Case Details
- Photo URLs:
-
- Missing Since:
- Missing Since 12/14/1956
- Missing From:
- Missing From Gallup, New Mexico
- Classification:
- Classification Missing
- Gender:
- Female
- Race:
- Race Native American
- Date of Birth:
- Age:
- Age 32 years old
- Height and Weight:
- Height and Weight 5’6, 130 pounds
- Clothing/Jewelry Description:
- Clothing/Jewelry Description A white blouse, blue jeans and an engagement ring.
- Distinguishing Characteristics:
- Distinguishing Characteristics Native American female. Black hair, brown eyes. Downing may go by her middle name, Rae. Her maiden name is Alston and her previous married name is Pearce (sometimes spelled “Pierce”). Downing has moles on her back, and her ears are pierced.
- Details of Disappearance:
- In December 1956, a woman named Downing vanished from Gallup, New Mexico. She was driving a light-colored Ford car (cream or tan) from 1952 or 1954, and the car has never been found. There’s a possibility she briefly contacted her children by phone around 1959, but it’s unconfirmed. She’s been missing ever since.
Downing had lived in several states (Arkansas, Arizona, Texas, California, and New Mexico) and was going through a tough time when she disappeared. She’d recently broken up with someone and may have been seeing a police officer. Before she left, she told her daughter not to look for her. However, her five children believe she wouldn’t have abandoned them.
One idea is that she was murdered near Grants, New Mexico, or in the nearby lava fields (called the malpais). The police have never solved her disappearance.
- Agency:
- Gallup Police Department 505-863-9365
- Source Links:
This person was missing Missing Since 12/14/1956