NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Exactly 43 years ago, a young woman who had just moved out on her own and whose friends said was excited about life suddenly vanished without a trace.
It’s one of the oldest active missing persons cases in Nashville, and one that has continued to stump law enforcement. Twenty-one-year-old Jennifer Wyant was last seen on a Saturday on June 28, 1980.
The day before, investigators with the Metro Nashville Police Department said Wyant told some of her coworkers she was planning to go to a softball party that weekend. Police said she attended the party and went back to her apartment at 293 Tanglewood Court.
At the time, the complex was known as Tanglewood Court Apartments. However, it has since taken on a new name: Whispering Oaks.
When Wyant didn’t show up for church or work two days later, on Monday, June 30, 1980, her parents knew something was wrong. Unable to reach her, Wyant’s parents filed a missing person’s report that same day.
According to the FBI, investigators searched her apartment and found it “undisturbed.” Her new car, a black TransAm with a big gold bird on the hood, was still parked in the parking lot.
However, Wyant was nowhere to be found. Little was publicly known about the events following Wyant’s return home from the softball party on June 28, 1980, until Metro Nashville investigators released new information in 2021.
Her neighbors reported hearing screaming that night. When they looked out the window, they said they saw four people forcing a woman into a dark four-door sedan. Police believe that woman was Wyant.
According to authorities, her neighbors reported that same information to a security guard at the apartment complex, but the security guard never notified police.
It wouldn’t be until Dec. 11, 1980, that investigators would find Wyant’s Tennesse driver’s license nearly 15 miles away from her apartment on Blue Lake Road in Rutherford County. Today, the street is known as Blue Lake Lane.
A housing complex was under construction in the area at the time. Police brought dogs to search the area, but there was still no trace of Wyant. A motive for the alleged abduction is unknown, but investigators believe Wyant was targeted.
Foul play is suspected in the case. At the time of her disappearance, Wyant was 5 feet 3 inches tall, weighed about 125 pounds and had brown hair and brown eyes. Wyant would now be 64 years old.
Anyone with information regarding the case is asked to contact the Metro Nashville Police Department’s Cold Case Unit at 615-862-7329. Anonymous tips can also be shared by calling the police department’s Crime Stoppers Division at 615-74-CRIME (615-742-7463).
