This College Student Vanished In 1948 After Arriving On Campus For Her Summer Term
In 1948, Virginia Carpenter was a 21-year-old college student from Texarkana, Texas, known among friends and family as a polite and happy-go-lucky young woman.
She first attended the University of Arkansas in pursuit of a journalism degree. But, she later transferred to Texas State College for Women (TSCW)– now known as Texas Women’s University– after changing paths and deciding to pursue a career in the sciences.
Virginia’s end goal was to become a laboratory technician. So, in the summer of 1948, she planned to begin her summer class term.
The 21-year-old left for TSCW on June 1, 1948– boarding a train to the Denton campus. Then, upon arrival, she flagged down a taxi cab and got a ride to Brackenridge Hall– where she had received student housing.
The cab was driven by a man named Edgar Ray “Jack” Zachary, who recalled arriving with Virginia at the dorm hall at approximately 9:00 p.m. At that point, she handed Edgar a dollar and a ticket for her trunk– asking if he could get it from the train for her the following day.
Then, after Virginia exited the vehicle, Edgar detailed how she was greeted by two men.
The men had been standing beside a yellow or cream-colored convertible– which was possibly a Pontiac– parked outside of the dorm and reportedly began calling the 21-year-old’s name. One of the men was described as “chunky”; meanwhile, the other was tall.
According to Edgar, it appeared as though Virginia knew the two men. She even reportedly called out to them, “Well, what y’all doing over here?”
Aside from the trunk that Virginia paid Edgar to fetch the following day, she also had some luggage with her. So, the 21-year-old told the driver that the men would help her carry her belongings.
The Doe Network – pictured above is Virginia
Virginia also claimed to know the pair and spoke with them as Edgar drove off in the taxi.
Tragically, though, that was the last known sighting of Virginia. She never ended up checking into her dorm. And after Edgar picked up and delivered her trunk to Brackenridge Hall, it sat unopened.
To this day, the identities of the two men Virginia had greeted also remain a mystery.
The 21-year-old’s disappearance was not reported until four days after her disappearance. On June 4 of that year, Kenny Branham– Virginia’s boyfriend– contacted her mother after he could not get ahold of his girlfriend.
Afterward, Virginia’s mother reached out to TSCW and learned her daughter had never checked into campus. So, the following day, Denton authorities were contacted, and Virginia was reported missing.
According to some of Virginia’s past boyfriends, she became easily infatuated. So, they suggested that the 21-year-old might have run off with a new man.
Virginia’s family, though, strongly believed that she would never just leave without informing them.
So, investigators first focused on Virginia’s boyfriend, Kenny, and the cab driver, Edgar. Kenny underwent a polygraph test regarding Virginia’s disappearance, but he ultimately passed.
Kenny also insisted that his girlfriend had no reason to run off. And according to both him and Virginia’s mother, the 21-year-old was genuinely excited about starting her summer semester at TSCW.
This pushed investigators to believe that Virginia must have been taken. So, the cab driver Edgar became the focus of their investigation.
Edgar was the final person to see Virginia alive. But upon questioning, both Edgar and his wife claimed that they had been at home together from 10:00 p.m. onward on June 1, 1948.
Nearly ten years later, in 1957, though, this story changed. At that point, Edgar’s then-ex-wife claimed that she had lied to the police back in 1948 and alleged that her then-husband had never returned home at 10:00 p.m.
Instead, she said Edgar did not actually get home until about 2:00 a.m. or 3:00 a.m. the following morning. Around the same time, authorities realized that Edgar had a reputation for being abusive and a record filled with petty crimes.
And that same year, 1957, Edgar had even been charged with attempted assault. However, the charges against him were dropped after the victim urged authorities not to move forward with the prosecution. So, Edgar was questioned by authorities throughout their investigation. But, he passed numerous polygraph tests and was never actually charged. He ultimately passed away in 1984.
In the time following Virginia’s disappearance, there were numerous reported sightings of the 21-year-old in south Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana. However, none of these tips could ever be confirmed– leading to Virginia’s case going cold. In 1955, she was also legally declared dead.
Still, community members had other theories– relating to a serial killer known as the Texarkana Phantom Killer. During the winter and spring of 1946, the killer murdered five young people in Virginia’s hometown. And it came to light that Virginia had actually known three of the victims.
However, the killer was never caught. And after authorities investigated the potential connection between Virginia’s disappearance and the Texarkana murders, they found no sufficient evidence to support the theory. So, ever since 1948, Virginia’s disappearance has remained a chilling, unsolved mystery.
At the time she vanished, Virginia Carpenter was five foot three, weighed 120 pounds, and had brown hair and brown eyes. She went by the nickname “Jimmie” and had an appendectomy scar on her abdomen. If you have any information regarding her case, you are urged to contact the Denton County Sheriff’s Office at (940) 349-1600.
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