Family shares their reaction to discovery of missing Jackson woman

July 7, 2023

WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News Staff,

JACKSON, Tenn. — After 47 years, a local Jackson family is finally able to experience peace.

Courtesy: Associated Press

Jewell Langford was a well-known local woman who went missing in 1975 after taking a trip to Canada.

Her body was found in the Nation River, unidentified for 40 plus years.

Denise Chung, the niece of Langford, talked about her initial thoughts of the case.

“I had honestly given up and I did not think that we would ever know what [happened] to her. So this was just a blessing and I wish that I would have known that in Canada that they were working so hard to figure out who she was,” Chung said.

In 2020, the Centre of Forensic Sciences in Toronto were able to identify Langford’s body.

This will charge Rodney Nichols with murder by the Ontario Provincial Police.

Forensic scientists were able to identify her body with close relatives’ DNA samples. Chung, along with four other relatives, were able to help the OPP.

She was able to speak on behalf of the family after receiving the news that her case was solved.

“This proved to us that she really was loved by them and they were determined to put a name with her body,” Chung said.

Chung said that families in situations similar to hers to never give up and to not lose hope.

Currently, the date of the trial for Nichols is undetermined.

See the full interview below: