JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — For 35 years, the identity of a little girl found murdered in Ware County remained a mystery.
The Ware County Baby Jane Doe, found encased in concrete in a TV cabinet and dumped off the side of rural road in 1988, finally has a name: Kenyatta Odom, affectionately known as “Keke."
Investigators also revealed that there are two people in custody in this case: Kenyatta’s mother, Evelyn Odom, and Odom's boyfriend, Ulyster Sanders.
Georgia Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge, Jason Seacrist, says in 2019 they began work on genome, DNA sequencing, which lead to a possible family tree in the Albany, GA area. This was a significant development because a copy of an Albany paper was found near the dumped TV cabinet in 1988.
In December of last year, they put out a news release about the case and a person came forward, saying they remembered a little girl that seemed to disappear in 1988.
The neighbor was told she had gone to live with her father, something the tipster never really believe to be true.
"The mother provided a story to family members over the years and it just took a while for them to question that," Seacrist said.
Investigating that tip lead agents to discovering Kenyatta’s identity, and the arrests of her mother and mother’s boyfriend. Both are now facing multiple charges including felony murder.
Seacrist did not provide a motive for the murder and said he did not want to elaborate on the cause of death, but the murder indictment for the two say they submerged Kenyatta’s legs and feet in hot water causing severe disfigurement and did not seek medical care for her.
Ware County Sheriff Carl James was one of the responding deputies that day in 1988. He says this case has always stuck with him and he is thankful a tipster finally came forward.
"This case just happens to be the one that finally after all these years, it came down to one person making a call that put the puzzle together for us," he said.