Penney Faye Cruser -- Missing Since March 1997 From Spokane, Washington

Details from NamUs**: 

Family last saw Penney December, 1996. She has had no contact with family or friends over the years.

Missing Person: Penney Faye Cruser
Last-contact date: December 1996 (disputed -- NamUs lists March 1997 but this might be the time when she was reported missing)
The area where the MP was last seen: Spokane, Washington
Link to government source: NamUs MP 

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VITAL DETAILS

Ethnicity: Caucasian
Sex: Female
Age at time of disappearance: 30 years old

Birthdate: May 23rd, 1966
Hair: Brown, dark brown, shoulder-length, straight
Eyes: Brown, did not wear glasses
Scar: None listed
Height/weight: 5'5" and 100 pounds
BMI*: In this case, the missing person was underweight by BMI at the time of the disappearance.
Tattoos: This missing person might be identifiable through her tattoos. Please note that she had the following: 'Cat on pelvis', 'butterfly inside of her right ear', and 'names of Rodney and Arthur on ankles'.

 

Penney Faye Cruser, a missing person, was, according to her NamUs profile, last heard from on March 21st, 1997 when she was 30 years old. However, I did find some inconsistencies between her NamUs profile and journalism on the matter. It seems that March 1997 may have been when she was reported missing.

Sun, Dec 3, 2000 – 18 · The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Washington) · Newspapers.com

The missing person was mentioned in conjunction with a serial killer in the Spokane area in a news article from the year 2000. His name was Robert L. Yates (Jr.). From the article below, you can see that the last-contact date may actually have been December 1996.

Sun, Dec 3, 2000 – 13 · The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Washington) · Newspapers.com

This individual has now been missing for about 24 years as of the original publication date of this blog post. People that have been missing for several years, as this person has been, might not be identifiable through some of their distinctive characteristics. For instance, if Cruser died near the time of her disappearance then her tattoos might not be useful in identifying due to decomposition.

Her profile at CharleyProject indicates that she was a drug user, that she was disabled, and she did not like taking her medication.

There were not a lot of articles or possessions associated with this missing person. However, please note the following: she may have carried a weapon. Presumptively, I would think this meant a handgun, however, the term "weapon" is much broader than that. You could look for Jane Does in databases that were found in proximity to a gun or even a blade of some sort.

Penney Faye Cruser had the following distinctive characteristic: she broke her right hand in 1985 and she previously had broken her nose. Sometimes these kinds of bone injuries can be useful when it comes to identifying someone because the injuries, even when healed, are detectable in skeletal remains. When Jane Does are entered into databases, they often have skeletal injuries listed.

Author: @UncoolNegated on Twitter

All articles are subject to editing after the original posting.

@UncoolNegated on Twitter is not a Private Investigator, however, he is currently studying to be one as of March 2021.

Website hashtag: #MPCSL

*For BMI values, I use the UPPER or HIGHER ranges that are given for height and weight.
**Text might be paraphrased. If taken verbatim, then grammar or spelling errors are not necessarily corrected from original sources.

Disclaimer: Whenever possible, government sources are preferred for getting the details of a missing person's case. However, any source that the article writer deems reputable may be used.

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Marilyn Kay Pratt -- Missing From Spokane Since 1971

Details from NamUs**: "Marilyn was last seen on the evening of 10/08/1971 by her husband and friends at a local restaurant. Marilyn only had her purse with her when she was last seen. Marilyn has not been seen or made any contact with family or friends since that evening."

Missing Person: Marilyn Kay Pratt

Alias: Lynn Pratt
Last-contact date: October 8th, 1971
The area where the MP was last seen: Spokane, Washington

• Spokane is a small city in America's northwest; the closest major city would be Seattle

Link to government source: NamUs #MP77394

Ethnicity: White/Asian mix

Sex: Female
Age at time of disappearance: 30 years old
Hair details: Brown
Eye details: Blue
Scars: Abdomen
Height/weight: 5-foot-2 to 5-foot-6 and 160 to 170 pounds
BMI*: The missing person was overweight by BMI at the time of the last contact.

• BMI is body mass index. It relates to an individual's height and weight.

Marilyn Kay Pratt was mainly associated with the area around Spokane, Washington. Marilyn has not been seen since October 8th, 1971 when she was 30 years old.

This missing person's case was not really below the radar: there were numerous newspaper articles that were published regarding her disappearance. Many of them appeared in The Spokane Chronicle or The Spokesman-Review. I did not find anything that was published close to her date of disappearance. The first mention of her that I found concerning her disappearance was in 1979.

Mon, Mar 5, 1979 – 2 · Spokane Chronicle (Spokane, Washington) · Newspapers.com

Wed, Mar 7, 1979 – 11 · The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Washington) · Newspapers.com

She was declared legally dead on April 10th, 1979. 

There was a huge article in The Spokesman-Review on May 10th, 1983. It raised the question of who the real Marilyn Pratt was. 

She is depicted as a borderline alcoholic in that article, someone who may have cheated on her spouse. The article left open the question of whether she was alive or dead.

On the balance of everything, this felt like a missing person case where the individual might have been alive after she disappeared. Perhaps the husband wanted to have her declared dead in absentia so that she couldn't return and take custody of the children. The sense I got was that he was bitter that she walked out on him. I did not get the feeling that he was involved in her disappearance.

A married woman, with five children, who had a drinking problem, who lived in a poor neighborhood, who walked out of a bar after a small argument, and then disappeared permanently is probably somebody that hit a breaking point.

If she did crack, then the question is what did she do next? Join a life with another man? There was a hint of infidelity with Marylin. There's also the possibility of suicide.

What would be interesting in this case is a Jane Doe with particulars that match Marilyn in the Spokane area. However, with a chance that she lived after her last-seen date, it would be interesting to produce an authenticated document that suggests that she tried to enter a different life somewhere else. I think anyone with an active membership behind the paywall at Ancestry should comb the records for any kind of documented activity involving her.

But over the years, there’s been little progress in the case. When the Spokane County Superior Court Commissioner Marcus Kelly declared her legally dead, he noted that her character suggested she would have reached out to her family if alive. I think that's important because walking out on a husband and five children permanently is very odd and decades have now passed.

If you know where this person might be or have any information on this case, then please contact the authorities. In Canada, look for Canada's Missing website with the Federal government. In the USA, you can look for the NamUs profile. Conversely, you can post a remark to this article.