MN MN - Amy Pagnac, 13, Osseo, 5 Aug 1989

[CarlK90245]

Amy Sue Pagnac

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/p/pagnac_amy.html

Top Row and Bottom Left and Center: Amy, circa 1989;
Bottom Right: Age-progression to age 33 (circa 2009)

Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance


Missing Since: August 5, 1989 from Osseo, Minnesota
Classification: Non-Family Abduction
Date Of Birth: June 15, 1976
Age: 13 years old
Height and Weight: 5'0, 100 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Brown hair, blue eyes. Pagnac has scars on her left cheek, left eyelid and the side of her nose. She has a circular-shaped scar on her left knee. Pagnac's ears are pierced. She has a petite stature.
Clothing/Jewelry Description: Sweatpants, a light-colored shirt, and tennis shoes.
Medical Conditions: Pagnac suffers from occasional seizures due to undetermined causes. She also has occasional fits of anger. She is required to take allergy medication.

Details of Disappearance

Pagnac and her father stopped at the Holiday Inn gasoline station in Osseo, Minnesota at 4:30 p.m. on August 5, 1989. They were on their way home from a visit to the family farm at the time; they lived in Maple Grove, Minnesota. Pagnac's father went inside the station for a brief moment to use the toilet. When he returned, he saw that she had disappeared from their parked vehicle. She has never been heard from again.

Authorities initially believed Pagnac ran away from home. She had done so once before after packing clothing, but had only been gone for a day. She is no longer considered a runaway; it is thought that Pagnac may have had a seizure while her father was inside the building and became disoriented as a result. She may have walked away from their car afterwards.

There was a possible sighting of Pagnac in July of 2002. Someone reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that Pagnac, who would have been 26 at the time, may have been seen in Bay City, Michigan and was possibly a student at a local college or university in the area. Nothing came of the lead, however.

Pagnac remains missing and her case is unsolved. Her family has kept the same telephone number since her disappearance in case she attempts to contact them. Maple Grove police are investigating her disappearance.

 

[amber1]

Thank you so much for starting this thread! Amy vanished from around my area, so it always has haunted me. And that sighting of her in 2002...in Michigan? What would be her reason to runaway, or why would someone take her?
There has also been speculation that Amy got disoriented due to seizures and wandered away..but how often does that happen? To me, along with Jacob Wetterling, this is one of the most baffling missing persons cases in Minnesota. Also, with MN landscape, state of 1,000 lakes and woods and corn fields...it's like finding a needle in a hay stack:/
But her family is amazing. I believe they have a website, possible facebook for her. I know they are looking to this day, wonderful people.

 

[amber1]

Amy's Case Still Open:

http://kstp.com/news/stories/S2228695.shtml?cat=1

Twenty-two years ago, a Maple Grove girl disappeared from her family's car at a gas station.

Thirteen-year-old Amy Sue Pagnac was with her dad at the time. They were on their way home from a trip up north and stopped at a gas station in Osseo. While her dad was inside, Pagnac vanished.

Today, she would be 35 years old.
Police say each anniversary they get anywhere from six to 12 new tips. They investigate all of them. In fact, there's still an entire room at the Maple Grove Police Department dedicated to the search for Amy.
"As long as we are actively investigating, it will stay open forever," said Detective Travis Pobuda, who's in charge of the investigation now. "I want to see this solved, I want to see this done, because we've put a lot of time and effort into it, and it's the right thing to do for Amy."
If you have any information about the case, you're urged to call the anonymous Crimestopper Tip Line at 1-800-222-TIPS.

 

[amber1]

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2011/08/04/age-progession-picture-of-woman-missing-for-22-years

Here's another article..does anyone know if her stepfather, who last seen her, if he was ever cleared?

 

[LarkBunting]

<modsnip>

I went to college with Amy's younger sister. Her case is really what drew me to Websleuths in the first place (as a lurker...Mickey Shunick inspired me to actually join & post). Amy was her only sibling & her disappearance has left a hole in her family. They have kept the same phone number all these years, clinging to the hope that maybe Amy is alive out there somewhere & will one day call home. Last I knew, they still lived at the same address...just in case Amy ever comes home.
I was a little girl when Amy went missing, but I do not believe her family had anything to do with it. My friend (Amy's sister) is close to her family & describes a loving childhood, marred - of course - by the unsolved disappearance of her only sibling.
I pray that one day, the Pagnac family will be blessed with closure. It is so unfair for anyone to go so many years with no answers.

 

[amber1]

LarkBunting-thank you so much for your post! To think her family is in limbo, waiting for her tocome home, keeping everything the same just in case...it's just so heart breaking! Do you know what ever became of the sighting of Amy in MI as a possible college student there???

 

[LarkBunting]

From what I know of the "sighting" in MI, nothing came of it. LE investigated & found nothing to substantiate the claim.
I wish gas stations had security cameras back in 1989. Maybe they did? Maybe the footage was unhelpful, of poor quality, or whatever happened occurred out of camera range?

 

[amber1]

I was just thinking that same thing! Or maybe any of the other facilities that are by Holiday gas station-since it's unsure what direction she (or the person who took her) went. A sighting of her on the security camera would be great just to narrow down if she wandered off or is someone took her-although I have always thought that someone abducted her. I wonder WHERE Holiday is located? In the middle of town? By lots of land and woods? Because if she got disoriented and wandered off...if it was in town...wouldnt someone have found her, even if she got injured in the process?

 

[amber1]

bumping for Amy...someone out there knows...

 

[CastlesBurning]

What caught my attention was "occasional fits of anger." What exactly does that mean? If investigators thought it was important enough to note in a case file, I'm thinking it was something more serious than typical teenage behavior. Did Amy have a history of violent or destructive behavior? Was there any possibility of her harming herself?

 

[marycarney]

Usually, when someone has a seizure, they typically afterwards have a period of time known as a 'post-ictal state'. Persons in post-ictal states TYPICALLY are sleepy. In fact, my former son-in-law has epilepsy, and they discovered he was having night-time seizures when they had trouble waking him up in the morning.
There is so little information - did anyone else at the gas station see her? Did anyone see them between the time they left the farm and the gas station? Did anyone see them at the farm for that matter?
This is not to cast aspersion at the father - just asking the normal questions.

 

[amber1]

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2011/08/04/age-progession-picture-of-woman-missing-for-22-years/
I also wonder if anyone else say Amy at the gas station...I don't want to point fingers at the family, but did they also see her stepfather at the gas station? Were there cameras there? What were people's account of Amy at the farm? How did that visit go and how was she when she left? I feel validating she was at the Holiday gas station is of great importance. And did they stop anywhere else before the gas station?

It just is so odd to me she vanishes like this...so weird, of all the cases I have read up on, Amy's is so different, can't really pin point one like it. Seems like she had no reason to runaway, unless she had a bad time at the farm, or something was happening that she kept to herself and was upset about??

 

[CastlesBurning]

In my experience, most gas stations at that time tended to have public restrooms accessible from the outside, for which you had to get a key from the clerk. It wouldn't take more than a moment to get it, unless there were a line inside to pay. And, given that Amy's stepfather was a man, he would most likely have been able to do his business very quickly in the restroom, much more so than the typical woman would have. Thus, if his account is correct, he really would have taken his eyes off Amy for only a couple of minutes at most. It seems very bizarre to have her completely disappear in such a short time.

 

[amber1]

I also agree, I just can't wrap my head around that, that someone would force her from the car in broud daylight in a public area, and just take her without anyone seeing a thing.
And as for her leaving on her on, I also can't see that...someone would have seen something and she couldnt have gotten far in that short of time...I just question if that is how she really vanished. I hate saying that because I do not wanna point fingers, but it is just so odd!

 

[sguru26]

Hello everyone.
I'm Amy's sister. Yes there were camera's at the gas station, however during the initial investigation, the police never obtained copies of the footage. Yes, they were able to verify my father was at the gas station, and yes, they were able to verify they left the farm. The gas station is near the middle of town on the main street. it is a very small town, main street is about 4 blocks long, and there are mostly businesses along the main street with residential homes behind it. The area was not very developed at the time, and there were significant areas of farmland around, corn fields specifically.

Thank you for starting this thread and looking into my sister's disappearance.
No, my father, or any of my family, myself included (yes, I was 8 at the time), has been cleared of wrong-doing in this case. In my opinion, much of this case has been mishandled, and vital information, such as gas station footage, has been forever lost.
Recently, the Maple Grove police has renewed their efforts, and for that I applaude them. Unfortunately, it appears thier focus lies soley on my family and foul play. I am not aware if they looked into the sighting in MI. They tapped our phones and put us under surveillance - over twenty years after the occurance. Their equipment has yet to be removed. When they questioned my father, who has a severe allergy to latex and was later found to have significant heart diease requiring open heart surgery, they placed him in a warm room, using latex materials, and when he complained of feeling light-headed, short of breath, ignored it as a medical concern and took those very real physical symptoms as proof of his guilt. While I can understand their mistake in this matter, it makes me very upset that they would treat a victim's family member as such. Representatives interviewed by local newsstations have stated the investigation is on hold because we are not cooperating. Considering the major medical conditions, and the physical stressors caused by them, and their very recent methods of how they want us to cooperate, we are literaly unable to without significant injury to health.
I'm sure that I will upset a few people with this post, I do not mean to, but it is extremely frustrating to be put in such a position that we need to choose between the current health and well-being of my mother and father, or the police continuing their investigation into my sister's disappearance. It is a horrible choice and saddens me beyond words.
I want to thank you all again for keeping Amy in your thoughts. I hope you can help in any way possible. It tears at my heart to feel like there is nothing formally being done, but your time and energy is an amazing gift.

Thank you all

 

[sguru26]

What caught my attention was "occasional fits of anger." What exactly does that mean? If investigators thought it was important enough to note in a case file, I'm thinking it was something more serious than typical teenage behavior. Did Amy have a history of violent or destructive behavior? Was there any possibility of her harming herself?

This was something more medical that behavioral and may have been seizure activity. I currently work with people who have mental and physical disabilities, seizures being one that I an very well familiar with, and I still have found paramedics who will say someone having seizures is being purposely violent/angry, dispite being called in for seizure activity and with the diagnosis of seizures clearly in their file.

 

[spagnac]

I am Amy's mother. Many of you have had a lot of good questions. Regarding the statement, that Amy "suffered from fits of anger", I have no idea why that statement is there. I have no idea what they meant. Amy has never been violent, or harmed anyone.

Yes there was a witness that saw Amy and her father leaves the farm. A private investigator is the one that found that witness, and provided the information to the police.

This same private investigator found somebody that had known Amy prior to her going missing. This person stated that she had talked to Amy. It was sometime within the 1st 2 weeks of her going missing. This information was also provided to the police.

There was a call to one of missing children organizations, stating they felt that Amy was too young to be with the people she was with. Amy also identified herself as Amy Sue Pagnac. The location of this was at a bus or train station on the West Coast. Amy used almost the exact same statements with both individuals, with regard to why she wasn't at home. This information I was shown to me by the original detective that was on the case.

Amy's case was considered a run-away case for several months. After they decided that it was not a run-away case, the procedures of the investigation were: we invited them into our house to look for anything that they wanted; giving them the keys to the farm for which they searched in 1990; more interrogations of us including the Hennepin County Sheriff department interviewed Amy's father for several hours, they cleared him, the detective showed me their report; verified what we had told them, including the timeline; there are other things, but it is too long and detailed.

After all that, the original detective on Amy's case made it perfectly clear to us that he was certain that Amy was the victim of a nonfamily abduction.

February or March of 1990, 2 different undercover private investigators, from a Nonprofit missing child organization, stated that they spotted Amy in a strip club, in the Midwest. Before they could act to rescue her she was moved to elsewhere. I believe these investigators did see Amy.

Maple Grove Police Department moved to a different building unfortunately, many of the records on Amy's case were lost. Timelines, witnesses, gas receipts etc.

Because of lost records, these 2 individuals need to call the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and provide them more information about the situation, including the individuals they saw Amy with.

We have made ourselves available almost anytime the police asked, except for when one was in the hospital, etc. We have called many times asking for updates, or if there's anything else we can do, etc. Usually they never get back to us. We have been interviewed by local law enforcement, several times. They complained we don't tell them anything different or new.

Yes Amy's father is a male. Usually men do use the restrooms a lot faster than women; even men that washed their hands well usually are a little bit faster. But you know sometimes one has to do more than urination.

Both Marshall and I are listed as Amy's parents on her birth certificate.

 

[alllads]

My condolences to the family, I hope she is found.

Just brainstorming, but even if she did not have a seizure she may have stepped out of the car anyway for some fresh air, or she saw something or someone, who really knows. And it being a gas station, she may have gotten into another car - or been snatched by someone. If someone in a car asked for directions and she leaned in to give them, that sort of thing.

 

[Kaliste]

To Amy's Sister and Mother, my prayers are with you and the rest of your family tonite. I can't possibly imagine the pain and frustration of not knowing. I hope this thread will bring renewed interest, awareness and tips.

 

[Jbrown324320]

To Amy's family, my heart goes out to you. I could not imagine the heartbreak and pain of not knowing where Amy is for so long. I live in MN and feel it is a relatively safe place to live. Unbelieveable that this happened right in small town Osseo.

There were no witnesses at the gas station? Not even the attendant? No one saw any other cars in the station? A gas station in a small town usually does brisk business. Hard to believe no one saw anything. Did your husband see any cars going up/down the road from the station? Does he remember a description of them if he did see any?

I also notice that it was very close to the date Jacob Wetterling was abducted. I wonder if the disappearances are related.