Nori Jenkins

Nori, circa 1986

  • Missing Since 07/20/1986
  • Missing From Topeka, Kansas
  • Classification Endangered Missing
  • Sex Female
  • Race Asian
  • Age 51 years old
  • Height and Weight 5'2, 115 pounds
  • Medical Conditions Nori suffers from severe mental illness and needs medications. She can become violent when she doesn't take them.
  • Distinguishing Characteristics Asian female. Black hair, black eyes. Nori was born in Japan. She has a scar on her left eyebrow.

Details of Disappearance

Nori was last seen in Topeka, Kansas on July 20, 1986. She left Topeka State Hospital that day and has never been heard from again.

Nori was born in Japan and married her husband, Harold Jenkins, in Okinawa while he was stationed there in the military. After they moved to the United States, they had two daughters. Nori was diagnosed with mental illness and treated for her condition in Montana.

On January 3, 1964, Nori dressed her children in their best clothes and strangled them with the cloth belt from her dress. Harold found the bodies when he came home work to their Topeka, Kansas apartment: Linda Louise, aged three, and Doris Marie, aged 23 months.

Nori was tried for two counts of first-degree murder in March of that year. Two doctors testified that she was insane, and she was found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to Topeka State Hospital for inpatient psychiatric treatment.

She was in and out of psychiatric hospitals throughout her adult life, and by the time of her 1986 disappearance she had also spent some time homeless and sleeping under bridges. The circumstances of her disappearance are unclear.

Investigating Agency

  • Topeka Police Department 785-368-9415

Updated 1 time since October 12, 2004. Last updated October 5, 2019; casefile added.