The Last Day She Was Seen

It was Monday, October 14, 1974. Debbie had just recently started working as a waitress at the restaurant in The Windmill Motel. She and her husband, Jeff, lived in Princeton, Indiana in Gibson County. Jeff was working at American Dairy and though they were working different shifts, they shared Jeff's Ford Galaxie.

Before going to work, Debbie went to her mother Lucille's house in Elberfeld, Indiana. Lucille would be watching Debbie and Jeff's two little girls, Amy and Misty, while the parents were both at work. She'd done some laundry at her mother's before going to work, putting the clean basket of clothes in the trunk of the car before heading out.

During her shift, Jeff called her at work saying he would be waiting for her at Maple Heights Tavern, and she could pick him up there when she was done with her shift. The tavern was a close distance from American Dairy where he worked.

Close to the end of her shift that night, 19-year-old Debbie was seen speaking with an unidentified average-looking dark-haired man. He was overheard telling her he had gotten there by hitching a ride on a cattle truck from Indianapolis. He asked if he could get a ride from her into Evansville. Co-workers were split on whether this man was a stranger to Debbie, or if they knew each other.

"When Debbie left the restaurant that rainy night, no one could know they were witnessing the last time she would be seen."

It is unknown if Debbie agreed to give the man a ride or not, but she didn't show up to pick up her husband, Jeff, that night. Nor did she show up at her mother's house to pick up the girls.

Jeff would eventually realize she wasn't picking him up. He gave his mother-in-law, Lucille, a call and let her know. Since Debbie had their only car, he couldn't pick up their girls. Amy (3 years) and Misty (18 months) stayed the night with their grandma, oblivious to how their lives would change forever.

Debbie Wilhite, and the car she drove, had simply vanished.