Where Is Peggy Lynn Alt? Lost Since March 2, 1985

Missing Person: Peggy Lynn Alt

Image: The plaid coat Peggy Lynn Alt was last seen wearing on March 2, 1985.

Details from a Government Source

On March 2, 1985, Peggy L. Alt was last seen at her High Ridge, Missouri, residence. She was reported missing by her father on March 4, 1985—her 18th birthday. She has not been heard from since, with no contact with family. Foul play is suspected.

Last Seen Wearing: The jacket shown above.

Last Contact: March 2, 1985 (Saturday)
Last Location: Her residence, High Ridge, MO (Williams Creek Road)
Age at Disappearance: 17
DOB: March 4, 1967
Sex: Female
Height: 60 inches
Weight: 125 lbs
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Hair Color: Blond/strawberry
Eye Color: Brown
Distinctive Mark: Burn scar on left arm, near bicep
Government Source: MP9849
Discussion Page: Peggy Lynn Alt

Commentary and Research

By: Shane Lambert
Written: March 8, 2025

Has Peggy Lynn Alt Been Found?

As of March 8, 2025, Peggy remains missing. Reported absent on her 18th birthday, her family likely noticed her absence that day. She vanished two days earlier, on a Saturday, which may not have initially raised alarm. In 2011, the case was reopened, including a search of a cistern near High Ridge, but no new leads emerged.

Sources on Her Disappearance

Per The Charley Project, Peggy packed her belongings and left voluntarily on March 2, 1985. Hitchhiking is a possible but risky travel method she may have used, especially in 1985 when the FBI noted numerous unsolved cases linked to transients on highways like I-44 and I-55, which connect High Ridge to neighboring states. Authorities showed little initial interest, halting the search after 11 days. A 2015 article in the Leader (Tracy Bruce, March 28, 2015) revisited her case.

Serial Killers Near High Ridge, MO in 1985: Relevance to Peggy Lynn Alt’s Disappearance

Organized by Serial Killer

Charles Ray Hatcher

Active Period: 1960s–1982

Primary Location: St. Joseph, MO; IL, CA (~300 miles from High Ridge, St. Joseph)

Victim Profile: Children, adults (varied)

Status in March 1985: Dead (since Dec 1984)

Relevance to Peggy’s Case: None – Dead in 1985. X

Lorenzo J. Gilyard

Active Period: 1977–1993

Primary Location: Kansas City, MO (~250 miles from High Ridge)

Victim Profile: Adult women (often prostitutes)

Status in March 1985: Active, not yet caught

Relevance to Peggy’s Case: Low – Far, profile mismatch. ?

Robert Berdella

Active Period: 1984–1987

Primary Location: Kansas City, MO (~250 miles from High Ridge)

Victim Profile: Young men (lured to home)

Status in March 1985: Active, not yet caught

Relevance to Peggy’s Case: None – Men targeted, far. X

Kenneth McDuff

Active Period: 1966; 1989–1992

Primary Location: Texas (~700 miles from High Ridge)

Victim Profile: Young women (varied methods)

Status in March 1985: Incarcerated (paroled Oct 1989)

Relevance to Peggy’s Case: None – In prison until 1989. X

Terry Blair

Active Period: 1982; 1990s–2004

Primary Location: Kansas City, MO (~250 miles from High Ridge)

Victim Profile: Women (known or prostitutes)

Status in March 1985: Incarcerated (released 1991)

Relevance to Peggy’s Case: None – In prison, no 1985 link. X

Ottis Toole

Active Period: 1960s–1983 (possibly later)

Primary Location: Multi-state (incl. AR, OK) (~150–300 miles from High Ridge, AR, OK)

Victim Profile: Varied (often hitchhikers)

Status in March 1985: Incarcerated in FL (~1,000 miles)

Relevance to Peggy’s Case: None – In prison, ruled out. X

In March 1985, when Peggy Lynn Alt disappeared from High Ridge, Missouri, one serial killer was actively operating in Missouri: Lorenzo J. Gilyard. Gilyard, known as the Kansas City Strangler, was in the midst of his 1977–1993 killing spree, targeting adult women—often prostitutes—in Kansas City, Missouri, approximately 250 miles from High Ridge.

Do you have information about Peggy Lynn Alt’s disappearance? If it is SOLID information, contact the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. If you have an idea to share, feel free to offer your thoughts in the comments below.

Jesokah Adkens -- Missing From Vancouver Island Since September 26th, 2001

Missing Person: Jesokah Adkens

Details from a government source (might be paraphrased): Jesokah was last seen at approximately 21:30 hours. It was thought that she was going to take a transit bus back to the village of Sooke, where her residence was located. By my research, this would have been a short trip.

Last contact: September 26th, 2001 (Wednesday), seen at 9:30pm.

November 10th, 2001. Times Colonist.

Last location: Sooke, BC near Sooke Road, which appears as BC Highway 14 or Juan De Fuca Highway on modern maps. In newspaper coverage, it says she was last seen "heading" to a bus stop outside Saseenos Elementary School, which is near where she went to high school. Furthermore, these buildings were not far from her home. 

After researching the case, I would say Sooke Road around Saseenos Elementary School and Edward Milne Community School is where she was last seen. I did notice that the newspaper coverage of her last known location toggled between her last being seen walking to a bus stop or standing at a bus stop. Perhaps it's a small difference. There is a memorial that appears on Google Maps at 6072 Sooke Road in the westbound lane that marks her last-known location (use old dates for Google Maps if its overgrown in modern times).

October 9th, 2001. The Province,

Yet, another source says she was last seen hitchhiking, which is ominous. However, I do think that this source, posted below, got the information wrong.

October 12th, 2001. Times Colonist.

Age when Jesokah Adkens disappeared: 17

DOB: May 1st, 1984

Sex: Female

Height in inches: 65

Weight in pounds (lbs): 88 pounds according to Canada's Missing but described as 110 pounds in a media article. That is a huge discrepancy but I think if anyone is cross-referencing this to a Jane Doe, use the 110-pound measurement. A weight of 88 pounds at a height of 5'5" would be a person whose weight could be viewed as unhealthily low.

Times Colonist. October 27th, 2001.

Ethnicity: White/Caucasian

Hair color: Blonde, long and straight

Eye Color: Blue

Scar or distinctive characteristic: Scar on her chin, under her lip

Link to Government Source: 2001008160 (right click to open)

Websleuths discussion page: Jesokah Adkens (right click to open)

Clothing: According to a newspaper source, she was wearing a light-blue shirt (called a fleece top in one source), dark blue jeans, and running shoes when she disappeared. Another source says she was wearing a black bomber-styled pullover jacket, her shirt featured The Doors, and her shoes were black.

Parents: Clayton or Clayten and Jocelan Adkens

Commentary and Research

By: Shane Lambert

Original time of writing: February 4th, 2025

Has Jesokah Adkens been found?

Jesokah Adkens went missing on September 26th, 2001. She has not been found since that time. This is a case that received quite a bit of newspaper coverage, both shortly after her disappearance and then in the years that followed.

The Times Colonist, Victoria's newspaper on Vancouver Island, published the first newspaper article that I could find on October 3rd, 2001. It headlined that police suspected foul play in her disappearance. There were several details from this newspaper article that I will bullet point below:

• Jesokah was in Grade 11 at Edward Milne Community School.
• She went missing from a bus stop just down the street from her high school (in front of Saseenos Elementary School).
• She lived in the 6600 Block of Sooke Road (another source says she lived on Kaltasin Road but this didn't make sense to me; I don't see the need to take a bus or hitchhike to that road based on where she was last seen).
• The newspaper article said she lived with a roommate (female), which I found a little strange due to the MP's age (ie. she was a minor). But Adkens had moved out of her original home.
• The police made statements that suggested that she was not a runaway or suicidal. All of her ID and credentials were at her home. I found this very credible and relevant because I think the police generally have a tendency to label a teenager as a runaway or suicidal to take pressure off of their search efforts. 
• A tracking dog yielded no clues.
• The bus driver was interviewed but said nothing that helped.
• She had a boyfriend and there was a recent "quarrel" but that was described as normal. Another source said the boyfriend was not a suspect.

There are two bus stops outside of Saseenos Elementary School on modern Google Maps. However, the street-cam updates for the area only go back to June 2009. The modern bus stops were not present in 2001.

Presumptively, Adkens was waiting for a bus in the westbound lane as that would have been the one taking her home (which would have been a short ride). There is a memorial for her last-known location (48.38739149685625, -123.6908089900206). Toggle between the years at Google Maps if you have trouble finding it.

There was no police apathy in the early days of this case. I found a statement on October 4th, 2001, stating that they were treating her disappearance as a homicide until they had reason not to (Sgt. Don Brown qtd. in The Province). This same article states that she was "heading" to a bus stop, as opposed to being stationary at it, when she was last seen. However, another article on October 6th says she was waiting at the bus stop when she was last seen.

• Adkens had a probation officer.
• She had dinner with a male friend (called her boyfriend in the November 10th, 2001 Times Colonist) the night she disappeared. Another source, says she had dinner with three friends that night. The name of the restaurant and location would be a good tidbit to have.
• Adkens had a hitchhiking habit.

One thing that I really noticed with this case is that there were different descriptions of what she was doing when last seen. One source says she was at a bus stop, another says she was walking to a bus stop, and yet another says she was last seen hitchhiking. But the only thing definitive was that she was last seen on Sooke Road around Saseenos Elementary School and her high school, Edward Milne Community School, at about 9:30pm after dining out.

In newspaper coverage from 2019, Jesokah was described as someone who kept dangerous associations, involving street people and drug users/dealers. Furthermore, this article (May 22nd, 2019 Times Colonist) says that Jesokah received a benefits payment on the day she disappeared but it was never used.

Modern news link: Times Colonist, September 26th, 2021

• Stated that the bus driver who worked the night she disappeared was interviewed but was not able to provide any details.

Very Similar Case: Vancouver Island Disappearance of Carmen Robinson

Roughly 28 years earlier, a woman disappeared from nearby Victoria on Vancouver Island in a case with some stark similarities. The time gap between Adkens' disappearance and this former case is large but I felt that it should be mentioned. 

The case of Carmen Robinson involves a 17-year-old caucasian blonde woman who was last seen at a bus stop. The age, sex, ethnicity, hair color, hair length and style, and case details involving a bus stop do match up between the two cases.

Furthermore, the two locations, Sooke and Victoria, are in the same part of Vancouver Island. The distance between where Robinson was last seen and Adkens is a half-hour drive according to modern Google Maps and fewer than 30 kilometers in space. Lastly, both young women went missing fairly late in the evening as they attempted to travel home.

One difference between the two cases is that Adkens was last seen going to a bus stop or waiting for a bus at a bus stop (depending on which source you go with). Conversely, Robinson was last seen alighting a bus at a bus stop.

Carmen Robinson's case at Missing Person's Commentary.

28 years between the events is a long time. Yet, it could be the same person responsible for both disappearances. I felt that the cases could be mentioned together as food for thought as reading about the disappearance of Adkens did remind me of the disappearance of Robinson for the reasons mentioned.

Tara Suzette Breckenridge -- Missing from Houston Since 1992

Paraphrased details from government source**: Tara was last seen leaving her place of employment at The Men's Club in the 3300 block of Sage in southwest Houston, TX, where she worked as a waitress. She was returning home at the time of her disappearance. Her vehicle, a red 1986 Pontiac Fiero was found abandoned and locked in the 1200 block of West Loop North near 12th street, on her route home. The car's alternator belt was missing, there was no sign of a struggle, but she has never been seen since. Foul play is suspected.

Missing Person: Tara Suzette Breckenridge
Last-contact date: August 4th, 1992 (Tuesday) at about 1am (this would have felt like the night of August 3rd)
The area where the MP was last seen: Houston, Texas
Link to government source: NamUs MP914

VITAL DETAILS

Ethnicity: Caucasian
Sex: Female
Age at time of disappearance: 23 years old
Birthdate: September 30th, 1968 in Kern, California
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown
Scar: None known
Height/weight: 5-foot-4 to 5-foot-10 and 110 to 125 pounds; journalism from August 1992 said 5'5" and 115 pounds
BMI*: Using the upper height and upper weight for the ranges above, in this case, the missing person was underweight by BMI at the time of the disappearance. However, she would have been in the normal range using lower values from the ranges. She looks thin in her pictures.
Tattoos: Tara Suzette Breckenridge did not have any tattoos associated with her profiles.

Objects associated with the missing person: a light-colored shirt, blue shorts, sandals, contacts or glasses, Del Rio High School class ring from 1991 (I read she graduated in 1987, however), a red Pontiac Fiero.

Distinctive characteristics: a scar on the left side of the lower lip, long red-painted fingernails, a scar under her left arm, and a scar on the left side of the body

By: Shane Lambert

Tara Suzette Breckenridge has not been seen since August 4th, 1992 when she was 23 years old. This individual has now been missing for about 29 years as of the original publication date of this blog post.

This is a case that I looked at previously in comparison to several other similar cases. After working on scores of cases, I've noticed that one pattern common to a lot of missing person cases is a found vehicle where the driver of the vehicle is the missing person.

In some of these cases, I think that the abandoned vehicle was sabotaged by the person that disappeared the missing person. I think Tara Breckenridge's case is one such case with other similar cases worth noting. I've written on such disappearances more broadly in another blog post called "Women With Car Troubles Go Missing."

My advice to any female motorist is to be skeptical of the help that arrives if your vehicle suddenly starts behaving oddly. It could be that the person that arrives to help had a hand in sabotaging your vehicle. Perhaps, the widespread use of mobile phones will have helped curb this kind of modus operandi since the time of Breckenridge's disappearance. However, I think the first person on the scene is a risky person to trust if your vehicle breaks down.

The earliest journalism I found on this case dated to August 15th, 1992. The meat of this early journalism is as follows.

15 Aug 1992, Sat Del Rio News Herald (Del Rio, Texas) Newspapers.com

One oddity in the disappearance of Tara Breckenridge is that an 18-year old man seemed to interject himself into the case, a man named Robert Beaty who was 18 years old as of April 1st, 1993. He would have been born in 1974 or 1975, however, I wasn't able to find him in Ancestry.

NamUs #MP914 01 Apr 1993, Thu Del Rio News Herald (Del Rio, Texas) Newspapers.com
Tara Breckenridge has at least one landing page within Ancestry's files. Within that site, her date of disappearance is considered to be her date of death. That can be true or false.

Tara's boyfriend at the time of her disappearance was considered a suspect in this case. In my opinion, I think the guilt is elsewhere (ie. men at the club she worked at, whether staff or patrons).

What stands out with this case is that Tara was lovely and she was working in a kind of place (a strip club) that would attract some questionable characters, I think. She had a boyfriend, Tara was religious and not likely to cheat, and so I think she was the gorgeous waitress that the amorous men at the club could not get. That would have made her frustrating to someone who was edgy.

Her alternator belt had been removed from her car, this is a known fact of the case. I am thinking that the belt was in the car when she drove to work, hence, the car didn't break down during that trip. But I think the belt may have been removed during her shift and then she may have been followed. That her car was able to travel to work is a big clue in this case: it says to me that her vehicle was sabotaged at work. Thus, I think those that think her boyfriend did this crime need to prove that he was at her place of employment that night.

The removal of the alternator belt, I read, would affect the car's electrical system:

"The serpentine belt is also known as an alternator belt, fan belt, or accessory drive belt.  It is powered by a car’s engine to spin or 'drive' several mechanical components in the engine, and is responsible for providing power to vital systems, such as the electrical system, the power steering system, the cooling system and the A/C system. Some vehicles’ water pumps, radiator fans, and power brakes are also dependent on the serpentine belt.

If your serpentine belt wears out, becomes damaged or contaminated, or breaks, engine accessories will not be able to spin at the proper speed, leading to decreased power to the electrical system. This can lead to a sudden lost of power assist for the steering system, leading to the steering wheel all-of-a-sudden becoming very hard to turn. A broken serpentine belt may stop the water pump from circulating coolant through the cooling system, causing the engine can overheat. And it may stop the alternator from generating power to operate the vehicle’s electric/electronic systems and recharge the battery - the headlights will dim, the radio will not work, and the battery will die." (Source: streetautorepair.com)

Tara may have had no choice but to accept the help of whoever arrived at the scene when her car broke down on her way home. This person who arrived to help her may have been the same person that caused the damage to the vehicle as part of a premeditated attack. Importantly, this kind of modus operandi is well known for the time period that we are looking at. When a woman's car is sabotaged and then the person that sabotaged the vehicle follows her in order to abduct her when she needs help has been called "The Good Samaritan's Ruse." Many women fell victim to it in the 1980s, 90s, and even beforehand.

I don't picture the boyfriend's timeline as fully supporting him being the one that sabotaged Tara's vehicle in the parking lot of her work. Also, it's hard to picture him happening on Tara as she drove. If the boyfriend planned to attack her after her shift, that would require some predictability out of Tara, I think. However, her shift ended earlier than expected the night she went missing and she was leaving her place of employment at a bit of a surprise time. I can't say that I don't 100% discount the boyfriend as a suspect but, in my opinion, I don't think he is guilty.

What I think makes the most sense is this:

1. Tara drove to work without problems because her vehicle was in good running order.
2. During Tara's shift, someone with access to her vehicle removed the alternator belt.
3. That person lay in waiting for Tara to leave work, whether in the parking lot or parked curbside.
4. Tara left work an hour early, something I don't think the boyfriend knew about.
5. Her car broke down because of the vehicle sabotage.
6. The man that arrived on the spot to help her had actually caused the damage.
7. Tara may have trusted him to an extent if she knew him from the club, which explains why there is no sign of a struggle at the found vehicle as she went with him voluntarily.
8. Tara locked her car doors, believing she would be back at a future time.
9. This mystery person disappeared Tara.

This mystery was covered in the February 10th, 1995 episode of Unsolved Mysteries, hosted by Robert Stack. I've embedded that episode below. The segment on Tara starts at 10:20. Please comment if the embedding no longer works as Youtube videos are often deleted. There are a lot of pictures of Tara in the video.

 

Author: Shane Lambert

All articles are subject to editing after the original posting.

Shane Lambert 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: To determine whether a person is missing or not, this site relies heavily on government sources. If you are described as missing when you are not, I recommend simply having your missing person report updated or removed. When that happens, updates at this site can follow.

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Austin Jay Smith -- Missing From California Since March 1993

Details from NamUs**: 

Mr. Smith was last seen by his mother when he left home after having received a telephone call.

Missing Person: Austin Jay Smith
Last-contact date: March 23rd, 1993 in the evening
The area where the MP was last seen: El Monte, California with an indication that his former boss saw him at Rosemead High School in the auditorium
Link to government source: NamUs MP 

VITAL DETAILS

Ethnicity: White or Caucasian
Sex: Male
Age at time of disappearance: 23 years old
Birthdate: August 13th, 1969
Hair: Brown, shorter than collar-length
Eyes: Blue
Scar: None listed
Height/weight: 5'6" and 140 pounds
BMI*: Austin Jay Smith was in the normal range for BMI.
Tattoos: Austin Jay Smith did not have any tattoos associated with his profiles. If you know that the missing person did have tattoos, then please post a remark at the end of this blog post on the matter.

Austin Jay Smith ("Jay") was last heard from on March 23rd, 1993 when he was 23 years of age. This individual has now been missing for about 28 years as of the original publication date of this blog post.

I didn't find anything in the Newspaper.com archives for this missing person, however, his case made web-based news in March 2021 (CBS Los Angeles). Austin was an aspiring accountant, he still lived with his mother at the time of his disappearance, it was this residence that he left before never being seen since, and he had a business meeting. Originally investigated as a missing person case, this one was changed to a homicide investigation sometime between 1993 and 2013.

The CBS Los Angeles article indicates that there is a suspect in the case. The individual that Jay was going to a meeting with was a former employer and someone that Jay had blown a whistle on. The meat of this was that Jay had written a letter stating that the unnamed individual had rented out equipment and space that he did not own. The CBS Los Angeles article is definitely recommended reading for those interested in this case.

When it comes to finding Jay, the several items he was thought to have in his possession should be noted. These items can be cross-referenced against John Does. Note a keyring with several keys, a brown leather wallet with photos, ID, bank cards, a gray/yellow plaid shirt, a white muscle undershirt, gray dress pants,  and gray dress shoes.

Furthermore, there was an indication that Jay might have been put in a barrel in the CBSLA article so human remains found in a barrel are important to note as well. A barrel was missing from the auditorium that Jay was known to have gone to. If you come across a news article or John Doe that was found in a barrel then think of cross-referencing the details of that case with this one. 

The individual that is considered a suspect, in this case, was reportedly gone for two weeks. That could create a large search area, even national, in fact. Police believe that Austin was murdered the same day he disappeared.

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 March 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.
**Text might be paraphrased. If taken verbatim, then grammar or spelling errors are not necessarily corrected from original sources.
Disclaimer: Non-opinionated information at this site generally comes from government sources or police reports. Other sources may be used.

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