MI MI - Cindy Moore, 28, Troy, 23 May 1985

Here are excerpts from an article that appeared in the Detroit News, July 29, 1985
Title: Family holds on to hope vanished woman is alive
By Diane Katz, News Staff Writer

"It's been 67 days since Cindy Moore left her job as a Troy post office, got into her turbocharged tempo and vanished. Like some magician's cruel trick, the 28-year-old Clarkston woman disappeared without explanation, and there are no magic words that will bring her back. So, the 2-year-old son she left behind and her grieving family and friends can do little but wait for Cindy to call or for someone to find her body."

"We all know it's a good possibility that we won't find her alive said Barbara Hicks, who has plastered her daughter's picture on storefront windows throughout Oakland County."

"Lt. Glenn Watson of the [Oakland County] Sheriff's Department has a more pessimistic view. 'We're working under the assumption that she's dead,' he said bluntly."

"What is known is that Cindy left work at 11 p.m. Thursday, May 23, but did not arrive as planned at her estranged husband's Warren home to fetch her son Nicholas."*

"She was last seen by a co-worker who reportedly saw her driving near the intersection of 14 Mile Road and Interstate 75 at about 11:15 p.m. Thursday."

"One week later, Cindy's sporty gray and black 1984 Tempo was found abandoned in the parking lot of the Abbey Theater at I-75 and 14 Mile Road. The doors were locked, the keys were gone and there were no signs of a struggle."

"Inside the Hicks' white colonial Clarkston home, where Cindy sought refuge in January from her failing marriage, the small bedroom she shared with Nicholas is just as she left it."

"Family members flatly deny the possibility that Cindy fled the trappings of a troubled marriage and the demands of motherhood. Her bank balance is intact, none of her clothes are missing and she was devoted to her growing son, they said."

"By all indications, Cindy was ready to lead a more independent life. Her recently filed divorce suit was proceeding smoothly, and in April she made a down payment on a new mobile home in Auburn Hills for herself and Nicholas."

I can't seem to find anything about Cindy online. Is she still missing?

(deleted)

Those aren't the same people. Moore is a fairly common name in this area (and probably throughout the US). Cindy was never found, alive or dead. One local man, Rick Retell, who was one of Cindy's co-workers, spent many years looking into her disappearance. He died a few years ago without ever finding her. I believe the police more or less gave up after a while. I don't think there's been any official activity on the case since the 80s.

In such matters, it seems the husband would be the main suspect or at least, a person of interest. Is there any indication that William Moore was questioned? Whatever happened to Cindy's son? Some further details to fill in the gaps between 1985 to the present would be helpful. From the newspaper report, it appears she was last seen by someone in the same immediate area as where her vehicle was found a week later which is somewhat interesting.

The husband, William Moore, must have been questioned, but I don't know the extent to which he co-operated. He made critical comments about Cindy in the newspaper article I cited (claiming she was running around with other men, etc.). He was also quoted as saying that he believed he was considered a "prime suspect." I don't know whether Nicholas knows anything about his mother's disappearance; he may well have been raised being told that his mother ran off. It's unlikely that his father allowed him to have any contact with Cindy's relatives. As far as filling in the gaps, I doubt anyone from the Oakland County Sheriff's Department has opened the file since 1985 or 1986. I believe they concluded that without a body, they couldn't arrest anyone, and her body was never found (or if it was, it was never identified as her).
The area where her Cindy was last seen driving—the area where her car was later located—is right near the entrance and exit ramps to the freeway, so it's a normal place for her to have been driving if she had been planning to take the expressway en route to her estranged husband's home.

Note—I just checked my records, and according to a message I received from Rick Retell (Cindy's friend who investigated her disappearance along with Cindy's brother-in-law), Cindy's estranged husband William Moore was questioned several times and even had his backyard dug up.

You would think the husband would have been questioned. Strange how he continued to be critical of her after she had disappeared - like trying to shift the blame, etc. Was there more newspaper coverage in that area - particularly when her vehicle was discovered and the husband's backyard was dug up? Unfortunately, with almost 30 years having past, there is such a gap on this. Kind of hard to believe a woman would just leave a two-year old child behind like that.

The story received very little coverage in the papers. For some reason the press seems to latch on to certain disappearances and ignore others. I believe the article I cited, which was printed about two months after Cindy disappeared, may have been the first mention in the newspapers. I think the case was mentioned in passing the next time a woman vanished...and that was about it for press coverage. Not a word since 1985 so far as I know. (I'm not sure whether it made the TV news at all.)

Unfortunate that there was not more news coverage given to this case. Sometimes that is what helps get attention to it and with that comes possible information that may solve it. I tend to think had this disappearance taken place in other parts of the country, there would have been more coverage.

I don't know; I'm guessing that many disappearances nationwide never make the papers/TV news at all.

I scanned the picture of Cindy that appeared with the 1985 newspaper article. The quality isn't great, but I guess it's better than nothing. It might help someone match her to a Jane Doe.

Next month will mark the 30 year anniversary of Cindy's disappearance.

Only 12 days from the 30th anniversary! I can't imagine what it would be like to be a member f her family—strongly suspecting you knew who had killed her yet not being able to do anything about it (legally).

Today is the 30th anniversary of the last time Cindy Moore was seen alive (by anyone besides her abductor, anyway).

I mentioned this story to a local news affiliate recently. It sounded like they would have covered it if I had been family, but since I'm not, I don't think they're going to mention it unless they can get in touch with the family (and I didn't have any contact information to provide).

It would be a shame not to get this back in the eye of the public.

StinkSprings said:

It would be a shame not to get this back in the eye of the public.

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I agree. It's a shame that it didn't get more press coverage when she first disappeared. It was a different era, though. I suspect that there were many disappearances back in the 80s (and before) that were never reported in the papers at all.

She did have siblings and a son, so it should be possible to get family DNA into the system to check Jane Does.

Does anyone know how to tell whether Cindy is even in the FBI database?

Cindy has been added to NamUs: https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/show/30894

KateB said:

Cindy has been added to NamUs: https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/show/30894

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Thanks for the update!