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

[SophIsSuspicious]

Hi, I'm new to Websleuths. In the past, I've read some threads but just made an account so I could comment on this case. After watching the 48 Hours episode, some things still seem off to me:

I know it was a different time but I have a hard time believing that nobody called the police (or even has since come forward) saying that they saw a young girl alone with a head injury. It just seems odd to me that if someone saw her, they never mentioned it to anyone.

I'm also confused about the ages of the siblings. Earlier in the thread, fjallar answers a question and says that he isn't 100% sure but he believed that S. is older than Mary and K., but in the 48 Hours episode, they say S. was 10 and K. was 11 when Mary (13) went missing. I'm confused by this because he said he was still in touch with S. Is it possible 48 Hours got it wrong?

Fjallar also wrote that his parents said they filed a police report but the police don't have a record of it. I don't know much about it but isn't there a special police unit for the military? Or maybe that didn't exist back then? Assuming her mom and step-father did report her missing to the police, did they ever follow up? That would have at least alerted police to this missing child again if there actually was an error when it was first reported.

Also, 48 Hours says that Mary had never been enrolled in school in California. Why not?

I really want to believe that the Mary they found is the right one but something feels off to me. I hope the family at least finds comfort. Such a sad story.

 

[annemc2]

This is likely a repeat of the 2020 48 Hours documentary but it's been recently posted on YouTube. Thought I'd link it here just in case.

 

[TwinkieDefense]

Jan 20, 2025 article - no clue what all this means?

Inside the Mystery of Girl Who Vanished from Her Mom’s Home — Then Reappeared 700 Miles Away, 22 Years Later

Mary Louise Day's 1981 disappearance has left her family members asking questions for decades.

people.com

[…]

Interrogations, DNA tests, and forensic photographic analysis eventually led investigators to the truth – one that Mary Louise Day’s sisters and detectives alike have still struggled to come to terms with.

[…]

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Mary Day in 1981; A woman claiming to be Mary Day

“Is this Mary Day or an imposter?” ID asks in the trailer for its new episode, which includes interviews with May's sister Sherrie Calgaro and investigators who have long asked the same question

Inside the Mystery of Girl Who Vanished from Her Mom’s Home — Then Reappeared 700 Miles Away, 22 Years Later

Mary Louise Day's 1981 disappearance has left her family members asking questions for decades.

people.com

 

[scruffydog]

Mary Day in 1981; A woman claiming to be Mary Day

“Is this Mary Day or an imposter?” ID asks in the trailer for its new episode, which includes interviews with May's sister Sherrie Calgaro and investigators who have long asked the same question

Inside the Mystery of Girl Who Vanished from Her Mom’s Home — Then Reappeared 700 Miles Away, 22 Years Later

Mary Louise Day's 1981 disappearance has left her family members asking questions for decades.

people.com

I do not agree that she was the real Mary Day. However, I do concede that she was a sister of Mary Day. Something I've wondered about-I've only read that the DNA confirmed that they had the same mother...what about the father?? I think Mary was brutally murdered by the abusive SF, and her mother didn't care enough to report it.

 

[Aegon_the_Conqueror]

Just learned about this case on the HBO Max show "The Curious Case of..." Fascinating and heartbreaking story, even without the imposter angle, which seemed far-fetched. Her mother and stepfather were/are despicable people, no question... if I was their kid, I would've run away to Casey Anthony's house to get away from them. I agree with an earlier post that said that the memory loss could be due to brain damage, from head trauma (at the hands of her stepfather or someone else she met over the subsequent decades) and/or addiction. As for the cadaver dogs, can they tell the difference (after 20+ years) between human decomposition and that of, say, a family dog? Bringing in another daughter to sub-in for Mary could have been pulled off (although her parents didn't seem that bright), and was certainly plausible considering the mother's horizontal pastimes, but there doesn't seem to be anything to the theory other than the coincidence of timing. I can see how the siblings could've had their suspicions. But how likely would it have been for the mother to maintain contact with an older daughter without ANY of the others ever finding out? There's no guarantee that she would've been willing to help out an absent mother by playing the part for years, even for money. But the aspect that makes the least sense to me is how she was located. There would've been some urgency to be discovered if they were being investigated for murder. After 3 weeks, she was found by accident, when they happened to run the licenses of the PASSENGERS during a traffic stop. She could've just sped past a cop while texting. Instead she brought 3 people down with her. The name, Monica Devereux, could've been completely made up to match her initials; there is a little-known actress by that name (her husband is more known). My initial thought was that maybe she was a fan of "Friends" and "The Golden Girls".

 

[Alleykins]

Just learned about this case on the HBO Max show "The Curious Case of..." Fascinating and heartbreaking story, even without the imposter angle, which seemed far-fetched. Her mother and stepfather were/are despicable people, no question... if I was their kid, I would've run away to Casey Anthony's house to get away from them. I agree with an earlier post that said that the memory loss could be due to brain damage, from head trauma (at the hands of her stepfather or someone else she met over the subsequent decades) and/or addiction. As for the cadaver dogs, can they tell the difference (after 20+ years) between human decomposition and that of, say, a family dog? Bringing in another daughter to sub-in for Mary could have been pulled off (although her parents didn't seem that bright), and was certainly plausible considering the mother's horizontal pastimes, but there doesn't seem to be anything to the theory other than the coincidence of timing. I can see how the siblings could've had their suspicions. But how likely would it have been for the mother to maintain contact with an older daughter without ANY of the others ever finding out? There's no guarantee that she would've been willing to help out an absent mother by playing the part for years, even for money. But the aspect that makes the least sense to me is how she was located. There would've been some urgency to be discovered if they were being investigated for murder. After 3 weeks, she was found by accident, when they happened to run the licenses of the PASSENGERS during a traffic stop. She could've just sped past a cop while texting. Instead she brought 3 people down with her. The name, Monica Devereux, could've been completely made up to match her initials; there is a little-known actress by that name (her husband is more known). My initial thought was that maybe she was a fan of "Friends" and "The Golden Girls".

I can't recall if I watched the HBO show on this case, but I do know it's possible for a missing person to remain in contact with a family member with no one else knowing. Anita Drake kept in contact with her younger sister for years. No one knew about their contact. She never said anything to anyone about Anita's disappearance, simply let them think what they wanted to think about it. The sister only fessed up when Anita's daughter discovered her mother wasn't who she said she was and began researching her true identity. Only then did the sister feel it was time to reveal the secret: Anita wasn't murdered all those years ago, like her whole family assumed, but had run away and started a new life at the age of 15. The sister also had a sneaking suspicion that Anita had passed away, her death totally unrelated to her disappearance, when all contact ceased. The hang up calls the family sometimes received during holidays they attributed to Anita's murderer were most likely Anita trying to contact her sister.

 

[Aegon_the_Conqueror]

I can't recall if I watched the HBO show on this case, but I do know it's possible for a missing person to remain in contact with a family member with no one else knowing. Anita Drake kept in contact with her younger sister for years. No one knew about their contact. She never said anything to anyone about Anita's disappearance, simply let them think what they wanted to think about it. The sister only fessed up when Anita's daughter discovered her mother wasn't who she said she was and began researching her true identity. Only then did the sister feel it was time to reveal the secret: Anita wasn't murdered all those years ago, like her whole family assumed, but had run away and started a new life at the age of 15. The sister also had a sneaking suspicion that Anita had passed away, her death totally unrelated to her disappearance, when all contact ceased. The hang up calls the family sometimes received during holidays they attributed to Anita's murderer were most likely Anita trying to contact her sister.

Hmm, interesting. I'm sure it's possible, but it just didn't seem likely to me. For one thing, the mother wanted nothing to do with the kids she did keep.

You may not have seen the show on HBO Max. It came out earlier this week. Only the 2nd episode of this show.

 

[Aegon_the_Conqueror]

This is one case where, as infuriating as wrongful convictions are, I wouldn't have felt too sympathetic if these parents ended up going to jail for murdering someone that was alive, because they couldn't have done more to make themselves look as guilty as possible. To quote Tony Soprano, they might as well have left a f'n urine sample.

 

[Unalienable Rights]

Murder Victim or Runaway: What Really Happened to Mary Day, the "Girl Who Died Twice" - E! Online

Mary Day, 13, disappeared without a trace in 1981. ID's The Curious Case of...The Girl Who Died Twice dove into what happened after a woman claiming to be Mary surfaced 22 years later.

www.eonline.com

February 2, 2025