NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A shocking discovery in the basement of a house in West Nashville leads to a more than 30 year old mystery.
Metro Nashville Police Department officers said a resident at a home at 3509 Charlotte Ave. noticed something strange sticking out of the dirt basement. Upon further review, it was determined to be a human skull, and the resident called police.
Metro Police arrived on the scene on November 17, 1987, and found two full skeletons buried beneath the home. During the investigation, officers determined the previous owner of the home was James Shaffer. Shaffer was a registered sex offender who was in jail at the time in Kentucky.
"Detectives went up to Logan County, Kentucky, to interview him and he confessed to actually killing both of these girls and burying their remains in the basement," said Matthew Filter, a detective in the Metro Nashville Police Department's Cold Case-Homicide/Missing Persons unit.
Shaffer also shared additional information on the two victims. He told Metro Police he picked up a prostitute who went by the name Shelia Cummings on April 21, 1984, near Broadway and 4th Avenue North.
On July 4, 1985, he met another prostitute around 12th Avenue North and Jefferson Street. He said she went by the street name of "Little Bit," and he believed her last name may have been Johnson.
Shaffer told police he brought Shelia Cummings to his house on Charlotte Avenue. After he caught her taking money from his wallet, he hit her in the head with a rubber mallet and stabbed her multiple times. He then dismembered the body and buried it under the house. He said he strangled the woman known as Little Bit and also buried her body.
As Metro Police continued to collect evidence from the crime scene, they learned that the woman known as Shelia Cummings was about 20 years old, Black and was buried wearing a blonde wig, red and black high heel shoes, corduroy jeans and a blouse, and a gold watch and ring with an unknown stone in it.
Metro Police estimated the woman known as Little bit was between 25 and 40 years old, Black and was wearing blue shorts, a blue halter top and flip flops. She had a grim reaper ring on her finger, and a gold tooth in the front of her mouth.
Despite having descriptions of the women, Metro Police were never able to identify them.
"The only thing I can think of is the information didn’t get out to the public like it does today," said Filter.
Metro Police aren't giving up on the quest to get answers. Now they are turning to technology for help. Filter believed forensic genetic genealogy will provide a break in the case. Samples of the bones of both women have been sent to a lab, but it could be a year before they get the results.
"Hopefully, we will be able to figure out her family tree from that and we will be able to get both these ladies identified," said Filter.
While they wait, detectives hope someone will come forward and share new information about the two victims.
Anyone with information about either of the women killed on Charlotte Avenue is asked to contact the Metro Police Department Cold Case Unit at 615-862-7329, or Crime Stoppers at 615-742-7463. Callers to Crime Stoppers can remain anonymous.
