Megan Elizabeth Garner-Missing 23 Years

ON March 27, 1991, 3 year old Megan Garner was at a playground near her family's residence, on Paluxy Drive in Tyler, Texas. She was with her brother and cousin at the time. The kids were last seen on the playground at 11:00 AM. Megan's cousin and brother turned away from her for a few moments and she vanished. Megan has never been seen again.
At the time Megan vanished, she was 3 years old, 3'2" tall and weighed 30 pounds. She has brown hair and brown eyes. Megan has shadows beneath her eyes and slightly heavy legs. She is right handed.
The day Megan vanished, she was wearing a long sleeved-pink blouse, a tri-colored t-shirt (green, pink and blue) with horizontal stripes, pink corduroy pants, blue socks and blue Reebock sneakers with a blue trim.
For a while, Megan was thought to be an unidentified female child found in New York in 1991. After Megan's family submitted DNA for testing, it came up as NOT a match. Megan's case is classified as a non family abduction, so her family is cleared of suspicion.


Megan Garner vanished in 1991 while playing outside.

Now, there is not much news or information on Megan's disappearance, but there is another little girl's who bears a strong physical characteristic to Megan, who vanished two year before Megan in a similar way. Her name is Jenna Ray Robbins, and she vanished at 9 years old on May 14, 1989 from outside her family's residence on North 4th Street in Killeen, Texas. She was last seen playing outside in the yard of her residence with her 6 year old friend. When her 6 year old friend was interviewed, she said a man drove up in a new looking light grey or silver two door Dodge or Plymouth sedan around 5:30 PM. The man was Caucasian, looked between 20 and 22, and had brown hair which was slicked back. Jenna's friend said he enticed her to get in his car, saying he would buy something for her if she did. The man tried to get the 6 year old child in the car as well, but she became scared and ran away. The car, with Jenna in it, was last seen driving West on Garrison Ave in Killeen, Texas. Jenna has never been seen or heard from again. After Jenna vanished, there was a report of an unknown man trying to lure another child in his car. The child's description of the man matched the description of Jenna's abductor. The man has never been identified.

Jenna Robbins was abducted from outside her family's residence in 1989.

After hearing about Jenna's unsolved abduction, I had been thinking about whether or not the man who took Jenna also took Megan. To me, the girls look similar, the circumstances (trying to lure children playing with friends from playgrounds or yards into the car) are similar, and it's within the same time frame, in Texas. And if there were more reports from within the area of attempted child abductions, that means whoever took Jenna did not stop. I do not think she was his first victim or his last.

 Kimberly Norwood disappeared less then a mile from home after separating from her friends. Photo Credit: CharleyProject.org)

 A few days after Jenna's abduction and a second report of a man trying to lure another little girl into his car, 12 year-old Kimberly Rachelle Norwood was last seen walking with three friends around 5:15 PM with three friends by Craney Creek Estates subdivisions in her Hallsville, Texas neighborhood on May 20, 1989. The four children went their separate ways less then a mile from Kimberly's home. Kim never made it home, and has not been see since. Kimberly vanished 45 minutes away from where Megan Garner did, and 3.5 hours away from where Jenna Robbins was seen getting into a vehicle with an unknown man. Kimberly's family say she loves horses and was very smart in school, and her nicknames were Kim and Kimbo. Her family still searches for her to this day, and will continue to until they find answers.

In 1999, Opal Jennings was abducted from outside her grandmother's yard, and killed by Ricky Franks.

Another piece to this puzzle is a case that has been solved already-that of Opal Jo Jennings, a 6 year old little girl who was abducted in broad daylight in March 1991 in Saginaw, Texas, while playing with friends in the front yard of her grandmother's house. It would be years and years later ( in 2004) until her skull was recovered, confirming the 6 year old's fate. Her convicted killer, in prison for life, is Richard "Ricky" Franks. He had enticed Opal to go with him in his car to buy her something, then killed her with blows to the head. I am not sure how old Franks was when he took Opal, but I know he does have brown hair, and would try to entice kids into his car in broad daylight, while playing outside with friends.
Opal's abduction reminds me eerily of Jenna's. I am sure if one of the children witnessed Megan's abduction, it would be a similar report to these girls. I wonder if Ricky Franks has ever been looked into for Megan or Jenna's abductions. Judging from distance, Saginaw and Tyler are 2 hours and 15 minutes away from each other, and Tyler and Killeen are three and a half hours away. Being these cases are a couple of years apart, three hours is not much time at all. I think all three of these child abductions have too much in common to ignore. They stand apart from all the other missing children cases I have looked at in Texas. All vanished when they were alone or with a friend of their own age, usually by their home. That makes me think this predator may have been scaling the neighborhood or following kids home from school or the park. Perhaps he just watched them until he learned their schedules. All were taken near their homes, and it seems like someone drove right up to them, lured them in the car and drove off, which is very similar to the Opal Jennings abduction and murder. All girls physically resemble one another. They had fair skin, dark hair and brown eyes. I am hoping Ricky Franks has been looked at in all three disappearances.
In fact, at first, I though child serial killer David Penton may have been responsible for the disappearance of these three girls. He was known for taking young school girls who were playing in front of their yard with friends or unsupervised by adults. He murdered three young girls in Texas and one in Ohio. He is still suspected in five more missing children's cases. They are Angelica Gandara, Ara Johnson, Tanisha Watkins, Amber Crum. All these girls are from Texas, with the exception of Shannon Sherrill who went missing from Indiana. The reason I don't believe Penton is responsible for Jenna, Megan or Kimberly's disappearances is because he has been incarcerated in Ohio since 1987, and will stay there until he is eligible for parole in 2027. Megan, Jenna and Kimberly all vanished after he was incarcerated, meaning someone else picked up where Penton left off. Who took these girls?

Age progressions of Megan (L) and Jenna (R).

Please remember the families of Megan Garner, Jenna Robbins and Opal Jennings this holiday season. I pray closure will come for the families of Megan and Jenna. If anyone has ANY information about the disappearances of Jenna Robbins and Megan Garner,  or any other attempted abductions within the area at this time frame, PLEASE come forward!

Tyler Police Department

1-900-531-1000

OR

1-800-THELOST

If you have any information on the disappearance of Kimberly Rachelle Norwood, please contact:

Age progression of Kimber Norwood.

Harrison County Sheriff's Office
903-935-4888



SOURCES:
Jenna Robbins
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/r/robbins_jenna.html
Megan Garner:
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/g/garner_megan.html
http://www.kltv.com/story/5959340/east-texas-investigators-encouraged-by-discovery-of-missing-missouri-boys
Kimberly Norwood
http://www.news-journal.com/news/local/cleveland-case-gives-new-hope-to-families-of-missing-east/article_b5226f62-e2ef-5939-b2db-c7e69913197c.html
http://projectjason.org/forums/topic/728-missing-woman-kimberly-norwood-tx-05201989/
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/n/norwood_kimberly.html
Opal Jennings
And Never See Her Again by Patricia Springer
http://www.amazon.com/Never-Again-Pinnacle-True-Crime/dp/0786017058/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top