WV WV - Mazie Sigmon Palmer, 25, Sissonville, 14 July 1979

[Tuck]

I've seen this case quite a few times recently in West Virginia missing persons groups, but as of yet it hasn't been added to the NAMUS database. There's a few photographs attached to the pages, but I'm not sure if I have permission to copy them over to here as of yet.

Name - Mazie May Sigmon Palmer

Last Seen - 07/14/1979

Missing From - Sissonville, West Virginia

Age - 25

Race - White

Sex - Female

Hair Color - Brown

Eye Color - Brown

Height - 66

Weight - 115

Medical Details - N/A

Clothing - N/A

Circumstances - The missing person was last seen at a residence on Grapevine Road in Sissonville. She had just gone through the process of a divorce, and at the time was living with her parents. Authorities searched the house and ascertained that no clothes or money had been taken with her.

Her mother passed away in 2018, and is survived by several sons and daughters. Mazie is listed as having preceded her in death in her obituary.

 

[Coffee56]

Elizabeth Stout

 

[Radar19792017]

She actually disappeared from downtown Charleston, WV between 12am-1am July 15th, 1979. The address listed WAS were she was living at the time, a relative of her mother's. She was in the company of 18 year old John Eric Farley at the time. Farley's remains were found 5 years later in Fayette, County. He had been shot, likely on the night/morning he disappeared. Our YouTube channel will be profiling these cases together in the next few weeks. Mysterious WV

 

[marsyao]

According to Charley Project Mazie Mae Sigmon-Palmer – The Charley Project

Sigmon-Palmer and Farley met that night at the Roarin' 20s, a now-defunct nightclub in the 200 block of Hale Street in Charleston. Sometime after 11:00 p.m., they hitched a ride together to the King's Inn nightclub in the 1600 block of Second Avenue. Before getting out of the vehicle, Sigmon-Palmer said "Oh, he's in there." The person driving the car didn't know who she was referring to, and she didn't specify.

They went inside the King's Inn and took a table on the ground floor with a friend. Sigmon-Palmer then said she was going to the second floor to talk to someone. A few minutes later, Farley followed her. Neither of them was ever seen alive again.

I wonder whether that "he" was her ex husband. Did LE talk to her ex husband I wonder ? Did he have an alibi ? I don't think they were kidnapped in the club, there would be too many people there to do that, most likely they met someone who invited them to some place to either party or discuss some private issue, then then were kidnapped, the target was Mazie, Farley was just at wrong place and wrong time, so he was shot right after the abduction. It was likely that Mazie was kept alive for a while for whatever reasons, but I don't think she lived very long after that

 

[Mysteries1974]

I added this Missing woman to Namus because she wasn’t on there:

She will be MP54794 when published

 

[Mysteries1974]

3951DFWV - Mazie Mae Sigmon Palmer

Name: Mazie Mae Sigmon Palmer
Case Classification: Involuntary Missing
Missing Since: July 14, 1979
Location Last Seen: Charleston,Kanawa County, West Virgina

Physical Description
Date of Birth: November 24, 1954
Age: 25 years old
Race: White
Gender: Female
Height: 5' 6"
Weight: 115 lbs.
Hair Color: Brown, Straight, Shoulder Length
Eye Color: Brown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Scar on Bottom Right Foot From Previos Injury Involving a Nail

Identifiers
Dentals: Not Available
Fingerprints: Not Available
DNA: Available

Clothing & Personal Items
Clothing: Blue Jeans, Short Pink Blouse
Jewelry: Long, Dangling Earrings
Additional Personal Items: Small Blue Purse

Circumstances of Disappearance
Mazie Mae Sigmon Palmer was dropped off at roaring 20's night club @ 209 hale st. In Charleston. Wv @ 10pm on july 14, 1979 by Ira Hughart (relative). Mazie was also living with Mr. &Mrs. Ira Hughart @101 Main st., Charleston, Wv. John Eric Farley (Jay) was driven by Bill Cottrell to the roaring 20's around the same time & met up with Mazie. They were seen entering the roaring 20's together. A short time later Mazie & Jay Farley were seen exiting the roaring 20's together & crossing the street. Sometime after 11pm behind the Holley Hotel Mazie and Jay caught a ride with Bill Cottrell who drove them to the kings inn @ 1608 second ave., Charleston, WV. Upon parking, Bill Cotrell recollected Mazie stating, "Oh, he's in there". Unfortunately, Mazie never made reference to who "He" was. The three entered kings inn night club, & took a table. Around 12am Mazie made conversation with Karen Carpenter briefly. A few minutes later after returning to the table she excused herself to go upstairs and talk to a "Friend".

Sometime there after Jay Farley also went upstairs. No one has any recollection of seeing Mazie Sigmon or Jay Farley coming back downstairs, nor did they recollect seeing neither of them exiting the kings inn on the night of their disappearance. Jay's remains were found five years later at a Fayette county surface mine by a coal mining companies security guard. His hands had been taped behind his back & he had been shot. A single gun shell casing was found under his body but the kind of bullet, nor the location of where jay was shot have been released to the public.

Investigating Agency(s)
Agency Name: Kanawha County Sherriff's Department
Agency Contact Person: N/A
Agency Phone Number: 304-357-0200/304-357-0150
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: C13443

NCIC Case Number: Unknown
NamUs Case Number: Unknown

Information Source(s)
Family Member
Youtube

Admin Notes
Added: 2/19/19; Last Updated: 2/19/19

3951DFWV - Mazie Mae Sigmon Palmer

 

[Mysteries1974]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Mazie has been added to NamUS. I submitted her months back. DNA submitted and tests complete.

 

[CastlesBurning]

Details of disappearance updated 5/21/20: Mazie Mae Sigmon-Palmer – The Charley Project

Why on earth would Mazie have been using her younger sister's birthdate? Had she perhaps told her boyfriend she was younger and closer to his age?

Mazie and Jay had supposedly already been dating a few weeks, though she was divorced just three months. Anything known about the ex-husband or the relationship? Were both parties amicable about parting ways?

 

[StarrChance]

From Charley Project there was a suspect

Sigmon-Palmer's loved ones describe her as friendly and outgoing, and one of her friends stated she had a naive, trusting nature. She had work experience in nursing homes and a a secretary and file clerk, and she had previously lived in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Seaside Park, New Jersey, and several small cities in Pennsylvania. She had no prior criminal record, and investigators don't believe she was responsible for Farley's murder. She did, however, associate with people who were in motorcycle gangs and involved with drugs.

Mark Legg is considered a person of interest in Farley's murder and Sigmon-Palmer's disappearance. He is a former West Virginia resident and has been a suspect and a person of interest in several unrelated crimes in West Virginia and North Carolina between 1983 and 2000, including sexual offenses against two teenage boys and the murder of two young men, but each time he was either not charged or the charges were dropped. Authorities have not been able to tie him to Farley and Sigmon-Palmer's cases, however.

Many members of the couple's families, including Farley's father and both of Sigmon-Palmer's parents, have died in the years since 1979. Foul play is suspected in her case, which remains unsolved.

 

[StarrChance]

A number of aliases too

Sigmon-Palmer may use the alias date of birth June 3, 1960; that is her sister's date of birth, and she has her sister's birth certificate. She smokes menthol cigarettes. She may use the alias names Mae Boomer, Shirley Coffman, Lil Darko, Lilly Goldberg, Beverly Harpold, Mae Josephson, Lilly Kaniple, Roberta Mahoney and/or Cindy Shamblin.

 

[marsyao]

From Charley Project there was a suspect

Sigmon-Palmer's loved ones describe her as friendly and outgoing, and one of her friends stated she had a naive, trusting nature. She had work experience in nursing homes and a a secretary and file clerk, and she had previously lived in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Seaside Park, New Jersey, and several small cities in Pennsylvania. She had no prior criminal record, and investigators don't believe she was responsible for Farley's murder. She did, however, associate with people who were in motorcycle gangs and involved with drugs.

Mark Legg is considered a person of interest in Farley's murder and Sigmon-Palmer's disappearance. He is a former West Virginia resident and has been a suspect and a person of interest in several unrelated crimes in West Virginia and North Carolina between 1983 and 2000, including sexual offenses against two teenage boys and the murder of two young men, but each time he was either not charged or the charges were dropped. Authorities have not been able to tie him to Farley and Sigmon-Palmer's cases, however.

Many members of the couple's families, including Farley's father and both of Sigmon-Palmer's parents, have died in the years since 1979. Foul play is suspected in her case, which remains unsolved.

Mark Legg's alleged victims were all male

 

[MadMcGoo]

Her NamUs link...
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

She has no publicly listed rule outs/exclusions.

 

[MadMcGoo]

Additional photo:

 

[StarrChance]

Mazie Sigmon graduated in Sissonville 1974, I found one aliases Beverly Harpold and a Sandra Sue Shamblin graduation in the same class.

 

[MadMcGoo]

Mazie Sigmon graduated in Sissonville 1974, I found one aliases Beverly Harpold and a Sandra Sue Shamblin graduation in the same class.

Interesting. I wondered about the aliases. Usually they are some derivative of a maiden or family name, or a couple of interchanged first and last names. Mazie’s seem all over the place. Not sure what that might mean...

 

[StarrChance]

Yes, although she did use Lil and Lilly twice, and Mae her middle name. A couple of other aliases are from people that lived in Charleston at that time which is close to Sissonville, so seems to pick up local names somewhat. Found that Beverly Harpold married a D’Arco which is similar to Lil Darko. She didn’t have a record yet all the aliases? Can’t find her marriage to Palmer yet.

 

[dms]

It worries me that she had so many aliases. What on earth were you up to, Mazie Mae?

 

[theshadow45]

Mazie has been missing for 43 years today.

 

[theshadow45]

Bumping, today is Mazie’s birthday.

 

[Sunshine09]

From Charley Project there was a suspect

Sigmon-Palmer's loved ones describe her as friendly and outgoing, and one of her friends stated she had a naive, trusting nature. She had work experience in nursing homes and a a secretary and file clerk, and she had previously lived in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Seaside Park, New Jersey, and several small cities in Pennsylvania. She had no prior criminal record, and investigators don't believe she was responsible for Farley's murder. She did, however, associate with people who were in motorcycle gangs and involved with drugs.

Mark Legg is considered a person of interest in Farley's murder and Sigmon-Palmer's disappearance. He is a former West Virginia resident and has been a suspect and a person of interest in several unrelated crimes in West Virginia and North Carolina between 1983 and 2000, including sexual offenses against two teenage boys and the murder of two young men, but each time he was either not charged or the charges were dropped. Authorities have not been able to tie him to Farley and Sigmon-Palmer's cases, however.

Many members of the couple's families, including Farley's father and both of Sigmon-Palmer's parents, have died in the years since 1979. Foul play is suspected in her case, which remains unsolved.

When I was a little girl growing up in the Marting/Montgomery area (they are a few short miles away from eachother), I thought murders and finding bodies were normal. There were so many murders and bodies found close to home in the 80s. I was just talking to my dad today about Mark. There are also the Whitten and Nasby murders. Mark worked at the gas station (the Exxon in Smithers) and it was rumored that Mr. Whitten had some extra money/cash deal when he sold it. There was supposed to be money in that safe. Nasby also had ties to that gas station. Remember that both Nasby and Mazie's boyfriend's bodies were both found on Marting two years apart. Marting isn't that big. It is the stretch between Cannelton and Mt. Olive. When he was left out of the family will, he burned the family house down. He liked to take out life insurance policies on people he went into business with and they would end up dead. One of those people was my dad's first cousin. When he died, my great-aunt recieved nothing. Mark got everything from my dad's cousin and pretended to be the mourning "friend" next to his casket. If memory serves me right, that is when Mark put those big lion statues outside his house in Cannelton. He really revamped that place when my dad's cousin died. My dad also went to school with Cathy Carroll, who was also murdered. He also knew Gene pretty well. My dad believes that Mark was involved and was the one who committed the actual killing. If you wanted someone dead, you went to Mark...the story goes. He was a cold-hearted killer and would do anything to make some extra cash. He's in his 70s now and I'm pretty sure he's in prison in another state to molesting a child. Who really knows how many people he murdered in the 1970s and 80s. We will never know. Someone like that doesn't grow a conscious.