On the morning of July 3, 1994, 78-year-old Jaxie Bernadette Jamerson vanished from the Briar Bottom group camping area in Mount Mitchell State Park, North Carolina. A Madison County resident, she had been on a church outing with Beech Glen Baptist Church for the Independence Day weekend and was known for nearly five decades of service to the congregation as secretary, treasurer, and clerk, and for writing the church’s history.

The night before, she slept in her Isuzu Trooper at the Dogwood campsite. Around 6:00 a.m. she was seen exiting the vehicle; shortly afterward a witness observed her carrying a black purse and a yellow flashlight and appearing disoriented. Jaxie was reported to be experiencing short-term memory loss at the time. Searches of the rugged park terrain produced no trace.

In May 1998 a tourist found an upper denture plate and a small piece of navy blue fabric on the banks of the South Toe River near a rented cabin. The fabric matched the navy blue polyester jacket Jaxie had been wearing, and the denture plate corresponded to the type of work by her late dentist, but neither item could be definitively linked to her. The Yancey County Sheriff’s Department keeps the case open.

If anyone has information about Jaxie’s last known movements or those who were at Briar Bottom that weekend, please come forward.