Quick Facts
Biography
Barbara Ann "Bobbie" (Hackmann) Taylor (September 12, 1943 – c. December 6, 1967), also known as the "Tent Girl", was an initially unidentified young American woman ("Jane Doe") found dead near Georgetown, Kentucky, on May 17, 1968.
History
Wilbur Riddle, who had been scavenging for glass insulators alongside U.S. Route 25, discovered the decomposing body wrapped in a heavy green canvas tarpaulin, such as might be used to wrap up a tent. A police investigation failed to identify the deceased woman, or name any suspects in her apparent murder.
She was buried in the Georgetown Cemetery with a donated headstone that bore her likeness as it appeared in a police sketch of how she might have looked in life, and the inscription:
TENT GIRL
FOUND MAY 17 1968
ON U.S. HIGHWAY 25, N.
DIED ABOUT APRIL 26 - MAY 3, 1968
AGE ABOUT 16 - 19 YEARS
HEIGHT 5 FEET 1 INCH
WEIGHT 110 TO 115 LBS.
REDDISH BROWN HAIR
UNIDENTIFIED
The grave site existed as such for many years and was a popular legend tripping destination among area adolescents.
Identification
In 1998, the Tent Girl was positively identified as Barbara Ann Hackmann Taylor as a result of the ongoing efforts of Todd Matthews. Matthews, the son-in-law of Wilbur Riddle, had maintained a longstanding interest in the case. He had collected information on the Tent Girl and combed through many missing persons reports on the Internet. Since Taylor's identification, Matthews co-founded The Doe Network, which is an online database dedicated to matching missing persons with unidentified decedents.
Matthews discovered a report from the family of a young woman who went missing in Lexington, Kentucky (approximately 15 miles from Georgetown) in late 1967. He forwarded information on the Tent Girl to the Hackmann family. The family believed that this was likely their missing relative, which led to the exhumation of the body and DNA testing, which confirmed her identity.
The family chose to have Hackmann's remains re-interred in Georgetown Cemetery, with an additional stone base placed under the original grave marker, bearing her real name, nickname, date of birth, presumed date of death, and the inscription "Loving Mother, Grandmother & Sister". No mention of her married name is made on the stone.
The prime suspect in the murder is Barbara's husband, George Earl Taylor, who died of cancer in October 1987.