Found Deceased CA - Mary Louise Day, 12, Seaside, 1980

[Mysteries1974]

I was considering putting her on my website but there’s too many confusing factors. Like the investigators said, this is probably the craziest case I’ve ever read in my years of watching and reading about missing people. I hope what happened has been found

 

[forthelost]

Honestly, with both DNA matches there's a lot more conspiracy in believing that this Mary is somehow an impostor.

Marx Barnes is still the craziest missing case I've ever seen, but this one's wild too.

 

[Mysteries1974]

Honestly, with both DNA matches there's a lot more conspiracy in believing that this Mary is somehow an impostor.

Marx Barnes is still the craziest missing case I've ever seen, but this one's wild too.

I was thinking that there must’ve been something bigger to suggest the imposter theory that investigators aren’t revealing

 

[katydid23]

So I just watched that 48 Hour Special on Mary Louise Day tonight. It seemed pretty finalised, proof wise, that she did run away, lived briefly with another family, then ran away again at 14, and lived on the streets. Then she did return to her family and take the DNA test.

In the Special, there was a picture of her at age 13, living with a family that took her in. A single Mom with 2 daughters. They interviewed this woman and she had pictures of Mary with her family while she lived with them.

A facial expert used computer facial recognition on the pictures of her and said 100% that was Mary.

During her time as a young teen, she used her real name to get her drivers license. She has her birth certificate sent to her so she could get her drivers license. They looked that up and she did apply for and receive that drivers license.

They interviewed Mary, on her deathbed with 4th level Cancer----and she had no reason to lie, in my opinion. She very sincerely explained it all. She really is Mary.


Author
48 Hours Tara Ormsby Castellitto Tomorrow night at 10/9c on CBS or CBS All Access. You can also watch it on demand or at 48Hours.com the day after it airs!

 

[katydid23]

One of the reasons that she was thought to be an imposter seemed silly to me. They said she talked with a Southern accent, and their language expert said she would have had to live there in childhood to speak with that accent.

NOOOOO, I disagree totally. She left home at 13 and was on the streets. She could have picked up the dialect that she liked and began mimicking that. Many people acquire an accent when they move to a new region.

 

[Murkywaters]

I just saw the program, I remember Mary Day from when she was a missing person. I was pleasantly surprised when i heard that she had been found but always wondered what her story was. I know now she was a survivor.

I still can't believe how the detectives knew that the DNA test came back positive and yet didn't believe her and still had her listed as missing and kept searching for a body that didn't exist. It's a good example of how destructive tunnel vision can be to an investigation.

 

[scruffydog]

Having just heard about this case, and now reading everything I can find about it... some things bother me. The family that she lived with- the mother specifically said “we got her when she was...”. How did they “get” her??

 

[katydid23]

Having just heard about this case, and now reading everything I can find about it... some things bother me. The family that she lived with- the mother specifically said “we got her when she was...”. How did they “get” her??

From what I have gleaned, she was pretty much a street kid, living with older runaway kids. And she befriended this daughter of 'Louise'---a single mom with 2 kids.

And she told them she was bit older than she really was and said she had run away from an abusive home...She stayed with them for a year or so and then ran away again...

 

[Jake479]

I haven't read the full story yet, but I'm happy she's been found and is no longer missing. RIP Mary

 

[Minnesotaloon]

Wait why does this thread say found deceased when they found her alive, she just had died later of cancer.

 

[PayrollNerd]

Wait why does this thread say found deceased when they found her alive, she just had died later of cancer.

Good point. It should say found or maybe resolved?

 

[annemc2]

Good point. It should say found or maybe resolved?

Or the ubiquitous "recovered/located?"

 

[scruffydog]

What do all of you think about the fact that the cadaver dogs hit on the spot where the sister said they weren't allowed to play? (in their back yard I believe). And when they dug-they found a little girls shoe-but probably much too small to belong to Mary. But-the sister recognised the shoe as the same as the Keds tennis shoes that they wore? I personally believe that the parents killed/abused more than 1 little girl. I do believe that one of their children was buried there-at least for some period of time, and then moved. And whether or not this woman was Mary, it seems very telling that both sisters were skeptical.

 

[kelsie]

What do all of you think about the fact that the cadaver dogs hit on the spot where the sister said they weren't allowed to play? (in their back yard I believe). And when they dug-they found a little girls shoe-but probably much too small to belong to Mary. But-the sister recognised the shoe as the same as the Keds tennis shoes that they wore? I personally believe that the parents killed/abused more than 1 little girl. I do believe that one of their children was buried there-at least for some period of time, and then moved. And whether or not this woman was Mary, it seems very telling that both sisters were skeptical.

Perhaps the father hurt someone else they didn't know about and buried them there (pure speculation), hence why they weren't allowed to play there

 

[Mysteries1974]

What do all of you think about the fact that the cadaver dogs hit on the spot where the sister said they weren't allowed to play? (in their back yard I believe). And when they dug-they found a little girls shoe-but probably much too small to belong to Mary. But-the sister recognised the shoe as the same as the Keds tennis shoes that they wore? I personally believe that the parents killed/abused more than 1 little girl. I do believe that one of their children was buried there-at least for some period of time, and then moved. And whether or not this woman was Mary, it seems very telling that both sisters were skeptical.

I still think the body buried back there could’ve been Mary. This is my personal opinion and I know everyone else has their own but I also remain skeptical of the whole case. I’ve seen so many strange cases with such horrid circumstances but this one will always take the cake for me.

 

[scruffydog]

I still think the body buried back there could’ve been Mary. This is my personal opinion and I know everyone else has their own but I also remain skeptical of the whole case. I’ve seen so many strange cases with such horrid circumstances but this one will always take the cake for me.

It creeps me out that the cadaver dogs hit on scents of cadavers at 2 of the homes where the families lived. With the girls being in and out of foster homes-there very well could have been additional children born, (and killed) that they knew nothing about. So just because her DNA matched the parents-that does not prove that this WAS Mary, it just proved that she was one of their children. I am totally skeptical of her really being Mary-I completely doubt that she would have forgotten the inheritance, and also what about the fact that we are supposed to believe that after being beat to a bloody pulp, that she ran away? So nobody saw a bloody, beaten young teenager and called the police?

 

[Mysteries1974]

It creeps me out that the cadaver dogs hit on scents of cadavers at 2 of the homes where the families lived. With the girls being in and out of foster homes-there very well could have been additional children born, (and killed) that they knew nothing about. So just because her DNA matched the parents-that does not prove that this WAS Mary, it just proved that she was one of their children. I am totally skeptical of her really being Mary-I completely doubt that she would have forgotten the inheritance, and also what about the fact that we are supposed to believe that after being beat to a bloody pulp, that she ran away? So nobody saw a bloody, beaten young teenager and called the police?

Exactly, I don’t think we should definitively say that the woman is Mary because what if they find a body that matches the DNA of her parents. Who’s that then??? I think they should at least keep her NamUs profile as private and keep her DNA on file.

 

[PayrollNerd]

It creeps me out that the cadaver dogs hit on scents of cadavers at 2 of the homes where the families lived. With the girls being in and out of foster homes-there very well could have been additional children born, (and killed) that they knew nothing about. So just because her DNA matched the parents-that does not prove that this WAS Mary, it just proved that she was one of their children. I am totally skeptical of her really being Mary-I completely doubt that she would have forgotten the inheritance, and also what about the fact that we are supposed to believe that after being beat to a bloody pulp, that she ran away? So nobody saw a bloody, beaten young teenager and called the police?

Back then, no. You were taught to mind your own business. No one bothered to report my mother in 1970. We were left alone without food for days. There were 5 of us and we ranged from 15 months to 11 years old. We stole food from the convenience store and from neighbors gardens. It was our mother's mother that came on vacation from another state that noticed what was going on. She is the one who got the bio fathers involved, testified in court, etc.

Child abuse has a much broader definition these days and it is widely publicized. There are mandatory reporters who are trained to spot it. I am one who believes Mary was Mary mainly due to the DNA. It is possible that Mary was beaten badly enough that evidence with blood or DNA was buried in that yard. Once her parents knew they were going to be dogs, they removed it. JMO

 

[Mysteries1974]

I have since revised my opinion. I now believe that the woman they found in 2003 and who died in 2017 was in fact Mary Louise Day and what was left of her broken spirit. The time she stayed with Morie Kimmel is probably the only happy time she had in her short life. Rest In Peace Mary Louise Day ( February 19th 1968 - 2017)

 

[aThousandYearsWide]

Wow! I have always wondered about her case being she was so young when she left. Still a lot of questions!

My theories are:

• The body hits in the yard are siblings or babies that died at the hands of their parents (they really did act weird during their interrogation)
• Mary was a twin that got separated at birth for some reason (they didn't actually explain when and why they were put in foster care multiple times. Sister Sherrie got separated so there is reason to believe another sibling could have). Maybe the girl who stayed with the Kimmels was actually her twin.
• She didn't run away she was ordered to leave by her Mom and step Dad. Being the oldest she may have caught on to something they were doing and was old enough now to out them.
• Her step-Father could have been a serial killer. I am really interested in seeing if there was any children missing at the time and location they lived at these residences. Could she have found out and been ordered to leave? She was left alone and could have stumbled upon something. Could the Step-Dad have gotten in legal trouble if it was found out he was physical with Mary again?
• Her lack of remembering is due to trauma or she's lying to avoid talking about it. I've heard of that happening before to PTSD victims. One person completely blacked out a sexual assault but it would slowly come back in her dreams.

Questions I have:

• Did they ever find out who Monica Devereaux was? I mean (running with the twin theory) could that be her sister's name?
• Would they be able to access the Mom's birth delivery records? She could also have had the children at home while the others were in foster care but why?
• What's the deal with questioning the Southern accent? She could have picked it up from where ever she stayed from 1982-2003. To be honest, southern accents are pretty easy to pick-up if you are around them enough (I live around it).
• Why was one shoe left? The strangest thing is the body hit findings. Was DNA found on it? Was a description ever released? I have seen the pictures but what size, brand, color.

Just to be clear, I have no idea if It is Mary or not. DNA says yes, parents acting strange and body hits in the yard are very suspicious. I am leaning more towards the Step-Dad being a killer and Mary found out about it and was forced to leave and is so traumarized by him that she has developed voluntary memory loss.