FL FL - Wendy Huggy, 16, Clearwater, 7 April 1982

[Sleuthster]

This article answers some questions and gives more. For example, Wendy's grand parent dropped her off "a couple blocks" from the apartment complex and she was going to meet up with her Uncle. Thirty years later, Pasco girl's disappearance still a mystery

 

[Bit of hope]

This article answers some questions and gives more. For example, Wendy's grand parent dropped her off "a couple blocks" from the apartment complex and she was going to meet up with her Uncle. Thirty years later, Pasco girl's disappearance still a mystery

And her uncle said he did never see her that day and also there is this story she met up with a friend(?) living in the same apartment building and went with this friend and her mother to the beach? Who was the friend? Did the uncle and this family knew each other?

 

[oceanstarryeyes]

This article answers some questions and gives more. For example, Wendy's grand parent dropped her off "a couple blocks" from the apartment complex and she was going to meet up with her Uncle. Thirty years later, Pasco girl's disappearance still a mystery

Maybe the Grandparents dropped her by the Mall. Countryside Mall is close to Belcher Road where her Uncle lived.

 

[Bit of hope]

Maybe the Grandparents dropped her by the Mall. Countryside Mall is close to Belcher Road where her Uncle lived.

Is it confirmed she was seen by her friend and mother? Did they go the beach at all. Could she have gone straight to the beach (with Don?) from the mall after she was dropped off....

 

[Sleuthster]

This article answers some questions and gives more. For example, Wendy's grand parent dropped her off "a couple blocks" from the apartment complex and she was going to meet up with her Uncle. Thirty years later, Pasco girl's disappearance still a mystery

And her uncle said he did never see her that day and also there is this story she met up with a friend(?) living in the same apartment building and went with this friend and her mother to the beach? Who was the friend? Did the uncle and this family knew each other?

Exactly. I wish there were more answers. Makes me wonder if she went somewhere close to the complex. Maybe she didn't plan to meet up with the uncle. I do know that they talked to this "kim" an her mom. I wasn't told what the detective discussed with them. She did ask me if I knew of any garage bands in Clearwater Wendy may have went to see but did not elaborate. I was only familiar with Teazer in Holiday and Avatar (Savatage) in Palm Harbor who I frequently watched practice and went to a couple parties where Avatar performed. Both bands also where in the "battle of the bands" at Astro Skate in Tarpon Springs that winter.
So it brings me back to, if she really was not planning to meet up with her Uncle, if he was being truthful, and she got dropped of a couple blocks from the complex then I wonder what she was really planning that day. We were all young once and I do remember having my mom drop me off down the street from a friends and saying I wanted to walk for exercise or some stupid excuse. I wasn't going to the friends I was meeting up with my boyfriend.
I'm going to try and remember what was in that area at the time. I am overwhelmed today that I keep thinking about Wendy being pregnant. There was a pregnancy center in Clearwater through Kimberly Home that provided referrals for an unwed mothers home, counseling, medical, and maternity items. there was also an abortion clinic called Bread and Roses. I want to say it was near the corner of Lakeview and S. Highland. It was down the road from the bowling alley that's not there anymore either.
Edit to correct name of pregnancy center

 

[PayrollNerd]

I was trying to get a timeline in my head and consider the distances between each location.

“Her grandparents dropped her off the morning of April 7, 1982 a few blocks from the Patrician Apartments at Nursery Road and Belcher Road. She planned to meet up with her uncle, Greg Richards, who was five years her senior and lived in the apartment complex, according to a sheriff's report.”

The Gparents drove 30+ miles from Holiday, FL to drop Wendy off but not at the apartment. This strikes me as odd, especially in that era. Why would they not drop her off in front of the uncle’s apartment building? Did they drop her off at a neighboring business? Maybe like the McDonald's so she could get a soda or something?

The intersection of Nursery Rd and Belcher Rd now has the Oakbrook Village Apartments. That is probably the original Patrician Apartments and maybe they were bought out, updated and renamed. There doesn’t appear to be another apartment complex within close proximity.

Countryside Mall is 6+ miles north of the apartments. So, if they grandparents dropped her off “a few blocks away” it wouldn’t have been at the mall.

“At some point, Huggy met with a friend named Kim and Kim's mother, who also lived at Patrician Apartments, deputies said. They went to Clearwater Beach.”
Maybe the uncle really didn’t see Wendy because she went to Kim’s apartment instead. Did Wendy call Kim prior to leaving Holiday? It would have been a landline call back then or maybe a payphone. Or, did Wendy just show up unannounced at Kim's apartment? I would think Kim's Mom would be able to verify this. Clearwater Beach is 7 miles from the Patrician apartments.

“Then, Huggy got a ride to Countryside Mall, where she called her grandfather.”
Countryside Mall is 10 miles northeast of Clearwater Beach.

So effectively, Wendy was within a 10 mile radius the last day she was seen. If I had to guess, I'd say the all the people she encountered that day were locals. Tourists wouldn't jump to give a kid a ride to a mall they didn't know the location of. It's not like they had a phone with GPS back then and could "wing it."

I'm fairly certain that Wendy knew her driver, maybe not well, but enough to be comfortable getting into a vehicle with them.

ETA to add map:

 

[oceanstarryeyes]

So then she wasn’t “ last seen at a relatives house off Belcher Rd”
The last place she would have been seen would be her getting out of her Grandparents car and the drop off location close to Countryside Mall and Belcher Rd.
If she went to the beach with Kim that lives in the apartments where her Uncle lived she wouldn’t have been seen last at a relatives house.

 

[Sleuthster]

So then she wasn’t “ last seen at a relatives house off Belcher Rd”
The last place she would have been seen would be her getting out of her Grandparents car and the drop off location close to Countryside Mall and Belcher Rd.
If she went to the beach with Kim that lives in the apartments where her Uncle lived she wouldn’t have been seen last at a relatives house.

Nursery/Belcher is not walking distance from Countryside Mall. This is the area. Funny McDonalds was mentioned. There's one on the map down the street from the apartments. I wonder how long that mcdonalds has been there. Google Maps

 

[Alleykins]

I was about Wendy's age in 1982 and I wouldn't have gotten into a car with a stranger or even a casual acquaintance, especially an older guy. The only person I would/could have gotten a ride with was a friend or a friend's parents, and not without my mother's permission. My mom would have killed me if I got in a car with a guy (not a friend's father), but Wendy didn't have the same home life I did.

 

[Sleuthster]

I was about Wendy's age in 1982 and I wouldn't have gotten into a car with a stranger or even a casual acquaintance, especially an older guy. The only person I would/could have gotten a ride with was a friend or a friend's parents, and not without my mother's permission. My mom would have killed me if I got in a car with a guy (not a friend's father), but Wendy didn't have the same home life I did.

I think we where all that way. That's why I don't think Don is some older guy she just took a ride from unless her grandparents knew him or her friend or Uncle knew him. We heard stories in the 80s about stranger danger and hitchhikers meeting sinister ending so we knew better.

 

[Sleuthster]

Actually bread and roses is still there. Didn't realize that wow. It's actually at the corner of Belleair Rd and Highland Ave. Not that far from Belcher/Nursery Google Maps
Kimberly home is by Cleveland and Missouri Ave Google Maps

 

[oceanstarryeyes]

Wendy calling her Grandfather from the Mall doesn’t mean she was actually at the Mall. She could have been calling him from the beach or anywhere.

 

[Sleuthster]

Wendy calling her Grandfather from the Mall doesn’t mean she was actually at the Mall. She could have been calling from the beach or anywhere.

Truth

 

[Bit of hope]

Wendy calling her Grandfather from the Mall doesn’t mean she was actually at the Mall. She could have been calling him from the beach or anywhere.

Agree

 

[Alleykins]

I think we where all that way. That's why I don't think Don is some older guy she just took a ride from unless her grandparents knew him or her friend or Uncle knew him. We heard stories in the 80s about stranger danger and hitchhikers meeting sinister ending so we knew better.

Even in my neck of the woods, where crime was--and still is--low, we were cautious. Could Don actually have been Dawn? Or did she specifically tell her grandparents it was a guy?
In 1985, my bf & I drove his aunt from Maine to Florida. Part of the deal was she would let us use her car to go to Disney. Once we got there, of course, she changed her mind, which I just knew she would, but the bf wouldn't believe me and thought it was a good idea to help her move.
Instead, we ended up taking the city bus, with the promise she'd pick us up at one of the resorts the park shuttles would take us to. When we got back to the resorts, we called her to come get us and she backed out entirely, leaving two teens stranded in a strange place. One of the shuttle drivers offered to give us a ride back to her condo for $20. I honestly just could not do it, though my then bf saw no problems with catching a ride with a stranger. I just had a bad feeling about it, especially seeing all the missing children posters hanging everywhere. We ended up sleeping on a bench behind one of the hotels and catching the bus back in the morning. His mum went up one side of his aunt and down the other for lying to us and putting us in danger. We could have ended up on one of those posters. The driver was just a bit too eager. After about the third time of him saying "don't go anywhere, I'll be right back" more like a warning than a courtesy, I knew we'd be statistics.

 

[PayrollNerd]

I think we where all that way. That's why I don't think Don is some older guy she just took a ride from unless her grandparents knew him or her friend or Uncle knew him. We heard stories in the 80s about stranger danger and hitchhikers meeting sinister ending so we knew better.

Exactly. I graduated high school in 1980 on the east coast of FL and there were flippin' serial killers, rapists and the like all up and down the east coast at the time. I remember my step dad, my brothers, my brother's friends and later my boyfriend all looking out for me. The "call me when you arrive" or "where are you" wasn't just coming out of my mother's mouth. It was all the men in the family. Even as teens and early adulthood, most of us didn't recognize the risk at the time. Now of course we look back and think holy crap, I survived that era!

 

[Sleuthster]

It's possible that Don could have been Donna. That was the assistant manager at the time at Aladdin's castle at Countryside Mall.

 

[Bit of hope]

“Then, Huggy got a ride to Countryside Mall, where she called her grandfather.”
Countryside Mall is 10 miles northeast of Clearwater Beach.

Where is this report coming from? Who gave her a ride to the mall...Kim with her mother? Why is there missing so much information.

 

[PayrollNerd]

Where is this report coming from? Who gave her a ride to the mall...Kim with her mother? Why is there missing so much information.

It's been mentioned in a number of places but here's the Tampa Bay Times 30 year anniversary article. It was linked in Post #19. I'll see if I can find other sources to.

Thirty years later, Pasco girl's disappearance still a mystery

 

[Sleuthster]

Where is this report coming from? Who gave her a ride to the mall...Kim with her mother? Why is there missing so much information.

There is and I wish the detective would give us more.
Where did the grandparent(s) drop her off since it wasn't at the complex?
Did she mention this "Don" before as someone she knew?
How far along was she in her pregnancy and had she discussed terminating the pregnancy with her grandparents?
Did Uncle Greg know this kim?
Did Kim and her mom confirm she was with them that day?
etc
so many questions and unfortunatly the grandparents passed away but there has to be more in her file that they can give us.
I haven't heard back from him. I assume he's busy with other cases. Pasco County is a crime ridden cesspool of meth heads and degenerates. I can't even go to 7-11 without someone coming up begging for money. They also stand on US 19 and run out to your car begging at red lights and congregate in front of businesses. Such drama here.