Avery Vernie Peaches Shorts, age six, disappeared from the Montgomery Village housing project in Knoxville, Tennessee on December 26, 1980 after her mother gave her 58 cents to walk to a nearby convenience store. She was wearing blue cotton pants, a blue long-sleeve shirt with a snowman, a checkered coat buttoned to the top, a maroon toboggan cap, and blue Mickey Mouse tennis shoes, her hair tied with ribbons. A large search involving police, volunteers, and helicopters turned up nothing in the days and months that followed.

On a January day in 1982 a rabbit hunter found the remains of a small child under a cattle chute off Singleton Station Road in Blount County. Forensic testing identified the remains as Avery’s. The death was ruled a homicide; an autopsy reported strangulation with a wire wrapped around her neck.

Investigators focused on Mitchell Arvell Reed, also known as Mitchell Arvell Webb, who had been in a relationship with Avery’s mother and was suspected to have acted out of revenge after an argument. Reed was questioned repeatedly and was linked by a witness to a confession, but authorities did not obtain enough physical evidence to charge him. The case remains unsolved.

If anyone knew Avery, her family, or observed unusual activity near Montgomery Village in December 1980, please share what might help bring answers.