#barbarahackmann

Wilbur Riddle was off of route 25, collecting glass telephone pole insulators. He then found what looked like to be a bundled up green tarp. With a little prod from his foot, Riddle had sent the bundle of green tarp unfurling down the embankment. The green tarp unraveled to reveal a funny looking shape. Upon closer inspection, Riddle realized that it was a body. He ran to the nearest gas station to call the sheriff with this startling new information.

When the sheriff came and cut open the rest of the tarp, he was met with a gristly image. A white, teenage, girl with short, brown, hair; frozen in the position of trying to escape.

She had been dubbed “Tent Girl” for the time being, at least until someone came and claimed her. But, nobody did. Despite all the effort the police made, she was left to rot there, alone and forgotten.

It would be 3 years until “Tent Girl’s” body would be laid to rest. In 1971, she was finally buried in Georgetown Cemetery. Her story leaves us with a heartbreaking epitaph:

Tent Girl

Found May 17, 1968

On U.S. Highway 25, N.

Died about April 26 - May 3, 1968

Age about 16 - 19 years

Height 5 Feet 1 Inch

Weight 110 to 115 Lbs.

Reddish Brown Hair

Unidentified

Some decades later, Todd Matthews had started dating Lori Riddle— Wilbur’s daughter. Lori recounted the story of “Tent Girl” to Todd, and eventually, he became somewhat obsessed with the cake. Todd had looked at all the press coverage, and compared them to missing persons reports at that time. However in the age of pre- internet, Matthews only had interviews and press coverage to help him. For a decade, Todd had gathered shreds and shards of information from varying sources, though none of them could be valuable in aiding Todd.

Advancements in technology were being discovered, and soon the age of internet would be born. Todd was able to use this to his advantage. Distance would no longer be a barrier.

One day on the internet, Todd stumbled across a community of people looking into different cold cases. Looking through the posts, he saw something that made his heart skip a beat. In 1998, Todd discovered a post from Arkansaw. A woman named Rosemary Westbrook was looking for her older sister

“My sister Barbara has been missing since the latter part of 1967. She has brown hair and brown eyes, about 5 feet 2 inches tall, and was last seen in the Lexington, Kentucky area.”

Todd soon made contact with Rosemary and patched her in with Kentucky’s forensics department. “Tent Girl” was exhumed on March 2, 1998. Her body was sent to Frankfort, Kentucky for DNA testing.  

Tent Girl’s identification confirmed her as 24 year old Barbara Ann Hackmann- Taylor.

Without her family’s knowledge, Barbara had moved to Kentucky. She left her husband, who was a carnival worker, and her 3 small children. Her husband George Earl Taylor, claimed that barbara had left him for another man and that he hasn’t seen her in years. When Barbara was identified, George had died of cancer in october of 1987..

George was never proven to be involved with the crime, yet Todd believes that he was the one who killed her.

In Georgetown cemetery, a new grave marker, under the old one, it says

“Bobbie”

Barbara Ann Hackmann

Sept.12, 1943 — Dec. 6, 1967