Tina Sue Spencer, 17, disappeared from Springfield, Missouri, on March 14, 1976. Rabbit hunters found her remains eight months later in an area where another pair of hunters had discovered a little girl’s body a few months before. Both girls were strangled, and the killer(s) left their bodies in shallow graves near the same lake.
Sadly, there is more information on the other victim than Tina, but this article aims to emphasize Tina’s murder as much as possible.
Murder of Tina Sue Spencer
Tina, 17, lived with her mother in Nevada, Missouri, and was a junior at Nevada High School. She left home on January 5, 1976. Her mother reported her missing the following day. About two weeks later, Tina dropped out of school. She last spoke with her family on March 5, 1976. The Mexico Ledger (November 30, 1976) reported she called from Florida.
On March 14, 1976, Tina waited for a male friend to pick her up from the Springfield Municipal Airport, now Springfield-Branson Regional Airport.
The male friend never arrived, so Tina called for a taxi. The driver arrived at the airport at 10 p.m. According to the Springfield police website, the driver said Tina had nowhere to go, so he took her to a home in the 400 block of North Main in downtown Springfield. It’s unclear whether Tina knew the people at the house or whether the driver did. The people there claimed she walked to a payphone to call the male friend. She was never seen alive again. Tina’s billfold was found near McDaniel Lake in April 1976.
At 10:30 a.m., on November 28, 1976, two hunters made a grim discovery. Francis Hatch, Jr., then a student at Southwest Missouri State University, and Howard R. Wimmer, a city health department employee, were rabbit hunting near McDaniel Lake when they stumbled upon human remains, later identified as belonging to Tina, on City Utilities property. The lake is north of Springfield on the Little Sac River, about 12 miles from the airport.
Found at the scene were a skull and several bones scattered by animals on the ground near a shallow grave that contained a human backbone and various pieces of clothing – a sweatshirt or sweater and a pair of cut-off jeans. The skull had no fractures.
It was evident by viewing the remains that Tina was a victim of a homicide. Police found a knotted vinyl belt near the neck. Tina’s underwear was near the feet, suggesting a sexual assault occurred before death.
Police identified Tina through interviews with relatives and by a metal plate attached to a hip bone during orthopedic surgery found at the scene. Tina’s orthopedic surgeon confirmed the bone belonged to her.
A few months before Tina’s murder, another pair of hunters discovered human remains about a mile from Tina’s.
Shirley Jane Rose
In December 1975, the body of Shirley Jane Rose, 9, was also found in a shallow grave near McDaniel Lake. Shirley was abducted in Springfield on October 17, 1975, while walking from her grandparents’ home at 865 S. West Avenue to her residence at 1309 S. Scenic (now DeLong Plumbing and Heating), a distance of less than a mile. She had almost made it home. According to 1975 news articles, several witnesses saw Shirley after leaving her grandparents’s home. One of them saw her speaking to a man driving a blue 1970 Chevy Caprice. Police never found the car or driver or Shirley’s killer.
Are the Murders Related?
Shirley and Tina were both strangled, and their bodies were dumped in shallow graves one mile apart below the dam near McDaniel Lake. However, investigators stated they had no evidence tying the two cases together, and they remain unsolved today.
At least one child killer freely roamed the streets afterward. Where are they now, and did they commit subsequent murders?
About Tina Sue Spencer
Tina Sue Spencer was born on November 23, 1958, to Loren and Della Spencer, who ultimately divorced. Loren married Annabelle Weber on April 5, 1974, and the couple lived in El Dorado Springs, Missouri. Tina’s parents both died in 1996. Her siblings are now in their 60s and 70s and live in Missouri.
TCD’s Thoughts
Yes, I am bringing back my thoughts on the case, whether you like it or not. Ha! Not with every article, however. Most people don’t like it, but you can skip this part.
Some true crime creators focus on Shirley’s murder, so I wanted to highlight Tina’s. There is no way to write about Tina’s death without mentioning Shirley’s. However, if you want to read more about Shirley, click the link attached to her name above.
I just recently heard of Tina’s case, and she deserves justice as much as Shirley, even decades later.
If Tina did not have a place to go, why did the taxi driver take her to the house on Main Avenue? I assume she did not know anyone in Springfield if she had nowhere to go. Who was at the house? Who owned the home? It is no longer there; it was replaced by a commercial building years ago.
Maybe Tina knew her killer. Who was the male friend that was supposed to pick her up from the airport? Why did Tina go to Florida? How did she get there and back to Missouri? Did the police ever suspect the taxi driver?
I would love to know what Tina’s home life. Why did she leave home at 17? Did she refuse to abide by her mother’s rules? Did she and her mother argue before she left home in January 1976? Was she using drugs? Her mother called the police the next day, so that tells me she ran away but somehow met up with foul play the night she returned from Florida. Only one source stated Tina had called her family from Florida, so I don’t know if this is correct. It makes sense and explains why she was at the airport waiting for her male friend to pick her up.
It’s possible the same person who killed Tina also killed Shirley. What are the chances there were two separate killers who each strangled their victim and buried her close to the other months apart? I’d say slim, although not impossible, of course.
Both girls were under 18 and walking alone in Springfield when they vanished, and their hair was similar in color. The areas where the girls were last seen alive are 3 miles apart, a seven-minute drive from one to the other. But the city had a population of 130,000 in 1975, so I think there could easily be two killers. Today, Springfield has nearly 370,000.
I find it strange that the murder of a 17-year-old girl failed to bring the media attention it deserved, even in 1976. I think it could have been because of her lifestyle. The police most likely did not take her disappearance seriously because she was a runaway. Even today, they are like this or ASSUME the teen ran away. There are no newspaper articles regarding her disappearance, only about her remains found. Nobody gave a shit about this kid.
Sources
Rose, Shannon. “Tina Sue Spencer (1958-1976). Image. Find a Grave. Accessed March 29, 2024. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/121189814/tina-sue-spencer.
“Skeleton Identified as Nevada Girl.” Springfield Leader and Press. November 29, 1976.
“Tina Sue Spencer | Springfield, Mo – Official Website.” Springfield Police. Accessed March 29, 2024. https://www.springfieldmo.gov/5409/Tina-Sue-Spencer.
Zeller, Bob. “No Clues in Search: Disappearance of 9-year-old Remains a Mystery.” Springfield Leader and Press, October 19, 1975.
Zeller, Bob. “Grave Yields Girls’ Body: Disappearance of 9-Year-Old Remains a Mystery.” Springfield Leader and Press, December 14, 1975.
2 comments
I think its strange the cab driver took her to a house…he should have taken her to the police if she truly had no place to go. Both cases are sad..poor Shirley..RIP.
I did, too! I don’t get that!