This case would more appropriately be listed in the "Missing but Not Forgotten" section of Websleuths.
Mary Denise Lands, age 39, Missing since 12 March 2004
- Missing Since 03/12/2004
- Missing From Marshall, Michigan
- Classification Endangered Missing
- Sex Female
- Race White
- Date of Birth 09/03/1964 (57)
- Age 39 years old
- Height and Weight 5'6, 160 pounds
- Clothing/Jewelry Description A light blue hospital scrub shirt with a teddy bear or Sponge Bob print, dark blue hospital scrub pants, slip-on sneakers with no heel, and a brown leather jacket.
- Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Lands's ears and navel are pierced and she has a scar on her left arm from a polio vaccination. She wears brown-framed eyeglasses for reading, and keeps her fingernails well-manicured. Lands has a ripped right earlobe and has a brown birthmark on her buttocks. Her maiden name is Marshall and she may go by the name Mary Denise Marshall Lands.
Details of Disappearance
Lands was last seen between 10:00 and 10:30 p.m. on March 12, 2004, walking away from her apartment in the vicinity of the 1200 block of Arms Street in Marshall, Michigan. She had an argument with her live-in fiance, Christopher Luke Pratt, that evening.
Christopher Pratt
Lands was last seen between 10:00 and 10:30 p.m. on March 12, 2004, walking away from her apartment in the vicinity of the 1200 block of Arms Street in Marshall, Michigan. She had an argument with her live-in fiance, Christopher Luke Pratt, that evening.
Lands may have been intoxicated at the time. She became upset and told Pratt she was going for a walk, and he saw her walking around the carport. She never returned home and has never been heard from again. She left her clothes, cellular phone, engagement ring and keys behind at her home, but she took her white mesh purse with her. Her brother reported her missing.
Pratt is considered to be a person of interest in Lands's disappearance, although he is not being called a suspect. He had a history of domestic violence in his first marriage.
In 2007, he was arrested for assaulting his live-in girlfriend. He was convicted of unlawful imprisonment and criminal sexual conduct in that case, but he has never been charged in connection with Lands's disappearance. A photograph of Pratt is posted with this case summary.
Dogs tracked Lands's scent to a nearby motel after she went missing. There was no indication of her whereabouts at the motel, however. Lands's has not used her bank account or credit cards since her disappearance. Police are calling her disappearance suspicious.
Lands has two adult children. Most of her family lives in California; her parents moved there only days before her disappearance. Foul play is suspected in her disappearance; her case remains unsolved. She was declared legally dead in April 2011.
Investigating Agency
- Marshall Police Department 269-781-2596
Source Information
