The Doe Network:
Case File 2808DFLA
Missing Since: March 25, 1976 from Chalmette, St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana
Classification: Endangered Missing
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Vital Statistics
Date Of Birth: 1943 (estimated)
Age at Time of Disappearance: 33 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'4"; 108 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Reddish-brown hair; blue eyes.
Dentals: Not Available
DNA: Not Available
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Circumstances of Disappearance:
On March 25, 1976, Mary Ann Perez of Chalmette, Louisiana, went out with a girlfriend and left her teen-aged daughter to babysit the younger children.
She told her daughter that she would be calling to check on the children about 10:00-11:00PM. First, Mary Ann called, stating that she was OK and that she would be home shortly. Later, a woman who identified herself as "Dorothy" called, to report that Mary Ann was having car trouble. Mary Ann's family did not know who Dorothy was and was concerned because Mary Ann's car was practically new.
Mary Ann never called and never came home. Her family soon discovered that she had gone to meet her friend at a country-western club on the outskirts of New Orleans.
The next morning, police found Mary Ann's car parked in front of the club, but saw no evidence of car trouble. Three days later, Mary Ann's purse was found in Lake Pontchartrain, ten miles away. It had been weighted down by a brick. But there was no trace of Mary Ann Perez.
Nine years after Mary Ann's disappearance, a convicted killer confessed to abducting and killing Mary Ann. According to his statement, he and his wife dumped her body near the Louisiana/Mississippi state line and made no attempt to hide her body. An extensive search was conducted, but no body was recovered, even though all of their other victims had been found where he said they would be. The couple were never charged with Mary Ann's murder.
Fifteen years after Mary Ann's disappearance, the family received a phone call from a woman stating she was Mary Ann's best friend, that Mary Ann was still alive but wasn't able to call herself, and that also she wouldn't be able to call back.
The call gave hope to the Perez family that Mary Ann may still be alive, though they realize it may have been a prank call.
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Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
New Orleans Police Department
504-244-4600
504-821-2222
Source Information:
Unsolved Mysteries
http://www.unsolved.com/ajaxfiles/mis_mary_ann_perez.htm
LSU FACES Lab
http://identifyla.lsu.edu/profile.php?id=503
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2808dfla.html