Continued investigation by the MNPD Cold Case Unit into the 1985 murders of two women, discovered on November 7, 1987 in shallow graves in the basement of a home on Charlotte Avenue, has now led to a new forensic rendering of one of the victims.
The women were both identified as escorts who were picked up by James Shaffer on July 4 weekend in 1985 and murdered. Shaffer confessed to killing the unidentified females and burying them in the dirt floor of the basement.
This past January, both victims were disinterred for contemporary forensic analysis. A rendering was done for one of the victims, known as "Lil Bit." She is a 20–40-year-old black female who stood at 5'6"-5'7" with an open-faced gold overlay on her right lateral incisor. She was found to have her lower spine fused together, which would have given her back problems. She was also discovered wearing a copper Grim Reaper ring.
DNA analysis is pending on the second victim.
Anyone with information on either of these two women are asked to call Crime Stoppers at 615-742-7463, the MNPD Cold Case Unit at 615-862-7329 or the Davidson County Medical Examiner’s Office at 615-743-1800.
Related Images
Rendering of one of the victims