was blonde, although she was more of a brunette at the time of her death in El Dorado. She was pretty. She was tall.
She was skinny. She had blue eyes. She was as young as 16-years-old and as old as 30. She was found murdered in a motel room 30 years ago.
Her killer pleaded guilty to shooting her, and he told authorities exactly who she was…or so he thought.
It turns out, she had a list of different names she went by, and a valid driver’s license that turned out to be somebody else entirely.
Authorities have her fingerprints. They have numerous photos of her. They have her diary. They have her DNA.
Her DNA was positively matched to some of her living relatives pretty recently, but still, nobody knows who she is.
This is the strange story of a woman who came to be known as the El Dorado Jane Doe, in the absence of her real name.
El Dorado Police Department; the El Dorado Jane Doe smiles in the photo above
It was June 10th, 1991. She was at a pretty sleazy hotel called the Whitehall Motel located in a less than desirable part of El Dorado, Arkansas.
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This motel was well known for the illicit things that went on there, and it had a bad reputation. Women slept with men for money in the dingy rooms, and drugs were dealt right out of there too.
She was there to see James McAlphin, her ex-boyfriend, but she had moved on after their split and was seeing a new man.
She also no longer lived with him and was reportedly terrified of him and his abusive ways, but he had said he would give her money if she came to see him. So, she did.
Witnesses recalled watching the couple fighting in the parking lot. It quickly escalated and turned pretty physical.
Eventually, she ended up in room number 121 with James. Even though the two were full-on fighting, a man who lived a few doors down decided now would be a good time to ask James to give back some cassette tapes he had lent him, so he went over to the room.
She said “You need to talk to him,” asking this man for help, but he didn’t do anything to intervene.
After he returned to his room, she tried to leave at one point, but James hit her and pulled her back inside.
Gunshots rang out, and the police quickly arrived on the scene not long after.
El Dorado Police Department; the El Dorado Jane Doe is pictured above with James
She was found with a gunshot wound to her head inside of room 121, and everyone at the motel who had witnessed her fighting with James did not doubt in their minds he had murdered her.
James had fled the scene and told a very different story when police were able to catch up with him.
He insisted that she had taken her own life and shot herself. The only thing he admitted was that he had hit her that day.
James also told the police that her name was Mercedes, and other people at the motel who knew her confirmed that was her name.
But this is where things start to get weird.
Mercedes was carrying several identifying documents that had photos of her and stated her name was Cheryl Ann Wick. Ok, so her real name was Cheryl and people just called her Mercedes, right?
Wrong. Mercedes was not the real Cheryl Ann Wick at all. When authorities made a call to Cheryl’s family to notify them of her death, they had no idea what they were talking about.
Cheryl wasn’t dead in the least, but she had misplaced her own social security card. She thought that maybe Mercedes had taken it from her purse while she was working at a club as a dancer.
She had no idea who Mercedes was and didn’t recognize any photos of her, but it turns out people that thought they knew Mercedes could confirm she also worked as a dancer. So perhaps that’s how their paths had crossed and Mercedes was able to obtain Cheryl’s social security card and a driver’s license with her photo and Cheryl’s name on it.
Mercedes had a few different things that authorities thought they could look into in order to find out who she really was.
El Dorado Police Department; Mercedes is pictured above in a photo police found among her few personal possessions
The first piece of evidence was a diary that she kept. She wrote about people named Gail and Tyrone. She had collected different menus from Virginia and Texas and tucked them inside.
Seems like there were quite a few clues that might connect to her real name. Unfortunately, none of these things led to anything of any significance.
The second thing Mercedes had in her possession that authorities thought they could use to figure her out was a family bible. It had belonged to the Stroud family and had different names inside of it.
They were able to confirm that Mercedes had lived with the Strouds in Indiana, but they had no idea who she was either. She had given them very little personal information.
As the investigation continued, authorities realized Mercedes went by many different names. She went by Kelly Karr, Kelly Lee Carr, Shannon Wiley, Sharon Wiley, and Cheryl Kaufman, in addition to using Cheryl Ann Wick’s name.
Authorities were also able to figure out that she did have an arrest record. She gave the name Cheryl Ann Wick when she was arrested on December 31st, 1990 for prostitution, in Dallas, Texas. She had been at the La Casita Motel.
On February 8th, 1991, she was arrested in Garland, Texas, at the Carousel Motel for public lewdness. She also gave out the name Cheryl Ann Wick.
She was arrested again in May of 1991 in El Dorado, Arkansas for writing bad checks. Again, she told police she was Cheryl Ann Wick.
She also had told many different stories to the varying people she had met in her travels. She truly seemed to be something of a chameleon. She had said she was a mom of two. She said she lived in a homeless shelter at some point. She said she didn’t get along great with her own mom.
She said her father was part of the mafia. She said she was in witness protection. She said she robbed a bank.
Authorities couldn’t prove that any of the things she had said were true. And they couldn’t find a real connection between her and any of the names she used.
El Dorado Police Department; Mercedes is pictured above in one of the identification documents she had
While authorities are trying to put all of these pieces together, James ended up pleading guilty to the murder of Mercedes.
He accepted a plea deal and charges of second-degree murder in exchange for a 15-year sentence.
In the years he spent behind bars, he said a few things about Mercedes. He said he knew who she really was and demanded money to reveal it.
He said someone had taken her as a child. Police didn’t buy what he was telling them since he was known to lie a lot.
As the years went on, it seemed like the real name of Mercedes, better known as the El Dorado Jane Doe, would never be uncovered.
That was, until 2019.
Facebook; pictured above are some of her diary entries
In 2019, a positive match came back for her DNA. Authorities were able to figure out who her living relatives were.
This was amazing news! DNA always seems to hold the keys, the answers, but this information just left authorities and this family with even more questions.
One of her second cousins from Alabama was notified of the match…but she didn’t know who Mercedes was at all. She showed her photos to other family members, who were completely baffled by her.
Facebook; Mercedes smiles in the photo above
They all agreed that yes, Mercedes certainly looked like she was related to them, but they just didn’t know her.
The DNA led to the grandparents of Mercedes being a Virginian couple by the name of Mamie Carter and Daniel Wood.
Mamie and Daniel had 9 different children up until 1936, and one of their sons is the biological father of Mercedes.
It’s now been about a year since her DNA was matched to this family, and they have not provided any further updates, but they have asked for privacy. Hopefully, it’s not much longer until the real identity of the El Dorado Jane Doe comes to light, and her case can be closed.
If you have any information on who the El Dorado Jane Doe Is, please call El Dorado Crime Stoppers at 1-870-863-4636. You can choose to remain anonymous.
Facebook; above, Mercedes sits on the hood of a car
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