Case Details
- Photo URLs:
-
- Missing Since:
- Missing Since 07/28/1973
- Missing From:
- Missing From Wilber, Nebraska
- Classification:
- Classification Endangered Missing
- Gender:
- Male
- Race:
- Race White
- Date of Birth:
- Age:
- Age 76 years old
- Height and Weight:
- Height and Weight 5’6 – 5’10, 150 – 170 pounds
- Clothing/Jewelry Description:
- Distinguishing Characteristics:
- Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Dark hair. Frank is a native of Czechoslovakia.
- Details of Disappearance:
- Frank and Mary Olivas disappeared from their home in Wilber, Nebraska, on July 28, 1973. Neighbors saw them leave around 8-9 pm that night. A week later, their daughter-in-law discovered their house unlocked, with mail and milk piling up, but their beige 1958 Chevrolet (license plate 225-910) was gone. Mary’s purse and medicine were left behind.
Frank, a mason, carpenter, and farmer who immigrated to the US at 17, and Mary, a Nebraska native, had lived in Wilber since 1957. They had a close-knit life, rarely traveling far. Mary’s health was failing in 1973, and Frank had recently said he wouldn’t travel anymore. They had lost a daughter and Mary’s son from a previous marriage years before, leaving only their son, Frank Jr.
Two weeks before disappearing, Frank bought a road map of Kansas and Nebraska. This, along with Frank’s depression about Mary’s health and his stated refusal to put her in a nursing home, led authorities and Frank Jr. to believe they committed suicide together, possibly driving their car into a nearby sandpit. Searches yielded no results. Seven years later, they were declared legally dead, but their disappearance remains a mystery.
- Agency:
- Saline County Sheriff’s Department 402-821-2111
- Source Links:
This person was missing Missing Since 07/28/1973