HOMING IN ON CLUES -
Parents offer house for details in daughter's slaying
The Dallas Morning News - Sunday, April 18, 1993
Author: Tony Hartzel, Staff Writer of The Dallas Morning News

CARROLLTON -- Four years ago, Terrina "Jade" Chivers lost her life. Every day since then, her parents have devoted their lives to finding her killer.

Tom and Lori Chivers have spent most of their free time and $80,000 of their money tracing leads, only to have their hopes dashed when possible arrests fell through. They have converted an old bedroom into an office for their case files and built a scale model of their daughter's apartment complex in search of overlooked clues.

Now the lack of progress has led them in a new direction. They are offering an unusual reward to entice potential witnesses into telling police what they know: a $50,000 house.

"We've had a few years of not getting results,' Mr. Chivers said. "That makes you a little bitter.'

Jade Chivers , 22, was killed in her North Dallas apartment on the after noon of Aug. 13, 1989. She was found about 10 p.m. in what were then known as the Copenhagen Apartments in the 9800 block of Dale Crest Drive. She had been beaten and suffered eight to 10 stab wounds on her face and neck.

The Chiverses said they are frustrated with the Dallas Police Department's efforts to solve the case. With the help of a private investigator, the couple have turned up a number of clues and identified the man they believe killed their daughter. But none of the evidence has been enough for police to arrest the suspect, investigators said.

Homicide Detective Bobby Hammer of the Dallas Police Department, who has been the lead investigator of the slaying, said the case continues to frustrate him as well.

"We work every clue that comes into this office,' Detective Hammer said. "I'd love to clear this case, especially because it bothers them. But I can't create clues where there are no clues. I can't create witnesses where there are no witnesses.'

The Chiverses believe that someone can tell police that the man, one of Jade Chivers ' former co-workers at a home security company, killed her. So they are offering one of their seven rent homes to anyone with information to convict a suspect.

"We feel like there are three or four people who know who murdered Jade but are afraid to come forward,' Mrs. Chivers said. "We've spent everything we could get our hands on to try and find out who did this. It is our greatest hope that if they know the house is available, they'll talk and tell us what they know.'

The house, in north Carrollton, has a $17,000 mortgage but can be sold for a profit. The monthly payments also can be assumed or a new owner can continue using the property as a rent house. If the tipster decides to live there, he would assume the monthly payments, Mrs. Chivers said.

The detective said the case is still active, as are all homicides. But he had few clues to go on in the beginning and has not received anything substantial in several years, he said.

The detective added that he understands the Chiverses' frustration but defended the department's work on the case.

He said he also believes that the man identified by the Chiverses killed Jade but can't prove it. Several people have told police that the suspect was with them at the time of the slaying, and they have not changed their stories.

Since their daughter's slaying, the Chiverses have tracked down and talked to dozens of Jade 's friends and even a few of her enemies. They have grilled her co-workers, tracked down old boyfriends and kept computer files on suspects and possible witnesses.

In the office devoted to her case, they have filled a four-drawer file cabinet and begun a computer file.

" Jade was a computer expert,' Mr. Chivers said, looking over a photo album filled with his daughter's pictures and police reports about her slaying. "And now that she's gone, I've had to learn to run one of the things. And all that's on it is her.'

The Chiverses and Mike Collins, a private investigator, have also built a scale model of Jade Chivers ' entire apartment building. They have shown the model to Dallas police and now hope to use it to gain the interest of the television show Unsolved Mysteries.

Other recent television stories have not helped, Detective Hammer said. The Chivers case has been featured several times on the local Crime Stoppers feature, but police did not receive any new tips.

"I think anything could help,' the detective said of the new reward. "It could cause someone to come forward if they knew what happened. I'd love to clear this case. It's a shame the Police Department doesn't have that kind of money to offer that Mr. Chivers is offering with his house.'

Mrs. Chivers said her daughter is buried in a rural Wise County cemetery where Mrs. Chivers and her husband grew up, met and got married. She still takes flowers to Jade 's grave several times a year.

After four years, Mrs. Chivers said, she doesn't let herself get emotional when talking about her daughter. All her efforts, she said, should bring her daughter's case to a successful conclusion.

"We loved her dearly, and we miss her,' she said. "Finding out the answer would probably help us. But you never get over the death of a child.'

The Chiverses ask that anyone with information call the Texas Rangers at 214-226-5220 or their home at 214-242-2428. Detective Hammer also asked that anyone with information call Dallas police at 214-670-1633.

Caption: PHOTO(S): 1. Terrina ` Jade ' Chivers .was killed in her North Dallas apartment Aug. 13, 1989. 2. Tom and Lori Chivers display a poster offering a house for information leading to the conviction of the killer of their daughter, Terrina " Jade ' Chivers . (The Dallas Morning News: Paula Nelson); PHOTO LOCATION: 1. Violent Deaths-Metro-C. 2. (filed with) Crime Victims (cf 60187).