It is 20-year-anniversary since 69-year-old mother Maxine Stalnaker & her 45-year-old daughter Mary Friend both simply vanished
It was just over two decades ago, on Wednesday, Dec. 1, 1999, that 45-year-old Mary Friend and her mother, 69-year-old Maxine Stalnaker, were last seen or heard from. December marked the 20-year anniversary of their disappearance. Authorities still welcome any tips that might lead to new information in the case.
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In September 2013, Friend’s son, Joseph Edward Metz, and two other men, David Martin Hughes and Charles Steven “Steve” Freeman, were charged with robbery, kidnapping and first-degree murder in the two women’s cases.
The charges were dismissed in November for lack of evidence. However, in December 2013, Hughes was charged with conspiracy to commit robbery in Stalnaker and Friend’s cases, and later, Freeman and Metz were charged again with two counts of first-degree murder.
Hughes pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with the prosecution, but his story repeatedly changed: He implicated only Metz, then said both Freeman and Metz were involved in the murders. Then he claimed he didn’t know who had been involved and said he had been coerced into making his previous statements.
In August 2015, the charges against Freeman and Metz were dropped again after the prosecutor admitted Hughes was not a credible witness. The case was dismissed without prejudice, meaning the suspects could be charged with murder a third time if more evidence comes to light.
Mary Friend’s and Stalnaker’s bodies have never been found, but foul play is suspected in their cases due to the circumstances involved.
20-year-anniversary of two missing LC women; still considered to be a cold case