Police strongly suspect Mary’s husband, Earl, of being responsible. He was questioned many times, and in 2003, police searched their old house, even digging up the garage floor, but found nothing. Earl always claimed Mary left on her own, a claim her oldest son disputes, saying he saw his parents arguing that day and Earl told him not to look outside. The son suspects his mother’s body was hidden in a red blanket and buried nearby.

Earl remarried twice after Mary disappeared and died in 2007. Mary’s mother, after learning of the suspicions against Earl, confronted him about Mary’s death, but he didn’t respond and took the boys away. Some have speculated a connection to another woman’s disappearance in the same town years earlier, but police haven’t found a link. Essentially, Mary disappeared without a trace, and while foul play is suspected, there’s not enough evidence to solve the case.