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39 years ago: Body of Flint teen who vanished on way to school found in ditch 4 days later

Sheri Jo Elliott last seen walking to bus stop on Nov. 16, 1983

Sheri Jo Elliott (Crime Stoppers of Flint and Genesee County)

FLINT, Mich. – Police still don’t know who kidnapped and murdered a 16-year-old girl from Flint 39 years ago.

Sheri Jo Elliott, 16, vanished on her way to school on Nov. 16, 1983. Her body was found in a ditch four days later.

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Elliott left her home on Seneca Street in Flint at 6:30 a.m. the day she disappeared. She was last seen at West Dartmouth and Clio Roads walking to her bus stop.

Somewhere along the way she was abducted. Her body was found in a ditch by a muskrat trapper in Saginaw County on Nov. 20, 1983. The trapper said he checked his lines daily and Elliott’s body was not there the day before.

According to Crime Stoppers, Elliott had been sexually assaulted and shot multiple times. Medical records indicated that Elliott was still alive as late as Nov. 19, 1983, which leads police to believe she had been kept against her will somewhere.

Anyone with information should contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-Speak Up. All tips to Crime Stoppers are anonymous. Click here to submit a tip online.


Read: Michigan cold case coverage


Why is ClickOnDetroit covering so many cold cases?

We’re working to bring attention to as many unsolved and missing persons cases from around the state as we can. Our hope is that getting this important information out to the public will help generate tips for investigators and potentially lead to closure for the affected families. If you have a cold case you’d like us to look into, please let us know by using the form below.


About the Author
Kayla Clarke headshot

Kayla is a Web Producer for ClickOnDetroit. Before she joined the team in 2018 she worked at WILX in Lansing as a digital producer.

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