Sandra Lee Hopler - Missing from Scranton Since September 1973

Paraphrased details from government source**: Sandra was last seen on September 29th, 1973. She was a student at Keystone Junior College in La Plume, PA, and was last seen at Martz Trailways Bus Station in Scranton, Pennsylvania, or at the pick-up point.

Missing Person: Sandra Lee Hopler
May use the following alias(es): Sandy
Last-contact date: September 29th, 1973 (Saturday)
The area where the MP was last seen: Scranton, Pennsylvania, in the LaPlume area possibly at the Martz Trailway Bus Station or at a pick-up point. Possibly, she would have been near Lackawanna and Jefferson Avenue since that's where Martz Trailways offices were located in 1973 according to the following classified advertisement but the pick-up point could have been somewhere else. The zip code 18440 is given as her place of disappearance, which would be near Lackawanna Trail in La Plume.

23 May 1973, Wed The Times-Tribune (Scranton, Pennsylvania) Newspapers.com

Link to government source: NamUs MP#8897

VITAL DETAILS

Ethnicity: White or Caucasian
Sex: Female
Age at time of disappearance: 18 years old
Birthdate: June 8th, 1955
Hair: Brown or light brown
Eyes: Hazel
Scar: a small scar on one eyebrow
Height/weight: 5-foot-4 and 125 pounds
BMI*: Sandra Lee Hopler was in the normal range for BMI.
Tattoos: Sandra Lee Hopler did not have any tattoos associated with her profiles.

Clothing and accessories: Burgundy blazer, dark blouse, Seiko watch with a gold face, and a tan shoulder purse

Distinctive: A mole on the back of the hand between the thumb and index webbing, a small mole near lip (left side), pierced ears, and she may have glasses, however, these aren't pictured in the two pictures I found of her. 

Family: Lyle Joseph Hopler Jr. (father, d. in 2002), Patricia Lee Snyder (mother, d. in 2017), and she had siblings.

28 Feb 2002, Thu The Courier-News (Bridgewater, New Jersey) Newspapers.com

Sandra Lee Hopler was last heard from on September 29th, 1973 when she was 18 years of age. This individual has now been missing for about 48 years as of the original publication date of this blog post. 

The journalism coverage I found for this missing person case was either modern or written years after her disappearance. She has been mentioned in cold case articles for the region she lived in, however, these articles did little but mention the broadly known details of this case. The oldest article using the databases I searched was from 2010.

I did find a second picture of her using Ancestry. She had a photograph in the 1973 yearbook for James Caldwell High School. Her hair was parted in the middle and she had a wavy characteristic to it that is consistent with the photo of her from her missing person profile. Sometimes the place of hair parting can be discerned from Jane Does so this is one point of comparison if you are looking at descriptions of unidentified remains.

Online sources say that Sandra Hopler was going to New York, that she told her plans to a roommate, and that she was last seen at a bus station or pick-up point for Martz Trailways. The details of this case could be opened up by someone in the family or the roommate (if surviving), people who may know more publishable details, or have some publishable information on the investigation.

I tried to find information on the bus schedule since these are sometimes in newspapers. However, I found only an article from 1962 when the original service between Scranton and New York was announced from Martz Trailways. This article may or may not contain information about where she was dropped off.

25 Jun 1962, Mon The Tribune (Scranton, Pennsylvania) Newspapers.com

One major point with this case is simply if she got on the bus or not. From what I gathered, she was seen waiting for the bus. Sometimes an attractive young woman waiting for a bus attracts the attention of someone offering a rideshare. But if she did get on the bus, then New York becomes the focal point. 

This individual has a landing page in a family tree with Ancestry. There was little information there but it could be updated in the future.

Thank you for reading. If have any information about this case, consider contacting the authorities.

Author: Shane Lambert, (Freelance Writer)

All articles are subject to editing after the original posting.

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

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Website hashtag: #MPCSL

*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: Non-opinionated information at this site generally comes from government sources or police reports. Other sources may be used.

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