Sumter County Does

Composites of Jock and Jane Doe

Real Name: Unknown (at time of broadcast)
Nicknames: Jock and Jane Doe
Location: Sumter, South Carolina
Date: August 9, 1976

Bio

Occupation: Unknown
Date of Birth: 1954-1958 (Jock); 1956-1958 (Jane)
Height: 6' (Jock); 5'5" (Jane)
Weight: 150 pounds (Jock); 100 pounds (Jane)
Marital Status: Unknown
Characteristics: Caucasian male with brown eyes and shoulder-length brown hair. He had extensive dental work which included bridges and crowns. He wore an expensive Bulova Accutron watch and a ring inscribed "JPF". He also had an appendectomy scar (Jock); Caucasian female with medium-length brown hair and bluish eyes. She had two distinct moles on the left side of her face. She wore two distinct Mexican-style rings. (Jane)

Case

Details: On the morning of August 9, 1976, a trucker was travelling along a remote dirt road called Locklair Road in Sumter County, South Carolina, when he discovered the bodies of a young couple laying on the road's shoulder. They had both been shot to death with either a .38 caliber or .357 magnum pistol. The woman was shot in the chest and the man was shot in the head. Their similar features made police believe that they may have been related (possibly siblings). They carried no identification. Earlier that day, a witness heard a car driving down a dirt road to where their bodies were later found. He heard gunshots, and then heard the car drive quickly back onto the highway.
Investigators believe that the couple may have been well-to-do, or from another country. They may have been hitchhiking across the United States or were the victims of a carjacking. No drugs or alcohol were found in their systems. They were not wearing underwear and did not have any money. An autopsy revealed that they had eaten fruit and/or ice cream. A witness reported seeing a couple matching their description at a local fruit stand.
Months after the couple's murder, an employee of a Santee, South Carolina campground claimed that he had met them weeks before their deaths. He said that the man's name was either "Jock" or "Jacques" and that he and the woman were going to Florida. They soon became friends. He later said that he was the son of a doctor in Canada, and that he and the woman were on vacation.
Following the couple's murder, their descriptions were sent across the country. Their fingerprints were also sent to the FBI and other law enforcement agencies. Although several possible identities were suggested, all were ruled out. For the following year, the couple's bodies were placed in airtight coffins with glass lids in a building behind a funeral home, in hopes that someone would come in and identify them. However, that never took place. In 1977, they were buried in donated plots in the Bethel United Methodist Church cemetery in Oswego. Neither they nor their killer(s) have ever been identified.
Suspects: In 1977, a man in Latta, South Carolina, was arrested for driving while intoxicated. A gun was located in his possession; it was determined through ballistics testing to be the murder weapon. Its owner denied any involvement in the murders. He was never charged in this case.
Extra Notes: This case first aired on the January 20, 1995 episode about coroners, including Cullen Ellinburgh. It also featured those of the 1987 Jane Doe and 1990 Jane Doe.

Pamela Mae Buckley and James Paul Freund

Results: Unresolved. In June 2007, the couple's bodies were exhumed for DNA testing, which confirmed that they were not biologically related. It was then theorized that they were in a relationship. Several missing couples were considered in this case; however, they were all ruled out. Volunteer Matthew McDaniel worked on the case for several years. He suggested to investigators that they should contact the DNA Doe Project to see if they could work on the case. They had previously solved the Buckskin Girl case. In July 2019, they began examining the case and the couple's DNA. In September 2020, DNA was successfully extracted and research began.
On January 19, 2021, the DNA Doe Project announced that the couple had been successfully identified. On January 21, Sumter County Sheriff's Office announced that the man was thirty-year-old James Paul Freund of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and the woman was twenty-five-year-old Pamela Mae Buckley of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Both were reported missing in 1975 and likely met while hitchhiking. The investigation into their homicides is ongoing. One thing to note is that James's initials (JPF) correspond with the letters found inscribed on his ring.
Links:

• The Sumter County Does on Wikipedia
• Website on the Sumter County Does
• Jane and Jock Doe on the Doe Network
• Jane and Jock Doe on DNA Doe Project
• Jane and Jock Doe on Unidentified Wikia
• Two Youths Found Slain Near I-95 - August 9, 1976
• Names Of Dead Youths Remain Mystery - August 10, 1976
• Who Was Slain On Locklair Road? - August 11, 1976
• Murder Victims Still Unknown - August 12, 1976
• Search Begins For Identities of Slain Youths - August 13, 1976
• Victims Still Unidentified - August 13, 1976
• Tip On Slain Girl Followed - August 16, 1976
• Questions Still Unanswered - August 23, 1976
• Bodies remain unidentified - September 19, 1976
• Latest Lead Into I-95 Murders Fails - March 24, 1983
• Case has puzzled lawmen for years - October 14, 1994
• 29 years later, man and woman remain unidentified - August 9, 2005
• A name to a face - June 12, 2007
• 31 years later, couple remains unidentified - August 9, 2007
• The Sumter County Does - January 23, 2014
• Sumter County shooting victims identified through DNA after 44 years - January 19, 2021
• Homicide victims likely identified after more than 40 years - January 21, 2021
• Names of Sumter County's 1976 John, Jane Doe mystery released - January 21, 2021
• Upstate man credited with helping identify John and Jane Doe in Sumter County - January 21, 2021
• Investigators identify victims of 1976 cold case out of Sumter County - January 21, 2021
• Websleuths Discussion Forum
• Pamela Buckley and James Freund on Find a Grave
• Video on James Freund and Pamela Buckley's lives

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