A Texas Teen Vanished During a Donut Shop's Morning Shift. 3 Days Later She Was Found Dead — So Who Killed Her? By KC Baker

A Texas teen was found dead in the summer of 1985 and now authorities are taking a renewed look at the case to try to find her killer.

Early on June 23, 1985, Jennifer Leigh Day, 14, was working by herself at her part-time weekend job at Preston Donuts in Dallas, according to the Plano Police Department.

At 5:35 a.m., Jennifer spoke on the phone with the donut shop owner to confirm that she had made it to work, police said, adding that she spoke to a customer until about 6:20 a.m. that Sunday.

Fifteen minutes later, at approximately 6:35 a.m., a customer came into the shop and found it empty.

Jennifer was nowhere to be seen but her belongings had been left behind.

According to police, there was no money missing from the cash register and Jennifer’s purse and jewelry were located on the counter.

Shortly after, she was reported missing, with her family worrying about what could have happened to the young teenager.

“Instantly, I was thinking something’s wrong,” her brother, Jeff Day, told CBS News Texas. “And then seeing the police presence at the shop made it — that drove it home to me. In my mind, she had probably been abducted and… it was brutal. I have a hard time even talking about it now… the feelings that I went through… not knowing.”

The search for Jennifer came to a tragic end three days later on June 26, 1985.

An excavation crew working near Preston Road and White Road in Plano — about 11 miles from the donut shop — discovered Jennifer’s naked and bloodied body.

She died after suffering multiple stab wounds to the neck, police said.

According to her obituary, “Jennifer Leigh Day was a sweet young lady that loved life. She was taken much too early, but she will never be forgotten by her family and those who knew her.”

Investigators started looking into the case and concluded that she had likely been abducted.

According to Plano police, one of the most promising leads came from a witness who parked in a lot across the street from the donut shop at approximately 6:32 a.m.

The witness told detectives that shortly after he arrived, he saw a male and a female get into a large, dark colored car in front of the donut shop and leave the parking lot.

Detectives searched for her killer but the case eventually went cold.

In 2024 or so, Jeff Day reached out to the Plano police chief to see if there was anything that could be done to help find his sister’s killer and bring the murderer to justice, CBS News Texas reported.

Soon after, he received a call from Detective Aaron Benzick, who he said was interested in taking a renewed look at the case as part of an initiative with the department and because of the nonprofit he started in 2023 called Solve the Case.

SolvetheCase.org provides free tools and services to help unsolved cases of murder, missing persons and serial offenses, according to the website. The public — nationwide — is invited to add a case to the website’s database for free and to solve a case to help families and law enforcement bring justice to victims.

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The site features a page full of forums where users can talk to one another about various cases.

Benzick tells PEOPLE he has been looking into Day’s case since 2024.

“Others before me have been keeping updated on it,” he says. “This case has been regularly visited over the years to review any possible paths to move the investigation forward.”

“Specifically in recent years, new abilities to process items of evidence for DNA is a focus we use to look at helping unsolved cases,” Benzick says. “In combination with any new DNA techniques, we also want to promote our cold cases publicly to solicit tips and identify witnesses that would be willing to come forward and help provide information that they know on these cases.”

“The family is appreciative of helping keep her story alive,” he adds.

Anyone with information on the Jennifer Day case can email: [email protected]. The case page was last updated on July 8, 2025.