GUILTY PA - Sherry Leighty, 21, Altoona, 1 October 1999

amberdawn723

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https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/show/17229
NAMUS
Status Missing
First name Sherry
Middle name Jean
Last name Leighty
Nickname/Alias
Date last seen October 01, 1999 10:01
Date entered 08/28/2012
Age last seen 22 to 23 years old
Age now 36 years old
Race White
Ethnicity Other
Sex Female
Height (inches) 60.0 to 62.0
Weight (pounds) 100.0 to 110.0



http://www.examiner.com/article/she...ported-missing-after-13-years?cid=db_articles
Dumm expected the police to look into what happened to his daughter and search for her, but it didn't happen that way. Instead, the Altoona police told him they didn't feel they had a case to investigate.



Find Sherry facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/sherryleighty.missingperson?ref=ts&fref=ts



http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/c...y-of-missing-woman-seeks-answers.html?nav=742
Dumm, who died in 2005, had gone to the Altoona police for help finding his daughter.

But because Leighty was an adult and because friends reported hearing Leighty talk about moving to Maine with a boyfriend, the department concluded that it didn't have a case to investigate.



559832_257391941055407_1198060789_n.jpg
 
The facebook page indicates that Sherry had two young daughters at the time of her disappearance. There are photos of her with them.....:cry: So sad that apparently little was done to find her by LE.

Here are the circumstances surrounding her disappearance:
Sheldon Dumm, Sherry's father, who passed away in 2005, last saw his daughter on Sept. 26 when her ex-husband's parent's dropped her off at work a block a way. Dumm found out later from her employer, Labor Ready, that Sherry never showed up for work that day.
http://www.examiner.com/article/sherry-leighty-finally-reported-missing-after-13-years?cid=db_articles
 
Wow, so who has been taking care of her children for so long?
 
Welcome shell, I am so sorry that you had to join WS under these circumstances. The WS crew is here to help anyway we can. Again I am so sorry.. Hugs
 
Beautiful girl.... let's see what we can do to help find her. Going to check for any other information available online about her.
 
Sleuths, are there any UIDs in that same geographic area in the right time frame? I'm going to start to sift through them......

Sherry's sister, does your family have any "gut feeling" on what has happened to her?
 
Shellbellz, do you have any ideas of what may have happened to your sister? What type of young lady was she, reserved, adventurous, wild & crazy? Was she known to leave prior to her disappearance? Did she have any friends outside her home (i.e. other states/areas, etc.). Was she having any marital difficulties that you were aware of or b/f problems? Did she have any medical issues that would warrant ongoing medical care? (You don't have to be specific due to privacy). Were you aware of any reasons why she would leave voluntarily? Just a few thoughts off the top of my head.
 
My sister would have never left her children & family. She was having marital issues with her husband at the time. Her estranged husband & parents were the last to see Sherry on the day when she was supposedly dropped off at her work but never showed up according to her employer. The police were told that friends of Sherry's said she was leaving town with a boyfriend. But yet there were no names of these so called friends that said this so no one was ever interviewed by the police. Sherry didn't have a boyfriend at that time. None of this added up to us. We tried to tell the police this but they said she's an adult & can leave on her own. They didn't want to help us then & it feels no different now. They only started looking into her case for the past several months because I got another article put in our local newspaper.

~Shelly~
 
Thanks for your candid reply! A few questions more before I'm off to sleuth her some more.
To your knowledge, was there any history of domestic violence between the two? If so, how recently before she disappeared... and has he ever been in trouble with the law previously?
 
I took my sister out to the courthouse a couple months prior to her disappearance for her to file a PFA order but she later changed her mind & never went to the hearing to put it in place.
 
Do you still have a relationship with her ex, i.e. have you been able to remain in contact with your nieces?
 
Sleuths, are there any UIDs in that same geographic area in the right time frame? I'm going to start to sift through them......

Sherry's sister, does your family have any "gut feeling" on what has happened to her?

Just FYI, I already checked namus UID for PA and northern MD and came up with nothing. There are no dentals or DNA entered for Sherry. Shel, have you looked into getting this info for namus? It would help with 'automatic ruleouts'?

I think the FB page and articles are a great idea. If she did run off, at least she would know that you are still looking for her.

jmo
 
I don't have a real relationship with her ex & just in the past two years my nieces & nephew have come around us since they are older and can make their own decisions. It's a shame that we haven't had a relationship with them because I know if my sister was still around we all would be so close like we used to be.
 
My sister would have never left her children & family. She was having marital issues with her husband at the time. Her estranged husband & parents were the last to see Sherry on the day when she was supposedly dropped off at her work but never showed up according to her employer. The police were told that friends of Sherry's said she was leaving town with a boyfriend. But yet there were no names of these so called friends that said this so no one was ever interviewed by the police. Sherry didn't have a boyfriend at that time. None of this added up to us. We tried to tell the police this but they said she's an adult & can leave on her own. They didn't want to help us then & it feels no different now. They only started looking into her case for the past several months because I got another article put in our local newspaper.

~Shelly~

Welcome to WS Shelly!

The fact that LE offered little help is infuriating. This is a wonderful online community of caring people that will welcome you and help in the search for your dear sister.
 
Just FYI, I already checked namus UID for PA and northern MD and came up with nothing. There are no dentals or DNA entered for Sherry. Shel, have you looked into getting this info for namus? It would help with 'automatic ruleouts'?

I think the FB page and articles are a great idea. If she did run off, at least she would know that you are still looking for her.

jmo

We don't have any dental records on Sherry and as far as DNA, both our parents are deceased now; the detective did say we could use one of her children and her siblings if dna was needed but they haven't said anything further about that.
 
Why was she not reported missing until 2012? Where does the ex live now? Did he remarry? Does he still live in the same area?

Thank you shellbellz216 for being here and I hope we can help. So very sorry about your sister. You must feel a terrible void all these years not having any answers.
 

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