Jackson business woman's disappearance solved after 50 years by Canadian police

After going missing on a trip to Canada in 1975, the remains of Jackson businesswomen Jewell "Lalla" Parchman Langford were not identified for decades, leaving her disappearance largely a mystery until police recently garnered a confession from her alleged assailant.

Although her body was soon recovered from the Nation River in 1975, she was not identified until 2020 due to the use of forensic genealogy, as the search of her killer continued.

The alleged assailant Rodney Mervyn Nichols’ was arrested July 25 at a Hollywood, Florida retirement home by U.S. authorities and charged with murder by the Ontario Provincial Police for the death of Langford. The OPP, which had been investigating the case for decades, announced the charge and arrest as well as recapped the history of the long mysterious case.

Police have said Langford, a 48-year-old who was from Tennessee, had travelled to Montreal in April 1975 and never returned home.

Dubbed the "Nation River Lady" — after the Nation River in Ontario, Canada where her body was recovered in 1975— Langford was a prominent Jackson businesswoman.

Who was 'Jane Doe'?

The successful owner of a health spa in town, Langford took a trip in April of 1975 to Montreal. When she didn't return to Jackson, her family reported her missing and her remains were later found by the Ontario Provincial Police.

For decades, the Canadian police would remain baffled as well as members of the Jackson business community, who were left with no explanation about how an up-and-coming entrepreneur could vanish.

Born in 1927 to "Little" Mitchell and Eglah Parchman, Jewell would grow up to tie the knot to husband Atlas Parchman in 1957 when the couple married in West Jackson Baptist Church, according to Jackson Sun archives.

Described as wearing a "gown of robin egg blue" with "silk illusion lace" on her wedding day, the Parchmans went on to reside on Campbell Street before Jewell opened Slenderette Figure Form in 1962 on the 500 block of East Main Street.

Co-owned by her husband, Slenderette Figure Form, was located at 444 E. Main in downtown, offering a number of trendy beautification services like figure contouring.

By all accounts, the health spa was successful in catering to the timely focus of wellness and being trim, as she aimed to specifically combat "weight gain" in her clientele.

In 1967, the business branched out and operated under the dual model of Jackson Health Club and Slenderette Figure Form. The health club portion of the business later focused on men's health, becoming Jackson Health Club for Men in 1969.

"She ran a health club for women, and he ran a health club for men, and best guess I have is, the late 60s and early 70s, a lot of people's mentality and social norms began to evolve, so why not just put it into the same building," said Brendan Rowe, Jackson-Madison County Librarian for the Tennessee Room.

In March of 1972 and after closing their existing businesses to upgrade to a bigger location, the Langfords rebranded and eventually held a groundbreaking ceremony for Imperial Health Spa.

An archived Jackson Sun article details that after the Langfords' 11 years in the downtown business sphere at their 1,500 square foot location, "the new facilities will be four times as large."

Located where the Big Lots currently operates on Old Hickory, Imperial Health Spa offered sought-after health and wellness services like saunas, heated whirlpool baths, and "the most modern exercise equipment obtainable anywhere."

In 1983, Langford's mother Eglah took to the Chancery Court of Madison County, naming Jewell as the defendant.

In the midst of her disappearance, an ad ran in the Jackson Sun for four consecutive weeks, ordered by the court, that labeled Langford as "whereabouts unknown" and ordered her to appear before the Chancery Court of Madison County and "make defense to the petition filed against her in said court."

"This was probably just a last chance, bit of desperation attempt trying to get her to appear, but she's missing and how can you account for a missing person?" Rowe said.

Ontario police keep investigation alive

In a virtual media conference held on July 5 via Facebook, the Ontario Provincial Police revealed developments made in the Nation River Lady's identity in what the department referred to as a "historical homicide."

Deputy for OPP Investigations and Organized Crime Marty Kearnes explained that this case is one of the oldest, unsolved and most unique, unidentified remains investigations in the department's history.

Major Case Manager for the OPP Criminal Investigative Branch, Detective Inspector Daniel Nadeau disclosed that not only had the Nation River Lady been identified as Jewell Langford, but that they criminally charged the individual responsible for her death 50 years prior.

On May 3, 1975, when Langford's remains were found east of Ottowa she had been bound with men's neckties at her hands and feet and strangled with a television cable. After unsuccessfully identifying Nation River Lady, in addition to who was responsible for her death, the OPP resumed its investigation four years ago.

"In late 2019, we decided in consultation with the chief coroner and members of the Centers for Forensic Science in Toronto, to exhume the body of the victim to obtain a new DNA profile," said Nadeau in information released by the OPP.

Chief Coroner for Ontario Dr. Dirk Huyer explained that the lack of forensic opportunities in the field of DNA science at the time of Langford's death in 1975 made it difficult to identify her.

"With the evolving and the progressing DNA science, we did make a decision to obtain a new DNA profile based upon the new technology and new science that was available," Dr. Huyer said according to OPP reports. "So we isolated that and managed to, despite many years passing, develop a very effective and clear DNA profile."

The DNA sample was then sent to the DNA Doe Project, a nonprofit in the U.S. dedicated to identifying Jane and John Does through collaboration with law enforcement agencies.

The organization uses an innovative approach to investigative genetic genealogy (IGG) through family tree analysis, and once DNA was collected from the living descendants of Jewell Langford, Huyer shared that the comparison in DNA proved to be a match.

In the description released by the DNA Doe Project, it details that Langford, who had her face wrapped with a tea towel, had been strangled with a plastic-covered television cable, while her hands and ankles were tied with men's neckties.

The organization speculates in its report that Langford's body was thrown into the Nation River off the bridge from the eastbound lanes of Highway 417 before floating downstream and later discovered by a local farmer on May 3, 1975.

Langford, who was originally buried in Canada as an "unidentified person," now has a commemoration plaque at the Highland Memorial Gardens in Jackson. The maroon plaque with gold-detailed roses and angels reads "finally home and at peace."

This article originally appeared on Jackson Sun: Murder of Jackson TN 'Nation River Lady' solved after 50 years