PA PA - Tracy King, 14, Littlestown, 8 July 1975

Richard

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TRACY ANNE KING Missing: Jul 8, 1975 LITTLESTOWN, PA

TRACY ANNE KING
DOB: Oct 11, 1960
Missing: Jul 8, 1975
Age at time: 15
Age Now: 44
Sex: Female
Race: White
Hair: Red
Eyes: Blue
Height: 5'3" (160 cm)
Weight: 110 lbs (50 kg)
Non-Family Abduction
Missing From: LITTLESTOWN, PA, United States

Tracy left from a home for children and has not been seen since 1975. She has a scar on her right ankle and pockmarks on her temple.

ANYONE HAVING INFORMATION SHOULD CONTACT
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
1-800-843-5678 (1-800-THE-LOST)

Pennsylvania State Police (Pennsylvania) - Missing Persons Unit 1-717-783-5524

Link
http://www.missingkids.com/missingk...NCMC&seqNum=1&caseLang=en_US&searchLang=en_US
 
Tracy Anne King went missing on 8 July 1975. It is coming up on the 30th anniversary of her disappearance. Tracy lived in Littlestown, PA which is not far from Gettysburg, and not far from the Maryland border. Several other children are also missing from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New Jersey from the months before and after her disappearance. She was 14 years old at the time.
 
The 30th Anniversary of the disappearance of Tracy Anne King has passed with apparently little or no notice in the press. It is notable that the last place she was seen, Littlestown, PA is only 35 miles north of Gaithersburg, MD, where Fred Howard Coffey, Jr. was living at the time. Coffey has since been convicted in several cases of child molestation, and is in a North Carolina Prison for the 1979 murder of 10 year old Amanda Ray. He is a strong suspect in several other cases.
 
This may be worth looking into as some people in the world have obtained documents with incorrect dates before who knows...
There is a Tracy Ann King in Greenville South Carolina...not sure either if this is a married or maiden name..
Good Luck I hope that maybe some leads can come your way..
 
I don't think the Tracy Ann King from Greenville is the same woman. The Greenville woman was born in 1969, which would make her just 6 when Tracy Ann King disappeared.

I wonder why she is listed as "non-family abduction" rather than runaway?
 
Tracy Anne King disappeared from Littlestown, PA on 8 July 1975. Could her disappearance be linked to that of the Lyon Sisters who went missing 25 March 1975 from Wheaton, MD (featured cases section)? Littlestown is less than an hour drive north from the Wheaton/Rockville area. Both disappearances occurred on a Tuesday. Victims were away from their homes. Similar ages and sizes.

Sixteen days after Tracy Anne's disappearance and probable abduction, on 24 July 1975, Kathy Lynn Beatty, also 14, was abducted in Aspen Hill, Md (adjacent to Wheaton). She was sexually assulted, brutally beaten and left for dead. Found early the next morning, she was still barely alive. Kathy lived for 12 days before dying from her injuries. Could Tracy Anne's case also be related to the abduction and murder of Kathy?
 
michelle said:
I lived not far from Littlestown and have alot of friends still there. It is possible the cases could be connected. I would like to do some more reading on the Lyons sisters.
Here is a list of children who went missing in the spring and summer of 1975. Kathy Lynn Beatty was found near death the morning after her attack. She died in the hospital 12 Days later. Carolyn Majane was missing without a trace for 12 years before her remains were found in a shallow grave in a remote area. All the rest are still missing. None of the crimes have been solved.

Sheila and Katherine Lyon - Missing 25 March 1975 from Wheaton, MD

Steven Anderson and David Williams - Missing 7 April 1975 from New Lisbon, NJ

Wendy Eaton - Missing 17 May 1975 from Media, PA

Edna Christine Thorne - Missing 24 June 1975 from Philadelphia, PA

Tracy Anne King - Missing 8 July 1975 from Littlestown, PA

Kathy Lynn Beatty, abducted/murdered 25 July 1975, Aspen Hill, MD

Carolyn Majane, missing from PA, August 1975. Remains found 12 years later.

----------------------------
The Lyon Sisters have a featured case here on Websleuths, and all of the others are mentioned on it. Some have topic threads of their own under the Cold Case section. If you go to the block which says "Search", you can type in any of the names and the website will give you a listing of all the places where their cases are mentioned. There are also links in some of the threads which will direct you to other websites which discuss the cases.

The above is only a list which I have compiled using various sources. I do not know if Law Enforcement has ever linked any of the cases together. The problem is that there is very little physical evidence available for any of the cases.

It is interesting to note that every spring and summer month of 1975 had one or two cases of disappearance. Note the ages, descriptions, and circumstances.
 
The disappearance of Tracy Anne King remains unsolved.

Littlestown, PA is in the southeastern corner of Adams County, PA. just north of the Maryland/Pennsylvania state line.

Route 97 runs through Littlestown, and if you follow that road south into Maryland, it becomes Georgia, Ave. As Georgia AVE, it goes through Aspen Hill and Wheaton, Maryland where (also in 1975) two other crimes against young girls were committed:

On 25 March, 1975 Sheila and Katherine Lyon disappeared from Wheaton Plaza shopping center. Their case is still open and unsolved.

On 24 July, 1975 Kathy Lynn Beatty was abducted, raped, and beaten almost to death in Aspen Hill, Maryland. She lived on the west side of Route 97, but was left for dead across that road in a debris filled area near a K-Mart. She died 12 days later of complications, never having gained consciousness.

Could the same person have been responsible for all of these attacks?
 
Richard, It seems highly suspicious so many girls around the same age have gone missing. Is LE investigations still active or do you know if they have thought to reopen the case???
 
Richard, It seems highly suspicious so many girls around the same age have gone missing. Is LE investigations still active or do you know if they have thought to reopen the case???

I know for certain that the case of Kathy Lynn Beatty and the case of the missing Lyon sisters are both active and open, even after 34 years. I believe that Tracy's case is also considered an open investigation, but cannot say for sure.

Besides these cases, there are a number of other cases of missing or murdered children from that same time frame (circa 1975) that are still open and active but unsolved.
 
Tracy Anne King went missing from Hoffman Home for Youth back in July of 1975. The place is still in business and has a website. Here is some history of this residential school/treatment center from that website, along with a link to it.

Although Tracy had some emotional problems, it is unlikely that she intended to run away and remain missing for 35 years. Is it possible that someone at the school abducted her? Is it possible that she simply ran away, intending to be gone only a short while and was then picked up by someone who happened to see her walking along the highway?

As mentioned in a previous post, Hoffman Homes and Littlestown, PA are not far from the Maryland state line. Perhaps her abductor took her into Maryland.

------------------------------------

History of Hoffman Homes for Youth

Located in South Central Pennsylvania, Hoffman Homes for Youth has been a part of Adams County history for nearly one hundred years. Hoffman Homes for Youth is a psychiatric residential treatment program for children, accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation for Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) with licensure by the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, Department of Health and certification from the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.

Always loyal to the needs of children, Hoffman Homes for Youth has had three distinct missions since its beginning in 1910.

1910-1960 Orphans

The entire history of Hoffman Homes for Youth is marked by a spirit of love and service to children. It was in this spirit, in 1910, that George and Agnes Hoffman donated 193 acres of prime Pennsylvania farm land to the United Church of Christ (UCC), to be used as an orphanage. The couple had no children of their own, but they felt moved by the plight of homeless children.Many children came to the orphanage and stayed there with their siblings until they were 18 years old. The children worked on the dairy farm and helped with harvesting the fields.

1960-1990 Court Adjudicated Youth

The need for orphanages declined dramatically after the Social Security Act passed in 1935. Following a study and recommendations from the Child Welfare League, the Hoffman Homes for Youth Board of Directors decided that it was time to serve a new population of children. At this time, Hoffman Homes for Youth began admitting court-adjudicated children and appointed an Executive Director with professional training in social work (previous directors had been UCC ministers).The children were sent to local schools and worshipped with local UCC congregations. On campus they were instructed in life skills such as carpentry and auto body.

1990-PRESENT Emotionally and Behaviorally Troubled Youth

Eventually the needs changed again and Hoffman Homes for Youth struggled to help two distinct populations including children with mental illness and adjudicated delinquent youth. The Board of Directors decided that Hoffman Homes for Youth could best serve children with severe emotional disturbances. Since 1990, our primary mission has been to provide comprehensive psychiatric care, treatment, and education to emotionally and behaviorally troubled children and their families. Hoffman Homes for Youth is committed to providing services that are cost effective and responsive to the unique needs of each child.Hoffman Homes for Youth treats the needs of boys and girls ages 6 to 18 who have a major mental health diagnosis. The residential treatment program is licensed to provide behavioral and cognitive therapy, physical health care services, and a safe and comfortable home to 141 children on our campus. Educational services are provided on campus through the Lincoln Intermediate Unit # 12.

Hoffman Homes for Youth serves a unique population of abused and neglected children:Of the 167 children admitted in 2009:
The average age at admission was 12.7 years.
The average length of stay was 9.9 months.
58% of the children were patients in a psychiatric hospital at least once.
37% of the children made at least one major suicide attempt prior to admission.
40% of the children had a history of physical abuse.
36% of the children had a history of sexual abuse.
91% of the children had a history of aggression.

We are proud of our success rate: 82% of the children discharged in 2009 met their treatment goals while at Hoffman Homes for Youth and were successfully discharged.

Despite the changes in the type of child served at Hoffman Homes for Youth, the spirit of love and service to children has remained constant since 1910.

LINK:

http://www.hoffmanhomes.com/history.html
 
Does anyone know the length of time between her leaving the home and being reported missing?

8 July 1975 was a Tuesday. So it would have been a normal weekday routine at the Hoffmann Home.

I do not know the answer to your question as to time frame between her departure from the home and when she was reported missing, but at a school/facility of that nature, it was likely a well controlled and structured place. If she had made a scene of some sort like an argument, fight, emotional outburst, etc prior to leaving, I am sure that she would have been reported immediately. If she simply skipped out quietly, then she might have been missing for as much as a few hours before police would have been called in, because the school personnel would have searched their own facilities for her first.

I have the impression that she was upset about something or was homesick and left the school for a walk. She was probably offered a ride by someone when she reached Highway 97.

Fred Howard Coffey, Jr. should be considered a possible suspect in her disappearance. He is a convicted child molester and child murderer now incarcerated in a North Carolina prison. In July 1975, he was employed by Vitro Laboratories in Wheaton, Maryland, about an hour drive south of the PA/MD line and located on Highway 97.

Immediately after the 24 July 1975 attack on Kathy Lynn Beatty - and when it was reported that she was still alive, Fred Coffey disappeared. He did not inform his employer that he was going or why. Later, when it was reported that Kathy Lynn Beatty had died without regaining conciousness, Fred wrote to Vitro explaining his absense with a lie and requesting that his last paycheck be mailed to him.
 

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