A Night of Revelry Ended in Tragedy for 15-Year-Old Sherry Smith – A Cold Case Revisited

When someone is murdered that we do not know, particularly deaths that occurred decades in the past, we tend to disassociate from the horrendousness of the crime that was committed. Instead, we look at the evidence at arm’s length, keeping to dates and times, often turning victims into two-dimensional characters to protect ourselves from the mental anguish. When you add in multiple deaths over a short period of time, and the possibility that murders may be the work of a serial killer, we further distance ourselves from the lives lost, often focusing on similarities between murders, transfixed on the “whodunit” aspect.

Most people are familiar with Ted Bundy, his looks, his charm, but few can give those same details, or even recall the names, of his victims. This same phenomenon began to happen in Humboldt County in May of 1976. After a third female rape/strangulation occurred within eight months, the county was gripped by the possibility that a serial killer was responsible for the deaths.

Less information was published about the victim; most articles focused on connecting the death with the two previous deaths and the possibility that the three victims’ lives were ended by a single perpetrator. That theory has yet to be proved over forty-six years later.

But, whether the victims’ demise was suffered at the hands of one or more assailants, the fact remains, their young lives were stolen from them, their families and friends left grieving, not only for the loss of their loved one, but the horrific way in which their lives ended.

In the early hours of May 1, 1976, a young woman’s body laid cold, discarded off Eel Rock Road, just north of Miranda. Her body, bloodied and bruised, was just off the rural road, the cold spring air chilling her partially naked body. Her underwear and peach-colored pants were pushed down from her waist, her ears still adorned with silver earrings, her slender fingers bore the rings she had chosen to wear to a dance just hours prior.

Her lifeless body lay less than six miles from her home where her family slept, unaware that the young woman’s life had come to a horrific end.

On May 2nd, by happenstance, a young boy, who had been hiking in the area, came across the gruesome scene; his carefree jaunt in the Redwoods shattered by the evilness that can penetrate humanity.

As law enforcement was notified and began the diligent work of collecting evidence, the identity of the victim remained a mystery. Her family had not filed a missing person’s report, believing that she was with friends in Alderpoint, a town east of Miranda, as she had been the week prior.

Law enforcement turned to local dentists and orthodontists to help identify Jane Doe through dental records and x-rays. The victim, positively identified as Sherry* Lynn Smith, 15, of Miranda, California, was identified by the braces the young teen wore. Her mother, Marilyn Jensen, confirmed the identification late on Monday, May 2nd.

Sherry, the spunky middle child of Paul Smith and Marilyn Jensen, lived with her mother and two sisters in Miranda. She was a student at South Fork High School where many claimed her as their best friend. Sherry danced to the beat of her own drum, carefree with a bit of a wild streak.

Prior to her death, Sherry had been in San Jose with her father Paul. As she was restless for home, Paul put his young daughter on a bus headed to Humboldt County. But, instead of heading straight home, Sherry went east to the town of Alderpoint to spend time with friends around April 25th.

Tim Thurman, Sherry’s 14-year-old, Miranda neighbor said that he had ran into Sherry in Garberville on Saturday, April 30th. He said that he and Sherry, who he said was his best friend, made plans to meet up at the dance at the Garberville Fireman’s Hall later that night and get a ride home together to Miranda afterwards. That chance encounter was the last time Thurman was to see his best friend alive. Thurman told us that he arrived at the dance around midnight but was told that Sherry had already left. (Other accounts say that Sherry left the dance at 2 a.m.)

At the dance that night, Sherry wore a peasant-style blouse with peach pants, her long, wavy, light brown hair worn parted down the middle as was the style in the early seventies. She is said to have danced the night away, her long earring probably swaying to the rhythm of the music, conjuring images of the carefree revelry of seventies-era youth.

After the light-hearteded fun of a small-town dance, something went horribly awry. Sherry was last seen around 2 a.m. as the dance ended. People huddled in groups as they made late night plans or waited for their rides to arrive. Stories varied about Sherry’s plans for the evening and who she was planning on getting a ride with.

The last hours of Sherry’s life are unaccounted for. Her friends believed she had caught a ride home to Miranda, her family believed she had extended her stay with friends. As the Monday morning bell rang at South Fork High, Sherry was not in attendance, but she had been out of town, so her absence didn’t sound any alarms.

However, later that night, Sherry’s mother would face the horrific task of identifying the body of her fifteen-year-old daughter.

The news of Sherry’s death shocked the small Southern Humboldt community, shattering the rural town’s sense of security. Tim Thurman said that he was never the same after the horrific murder of his friend. He dropped out of school and left the area, unable to cope with the grief.

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office allotted extra over-time hours to the investigation.

Additionally, Second District Supervisor candidate, Johnny Pelletier, promised an additional 11-12 deputies to the Garberville substation if elected, citing the murder as proof that the area was underserved in a Eureka Times Standard article.

Investigators spoke to Sherry’s family and friends, trying to pinpoint who she would have gotten a ride with on that fateful night. Witnesses said that Sherry was seen with 14-year-old Christina Anderson, who had also not been seen since the night of the dance. Anderson was reported missing on Thursday.

The Eureka Times Standard published an article on May 8th requesting the public’s help in locating the missing teen.

Anderson was located by Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies in a vehicle with two men on Alderpoint Road. She was detained for “refusal to obey authority” and booked into juvenile hall.  No further mention of her possible connection to the case was printed in local newspapers that we could find.

As is common in small towns, rumors swirled around the circumstances of Sherry’s death. Was it someone she knew? Did she get a ride from a stranger? Was a killer walking amongst them?

Questions still abound as the murder of Sherry Smith has never been solved.

Many of the people we spoke to believe that John Annibel is responsible for Sherry’s death; the vast majority believing that Annibel is in prison for the crime. But alas, that is untrue. John Annibel is currently in prison for the 1989 murder of Debra Sloan, however that is the only murder he has been convicted of though he was suspected in at least two other murders.

John Annibel was three years older than Sherry Smith, his family home north of Miranda, up Eel Rock Road, was the same road Sherry’s body was dumped. John was the fraternal twin brother of a youth who was dating Sherry’s older sister at the time of the murder. Many of the people we spoke to said that there was something “off” about John, though everyone seemed to like his twin.

Deadfall, a book written by Robert Scott about John Annibel, discusses his possible connection to Smith’s murder. The book shared witness accounts that John had danced with Sherry several times at the Fireman’s Hall and that people had witnessed Sherry getting into his vehicle.

Although investigators questioned Annibel in the murder investigation, the family had not suspected John of Sherry’s murder right away. He and his twin brother served as pall bearers at the May 6th funeral for Sherry at Eureka Sunset Memorial Park.

According to Deadfall, Annibel became the prime suspect in Sherry Smith’s murder. He agreed to a polygraph test, the results of which were determined to be inconclusive by local law enforcement. Those results were later analyzed by law enforcement elsewhere that believed the original assessment was wrong. When asked to take a second polygraph, Annibel declined through his lawyer.

Four years later in 1980, Annibel’s girlfriend at the time, Andrea LaDeRoute, 21, went missing. Annibel was a suspect in her disappearance but was never arrested. Her remains were found in 2002 at a property belonging to the Pacific Lumber Company, of which, Annibel was an employee for thirteen years.

John Annibel, 64, is currently at Valley State Prison serving a life sentence for the 1998 murder of Debra Sloan. He became eligible for parole in 2018 but remains in custody after he was denied probation in 2021. Annibel is eligible to go before the parole board again in January of 2026. He will be 68 years old.

Sherry Smith will forever remain a spirited, 15-year-old girl in the memories of those who knew her. Her murder remains unsolved regardless of speculation.

HCSO asks that if anyone has information to share about this case, “please contact our Crime Tip Line at 707-268-2539, submit information using our Online Crime Tip Form, or email [email protected]. Please reference the case number associated with the case when reporting information.” The case number for the death of Sherry Lynn Smith is 197603718.

To read excerpts of Robert Scott’s book Deadfall for more detailed witness accounts and details about the murder of Sherry Smith, click here.

The coverage of Sherry Smith’s murder from the Eureka Times Standard was invaluable in writing this cold case article. 

*Sherry Smith’s name is spelled Sherrie by the Humboldt County Sheriff’s website for unsolved cases and in some articles from 1976. However, her baptism and obituary spelled her name Sherry, so that is the spelling we have used in this article.