On the evening of Wednesday, July 10, 1991, gunshots rang out inside room 121 of the Whitehall Motel on West Hillsboro Street in El Dorado, Arkansas. Police arrived to find a young woman shot execution-style in the back of the head. Her murderer, James McAlphin, confessed to killing her, but claimed he only knew her by various false names. For thirty-one years, the web of stolen identities surrounding "El Dorado Jane Doe" was one of the South's most intricate cold cases.
The Web of False Identities
The victim was approximately 20 to 30 years old, 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighing 150 pounds, with auburn hair and blue eyes. In her purse and wallet, detectives found identification cards under the names Cheryl Ann Wick, Kelly Lee Carr, Shannon Wiley, and Mercedes Fuller.
When Union County detectives contacted the real Cheryl Ann Wick in Minneapolis, Minnesota, she was shocked: her social security card and birth certificate had been stolen from her wallet years earlier. The decedent had lived across Texas, Florida, and Arkansas using Wick's identity to secure employment as a topless dancer and telephone operator, constantly evading law enforcement whenever background checks threatened to expose her real name.
Chronological Case Timeline
| Date / Year | Location | Event / Investigative Milestone |
|---|---|---|
| July 10, 1991 | El Dorado, AR | Victim shot in room 121 of Whitehall Motel; James McAlphin convicted of second-degree murder. |
| 1991–2010 | National Sleuthing | FBI, Arkansas State Police, and Websleuths track stolen alias trails across 5 states; zero true name leads. |
| 2019 | DNA Doe Project | Union County Captain Ricky Roberts submits preserved blood samples to the DNA Doe Project. |
| 2020–2021 | Genealogical Analysis | Genealogists untangle complex endogamy and adopted parentage spanning Florida and Virginia. |
| May 24, 2022 | El Dorado, AR | DNA Doe Project and Union County SO announce she is Kelly L. Dye of Mount Dora, FL. |