Mary Frances Gregory -- Missing Since 1978, Possibly in British Columbia in mid-90s

Paraphrased details from government source**: Mary Frances Gregory left her home in Parry Sound, Ontario on February 15th, 1978. She wanted to vacation in California but she failed to arrive at her destination in Palo Alto, California. She has not contacted any family members or friends since. Ms. Gregory is believed to have departed Canada by motor vehicle with a male acquaintance who states that he let her off at a bus station in Las Vegas, Nevada some ten days after leaving Canada. The driver claims to have driven to Nevada via the States of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona.

Missing Person: Mary Frances Gregory

Last-contact date: February 15th, 1978 (Wednesday)
The area where the MP was last seen: Scenario 1: Parry Sound, Ontario on February 15th, 1978; or Scenario 2: the Las Vegas bus station on February 28th, 1978; or Scenario 3: the Lougheed Hotel in Burnaby between 1993 and 1995
Link to government source: Canada's Missing Case reference 2006017399

VITAL DETAILS

Ethnicity: White or Caucasian
Sex: Female
Age at time of disappearance: 19 years old
Birthdate: May 27th, 1958
Hair: Brown, straight, and shoulder lengthed according to Canada's Missing; her missing person page with the state of California's Department of Justice says her hair was blonde; it looks brownish in her picture.
Eyes: Hazel
Scar: None known
Height/weight: 5-foot-3 and 110 pounds
BMI*: Mary Frances Gregory was in the normal range for BMI.
Tattoos: Mary Frances Gregory did not have any tattoos associated with her profiles.

Distinctive: She had a mark on the right of her abdomen that was nickel-shaped and brown. One source places the mark on the right side of her chest by her rib cage. She had/has a mole on her wrist.

Mary Frances Gregory, a missing person, was last heard from on February 15th, 1978 when she was 19 years old. This individual has now been missing for about 43 years as of the original publication date of this blog post.

This is an interesting case because it involves a border-crossing traveler. Mary Frances Gregory was Canadian and her last-known location is often said to be Parry Sound. However, if the male traveler that she was with is taken as credible, then her last known location would be the Las Vegas bus station. It's interesting that this location is not considered to be her last-seen location according to many of the sources that list missing persons. It suggests that the man she was traveling with was not believed.

The route that the travelers took from Parry Sound to Las Vegas doesn't seem complete: "The driver claims to have driven to Nevada via the States of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona." These states are not all adjacent so there are some gaps worth exploring.

To get from Ontario to Nevada, the following route is possible: Ontario, New York, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, and then either Iowa/Nebraska or Missouri/Kansas, before getting to Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and Nevada. In short, the states of Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, and Kansas can be looked at for Jane Does that match to Mary Frances Gregory. Additionally, California can be considered as it has been stated that Mary was going to Palo Alto.

If you are looking at a Jane Doe as a potential match to Mary Gregory, then the mark on her right abdomen/chest might be the best identifier. If putrefaction has taken place, then consider her height against the Jane Doe's. Also, the Jane Doe's date of death being close to Mary's date of disappearance would be interesting.

Yet, this is a case where there was a lead in 2004 that suggested Mary was still alive as of the mid-1990s. The Province, a newspaper in Vancouver, ran an article that stated a trucker had conversed with her at a hotel. There are some details in the article below that are not the same as Mary's missing person profile: the article spells her middle name as "Francis" instead of "Frances" and her stated age of 20 at the time of her disappearance is off by a year compared to other sources. In fact, there are times when one letter in a name and/or one year of age means we're talking about different people. However, the picture makes it clear that we're talking about the same missing person case.

28 Oct 2004, Thu The Province (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) Newspapers.com

The Lougheed Hotel, the hotel that's mentioned in the article above, was located at 4343 Lougheed Highway. This is a highway that runs east/west from metro Vancouver to the town of Hope, north of the Fraser River. Google Maps ground views of the area of the hotel go back to 2007.

I did not find any follow-up articles on this case. Nor did I find any journalism from about the time of her disappearance. Please feel free to comment if you find some good newspaper articles from about the time of her disappearance.

Author: Shane Lambert (Vancouver, Canada)

All articles are subject to editing after the original posting.

Shane Lambert (Vancouver, Canada) is not a Private Investigator, however, he is currently studying to be one as of April 2021.

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*For BMI values, I use the UPPER or HIGHER ranges that are given for height and weight.
**Might not be the exact meaning that NamUs or Canada's Missing conveys. I improve upon their descriptions with my research.
Disclaimer: Whenever possible, government sources are preferred for getting the details of a missing persons case. However, any source that the article writer deems reputable may be used.

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