The 1975 murder of Canada's "Nation River Lady" has finally been solved
For decades, the woman whose remains were found in the Nation River didn’t have a name. Known as the Nation River Lady, the violent nature of her death and the circumstances she was found gripped the country.
She was one of the many Jane Does in Canada, but now, thanks to advances in forensic science, the police have a name: Jewell “Lalla” Langford (née Parchman).
Langford was 48 years old when she died in 1975, and 48 years later, police have cracked the high-profile case. Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) provided an update on Langford’s case Wednesday morning.
“Thanks to advances in genetic genealogy science and the collective commitment of all of the investigators involved, we have brought resolution to the families and friends of this missing person who met with foul play,” said Detective Inspector Daniel Nadeau of the OPP Criminal Investigation Branch. “We can be satisfied with the results of this investigation and that we were able to return Jewell Langford’s remains to her loved ones.”
Police have also identified a suspect: 81-year-old Rodney Nichols, a former Montreal resident living in Florida. According to police, Nichols and Langford knew each other.
Last year, Nichols was charged with murder. However, OPP did not announce it.
“Prematurely sharing developments in the investigation could have jeopardized the investigation and ensuing court processes, including potential extradition from the United States,” OPP noted in a release today.
According to a 1973 story in The Gazette, Nichols was the captain of a rugby team in Montreal.
The case also reaches across the border: Langford was originally from Jackson, Tennessee, according to The Jackson Post. She co-owned the Jackson Health Club and Imperial Health Spa with then-husband Atlas Langford in the early 1970s.
After their divorce, she travelled to Canada, where Langford and Nichols’ paths likely crossed. Her family never heard from her again.
George A. Smith and Sons Funeral Home/Facebook
Finding the Nation River Lady
According to The Doe Network, an international centre for unidentified and missing persons, Langford’s remains were discovered on May 3, 1975. She was found in the Nation River near a bridge crossing Highway 417 in Casselman, a small Ontario village an hour and a half from Montreal.
Some of the items that had been found with Langford (The Doe Network)
She had been found with a blue body suit, and a television coaxial cable wire had been wrapped around her neck, according to Canada’s Missing website. Her hands and ankles were bound with neckties. Her fingernails and toenails were painted with red nail polish, and her naturally dark brown hair had been dyed reddish blonde.
As for why it’s difficult to solve a case like this, Dr. Michael Arntfield, a criminologist, professor, and author, said, “This is a typical challenge faced by law enforcement when you have a suspected victim of foul play, but their identity is unknown. You can’t really proceed with an investigation until a person is identified.”
Cracking the case
Ontario Provincial Police reopened the case in 2017 and created a 3D reconstruction of the victim.
Police used Forensic Investigative Genealogy (FIGG), which, according to a paper published on Science Direct, is “a technique that combines genetic testing with traditional genealogical research to generate investigative leads in unsolved violent crimes and cases of unidentified human remains.”
Canada’s Missing
But rather than identifying a suspect, Arntfield said it was used to identify the victim.
“From there, they were able to identify known associates of this person and then basically conduct traditional investigations forty-some years later now that they have the name,” he said.
Langford’s niece, Denise Parchman Chung, said that as family members passed away, she felt it was on her to push for answers.
“I really thought the case was completely cold, and no one was doing anything,” she said. “Until I was contacted in 2020 about providing DNA.”
A statement from the DNA Doe Project (DDP), a non-profit that uses investigative genetic genealogy to identify unidentified remains, explained that a DNA profile was uploaded to the genetic genealogy databases at GEDmatch and FamilyTreeDNA in 2020.
“By researching matches from these sites and conducting an extensive search of available records, DDP’s team of volunteer investigative genetic genealogists targeted Langford as a likely candidate within a few weeks,” reads the statement.
Finally home
On May 27, 2022, Langford was laid to rest, and her family and Canadian and FBI officials gathered at a private ceremony at Highland Memorial Gardens.
“We laughed, told stories, shed tears, shared scripture and prayer and honoured her life the way she deserved,” reads a post on a funeral home’s Facebook page.
George A. Smith and Sons Funeral Home
Langford’s parents had chosen a marker for their daughter: “In memory of Jewell P. Langford, missing but not forgotten. [Born] March 30, 1927, missing since April 22, 1975.”
The marker has since been updated.
No longer missing, the new marker now reads, “Finally home and at peace.”
George A. Smith and Sons Funeral Home/Facebook
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