Sunday, March 17, 2013
Mary Ann Verdecchia's disappearance rocked the Pittsburgh area in 1962.
One of the oldest and most memorable missing persons cases in southwestern Pennsylvania is that of Mary Ann Verdecchia, who disappeared from Pittsburgh's Bloomfield neighborhood on June 7, 1962. The 10-year-old had lived with her aunt in the five years after her parents separated. She had returned home after a half day of classes at Immaculate Conception School, changed out of her school uniform and went outside about 12:30 p.m. Witnesses saw Mary Ann go into the Martinique Apartments on Baum Boulevard. A woman resident who she ran errands for sent her to the store. She was seen going back into the apartment about 2:45 p.m. And that was the last reported sighting of her. About 6 p.m., her relatives began looking for her. They called police…
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Her family received threatening phone calls after she went missing from a man demanding money or "she's dead."
Amy L. Pugner chatted on the phone with her sister as she was painting her new apartment in Washington, Pa., where she had recently moved, on June 8, 2010. That was the last time Amy's sister spoke with her. Amy, a Latrobe native, had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and had a history of drug abuse, according to news reports. Her family considered the move a good thing—something that seemed to indicate that Amy, was getting her life together, leaving her demons behind and heading in the right direction. No one is sure when Amy was last seen, but likely it was June 9 or 10, 2010. Her family became alarmed when, a few days after that last phone call, a man used Amy's cell phone to make several threatening phone calls to them. He demanded …
Sunday, February 17, 2013
She was last heard from in June 2011, just after she moved back to Pittsburgh from Florida.
Amanda Marie Koller had moved back to the Pittsburgh area from Orlando, FL in May 2011. The 23-year-old did not establish or maintain a permanent address in the few short weeks after her return, according to her mother. On Sunday, June 12, 2011, she was stopped by Pittsburgh police and cited for operating a vehicle without a valid inspection and also without an emissions inspection. Her car, a purple 2005 Scion TC has a Pennsylvania license plate and also one from Florida, both of which expired in 2011. The license numbers are Pennsylvania GLH 0116 and Florida ANA 4580, according to the Pennsylvania Missing Persons website. She has not been seen nor heard from since. Amanda is described as 5-feet to 5-foot 5, about 100 to 150 pounds with …
Sunday, February 10, 2013
A man's body was found near Old Route 40 in Washington County in February 1972. The death was ruled a homicide, but authorities have never been able to identify the man.
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Sunday, February 10
An Avella resident was hitchhiking on Old Route 40 in Donegal Township, Washington County, about 9:20 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 18, 1972 when he spotted the badly decomposed body of a man. The man was down an embankment, about 65 feet south of the roadway. His skeletal remains were found in a briar thicket, near a small trash dump, about two miles west of Claysville. It was estimated that he had been there for about 8 to 10 weeks. The man's death was ruled a homicide, according to the Pennsylvania Missing Persons website. The man had gunshot wounds in his left torso, possibly from a .22-caliber weapon. While details about the man's appearance and clothing are many, there are no clues as to who he was, where he came from or why he died. The man …
Sunday, January 20, 2013
The Swissvale woman has not been seen since leaving her home on March 28, 2008.
It's been nearly five years since 30-year-old Faime Lynette Francis left her home in Swissvale and vanished. Faime is described at 5-foot-8, 115 pounds with black hair and dark brown eyes. According to the North American Missing Persons Network, she might wear a wig or add weave to her hair. She also wore an engagement-type ring on her left hand and often dressed in all black. Her disappearance concerned family members because she suffers from mental illness. She did not have her medicine with her when she left home. She has not been heard from since. She would turn 36 years old this May. Anyone with information is asked to call Swissvale Police Department at 412-271-0430. For more information about this and other missing person cases, …
Sunday, January 13, 2013
The Hazelwood woman took only her ID and Social Security cards when she left her home in 2006.
When Lonnett Myer Jackson left her home in the 5100 block of Chaplain Way in Pittsburgh's Hazelwood neighborhood sometime after 11 a.m. on April 11, 2006, she left behind her cell phone, keys and money. Relatives think she took her identification and Social Security cards, though. But she has not been seen or heard from since that day. At the time of her disappearance, Lonnett was 46 years old, 192 pounds and between 5-foot-3 to 5-foot-6. She had graying black hair and brown eyes, a surgical scar on the right side of her head near the hairline, a scar from a Cesarean section and pierced ears. She was dressed in a white undershirt, black sleeveless hooded jacket, dark blue warmup pants and white athletic shoes. She was also known by her …
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Ritter was the fourth young woman killed in seven months in Washington County in 1976-77.
The rape and strangulation death of Brenda Lee Ritter, 18, of North Strabane Township on May 19, 1977 is a case that still haunts police. Her death occurred as the fourth in a series of slayings of young women in Washington County. The murders of Deborah Capiola, Mary Irene Gency and Susan Rush left county residents on edge. The death of Barbara Lewis in Penn Hills within the same time frame left investigators wondering if her strangulation death was at the hands of the same killer. According to a Sept. 28, 2003 story in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Brenda left her boyfriend's home in Chartiers Township about 10:10 p.m. May 18, 1977 during a raging thunderstorm. Her boyfriend, Larry Bonazza, and his mother made sure the doors of Brenda's …
Sunday, December 23, 2012
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children lists Stefanie Mills as an endangered runaway.
Stefanie C. Mills has been missing from her home in Pittsburgh since March 7, 2002. At the time of her disappearance, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children considered her an endangered runaway. Today, she would be 26 years old. Stefanie, who goes by the nickname "Stef," is described as 5 feet, 6 inches tall, and was 110 pounds when she went missing a decade ago. She has black hair and brown eyes. She also has pierced ears and a scar on her right forearm. At the time, authorities felt she might travel to the Colorado Springs, Colorado area. Anyone having information about Stefanie should contact the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678 (1-800-THE-LOST) or the Pittsburgh Police Department at …
Sunday, December 16, 2012
The missing man was from Waynesburg but worked on a river boat owned by Tri-River Fleeting in Pittsburgh.
Robert Elmer Allison of Waynesburg, Greene County, worked on a river boat owned by Tri-River Fleeting, which is currently listed on West Carson Street in Pittsburgh. Allison reportedly left work on Dec. 21, 1994 and was headed for a bar in the west end of Pittsburgh. All of this belongings were found on the boat and he has not been seen since. Sources that list his disappearance say he was last seen "leaving Tri-River Fleeting in Bethel Park near Pittsburgh" but it is questionable as to why a river business is listed in Bethel Park. He was 42 years old at the time of his disappearance. Allison is described as being a white male with brown eyes and wearing glasses, brown hair and a fair complexion; about 5 feet, 9 inches; and 170 pounds. He…
Sunday, December 9, 2012
The Etna woman was last seen in Wilkins Township last December.
Last year, just about a week before Christmas, Joann Angel of Etna visited a relative's home in Wilkins Township. That day—Saturday, Dec. 17—was the last time anyone heard from her. She might have been spotted a few days later, on Wednesday, Dec. 21, at a gas station on Route 30 in the North Versailles/North Huntingdon area. She was last seen driving a dark-blue 2006 Chrysler Sebring with a black convertible top with the PA license number HMW-8034. In February, her family offered a $1,000 reward for information on her whereabouts, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Angel is described as 52 years old; 5 feet, three inches tall; 115 pounds, with a thin build. She has blonde hair and brown eyes. She suffers from seizures and might not …
