WA WA - Mary Frances Hunter, 35, Oak Harbor, 1 September 1996

[sasha17]

Mary Frances Hunter (also called "Fran" or "Francine") was last seen by a member outside of her immediate family on Sunday, September 1, 1996 at her residence at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Oak Harbor, WA. Mary left behind two children, a husband, her dog, and vehicle.

NamUs #MP4476 - The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

"She took no credit cards, clothes, money, or her driver's license, and she left a significant amount of cash in her bank account. [Her husband] Derek reported her as a missing person to authorities on September 3, 1996, two days after she was last seen. After her disappearance, he claimed that Mary was withdrawing money from her bank account at ATMs, but security cameras at the ATMs showed Derek withdrawing the funds using Mary's ATM card. Derek also took Mary's name off of his insurance policy and attempted to do the same with their jointly owned vehicles, so he could sell them."
Mary Frances Hunter – The Charley Project

 

[sasha17]

"Her husband, Navy Lt. Derek Hunter, told police he last saw her at the Cascade Mall in Burlington Sept. 2, 1996.The investigation into her mysterious disappearance – which has involved the Navy Criminal Investigative Service, Burlington police, the FBI and even TV’s Unsolved Mysteries – led agents to the woods near officer’s Capehart housing on the NAS Whidbey Seaplane Base early this year. But her body was never found."

http://www.whidbeynewstimes.com/news/cold-cases-unsolved-murders-disappearances-haunt-island/

 

[sasha17]

7 years to the date of Mary's disappearance, her husband, Derek Hunter, killed himself.

"Mary Frances Hunter -- a disappearance that led to a maddening multiple-agency murder investigation, with Lieutenant Hunter as the prime suspect. Homicide cases with no bodies are legal hair-pullers, and this one came with few clues, a tangle of hearsay, nagging questions and an uncooperative suspect. [Derek] Hunter was chased, but never charged..."

Seattle Post-Intelligencer - Google Groups

"He was treated for depression, alcoholism, and post-traumatic stress disorder in the years after his retirement, and suffered from fainting spells and occasional episodes of amnesia. He left several notes, including one which stated that Mary had committed suicide and at her request he would never reveal the location of her body. Investigators believe Derek, who is described as a possessive and controlling husband, may have murdered Mary."

Mary Frances Hunter – The Charley Project

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Mary is not forgotten.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Moving Mary Frances' case back up. Maybe someday she will be found.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Could someone please list her exclusions?
Just did a quick search. Does anyone have thoughts regarding:

NamUs #UP5691

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

or

NamUs #UP11755

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

It sounds like LE really tried to resolve her case, though...

 

[spartanx]

This case reminds me a lot of Dooren Marfeo's... her husband Stephen Marfeo also didn't know what happened to her, she was never found and ended up committing suicide... he also left letters indicating what could have happened to his wife... these cases have several points of view, although the husband's excuse of saying that he left her alone with an unknown man in the parking lot seems very weak to me... there are no videos from the mall or anyone who can confirm the story... the saddest thing of all are the children who were orphaned in the end... I think the unknown man never existed... the only one who knew the truth is no longer here either... I don't know what was going through his mind besides the bullet he made with his wife... humans are so strange...
whatever it is
Rest in peace