Venita Holzman Missing: Las Vegas 1963 Mystery Uncovered

Missing Person: Venita Gale Holzman (née Bowers)

Details from a government source (might be paraphrased):

Venita Holzman was last seen in 1963 at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, after working a shift. No vehicle or additional details provided.

Last contact: 1963

NamUs says January 1st of 1963 is when she went missing but "January 1st" is likely just a placeholder date. Her birthdate was July 19th, 1940 and her age at the time of her disappearance was 22. Based on this, presumptively, she was last seen between January 1st, 1963 and July 18th, 1963.

Last location: Las Vegas, Nevada - Flamingo Hotel (modern address is 3555 S. Las Vegas Boulevard)
Age when Venita Holzman disappeared: 22
DOB: July 19th, 1940
Sex: Female
Height in inches: 67
Weight in pounds (lbs): 120
BMI: 18.8 - Healthy weight (calculated to help picture what Venita Holzman might have looked like)
Ethnicity: White / Caucasian
Hair color: Red/Auburn
Eye Color: Green
Distinctive Features: None reported
Link to Government Source: NamUs MP143151 (right-click to open)

Discussion page: Websleuths

Unraveling the Mystery: Key Insights and Updates

By: Shane Lambert
Original time of writing: August 17th, 2025

Tonight, I had a look at the enigmatic disappearance of Venita Gale Holzman (née Bowers), a 22-year-old White/Caucasian female who vanished from Las Vegas, Nevada, sometime between January 1st and July 18th, 1963. The disappearance occurred after her shift at the Flamingo Hotel. Unfortunately, there were scant details beyond her workplace exit. I did not find a missing persons report about this case in journalism from the 1960s.

The MP was involved in 1957 divorce filings that did not come to fruition until 1959. She (or someone with the same name and city of residence) was in a minor house fire incident in June 1957, which would have happened in the months after her marriage went south. Zel Holzman, who was her husband (may have been Joseph Zel Holman/November 2nd, 1952 Fresno Bee), is someone she sought divorce from for reasons of extreme cruelty.

I think this Zel Holman was involved in another divorce in 1956 from someone named Joyce Marguerite Holzman. Furthermore, this woman, Joyce Marguerite, was involved in an injurious accident that appeared to involve brake failure around the time of her marriage to Zel turning south. Zel, which could be short for Zelick, and Marg were married from 1951 or 1952 to 1956. Joyce Marguerite reportedly alleged cruelty as the reason for divorce as well.

April 2nd, 1955. The Fresno Bee.

I did consider it eyebrow raising that both Marguerite and Venita were involved in potentially life-threatening incidents around the times of their divorce proceedings to Zel, a car accident and a house fire respectively.

Venita's tumultuous marriage could be set aside because it seemed to be finalized in 1959 and she did not go missing until 1963. However, anytime you see the phrase "extreme cruelty" alleged by a woman who goes missing, I think it's only natural to look at the person that she was talking about.

Yet, if that is set aside in the name of trying to look at the whole picture, Venita appears to have disappeared during her work commute. That is what I am taking the reports of her being last seen at work to mean. Commuters are usually in a fairly predictable pattern, which brings a potential stalker into the equation, someone who could have figured out her patterns and planned accordingly.

Modesto Bee, June 17th, 1957

Modesto Bee, August 2nd, 1957

Reno Gazette Journal, July 9th, 1957

Modesto Bee, April 24th, 1959

July 31st, 1956. Reno Gazette Journal.

December 25th, 1956. The Fresno Bee.

Zel Holman did marry again and he seemed to be involved in a divorce again. He remarried in 1959 and sought a divorce in 1966 with one Bernice L. Holzman. This time he was the one citing cruelty according to the newspaper clipping below.

Venita's missing person report at NamUs was not created until May 4th, 2025. That's a 62-year gap between her last-seen time and the NamUs creation date without any documented missing person report that I could find.

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 had no 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. This individual has now been missing for about 47 years as of early 2025.

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. Interestingly, 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. This kind of route between Parry Sound and Las Vegas would suggest that the two travelers were adventurous.

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. 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.

If you like this blog, then you can join the affiliated Facebook group: MPC Facebook Group

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: 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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Kay Vernice Deller -- Missing Since February 1998

Missing Person: Kay Vernice Deller

Alias: Kay Bernice Deller
Last-contact date: February 5th, 1998

Area MP was last seen: Las Vegas, Nevada

No photo: You can try to find a photo of this individual at Ancestry.com or at Newspapers.com
Link to government source: #MP21774

Ethnicity: White
Sex: Female
Age at time of disappearance: 37 years old

Birthdate: between February 6th, 1960 and February 5th, 1961
Hair details: Black
Eye details: Brown; wore corrective lenses or glasses
Height/weight: 5-foot-3 and 80 to 85 pounds

Details from NamUs: "Per family, the M/P last lived in Las Vegas. She has not been heard from or seen by family since DLC."

Kay Vernice Deller remains missing as of the time of publication. When Kay disappeared, she was of the Las Vegas, Nevada area.

What stands out with this case, is that the individual had a distinctive scar on her right leg from her upper thigh to her knee. Other details include that she was last heard from via telephone. It may be that this last-contact date was via this telephone call. It would be interesting to know what the details of this conversation were. 

Kay was a diminutive individual at 5'3" and just 80 to 85 pounds. If skeletal remains were found, it's possible that they may be mistaken as a child's or an adolescent's.

Kay Vernice Deller had a strange alias at NamUs. It was "Kay Bernice Deller." Bernice is a more common name than Verdice in my opinion. Websleuths or amateurs working on this case will need to be aware of both middle names. I will note that "B" and "V" are adjacent on standard keyboards and I do wonder if the potential for a keystroking error may be factoring into this.

I did find a same-named individual with links to the Las Vegas area who was born December 15th, 1960. This individual was "Kay V Deller" at Ancestry.com. I couldn't absolutely authenticate them to be the same person, however, the birthdate fits the range for the MP based on her age at the time of her disappearance. Also, the person at Ancestry had a Las Vegas address. It's not clear what exactly this means but anyone working on this case further look into it. 

If this person has been found, then we would want to remove her profile from NamUs so as to make the process of finding missing people more efficient. That said, her NamUs page was looked at recently as I noted a last-modified date from August 24th, 2020 -- meaning someone looked at the age at that time.

Author: Shane Lambert (Facebook profile)

Facebook Group: Missing Person Commentary

Twitter: @UncoolNegated (Twitter)

Pinterest: Missing Person Board
Original Time of Writing: February 20th, 2021

All articles are subject to editing after the original posting.

I am not a Private Investigator, however, I am currently studying to be one as of February 2021.

Website hashtag: #MPCSL