Mary Day 2023 Update: Was the Woman Claiming to Be Her an Imposter?
The perplexing case of Mary Day, who vanished from her Seaside, California home in 1981 at the age of 13, remains an enduring mystery. This article explores the details of Mary’s life, her mysterious disappearance, the subsequent police investigation, and the emergence of a woman claiming to be her years later.
Early Life and Family Background
Born on February 19, 1968, in Little Falls, New York, Mary Louise Day’s early life was marked by instability and turbulence. Her mother, Charlotte Day, struggled to care for Mary and her siblings, leading to their placement in foster care. The family’s life took another turn when Charlotte divorced Charles Day and married William Houle.
The family, including Mary, her two sisters, Kathy and Sherrie, and later two half-siblings, moved frequently due to Houle’s military assignments. This nomadic lifestyle, combined with the turmoil at home, including allegations of physical abuse by Houle, set a distressing backdrop to Mary’s childhood.
The Disappearance
In July 1981, Mary Day disappeared from her home in Seaside, California. Strikingly, her parents did not report her missing. The family narrative was that Mary had run away, a claim that went unchallenged for years. It was only in 1992 that Sherrie, Mary’s sister, filed a missing person report, leading to a delayed police investigation.
Investigators faced significant challenges due to the delay in reporting. There was no trace of Mary’s existence post-disappearance: no school records, no social security activity, nothing to indicate she was still alive. The family’s lack of cooperation and Houle’s disturbing admission of a violent altercation with Mary the night she disappeared further complicated matters.
The use of cadaver dogs at the family’s former residences in Seaside brought a grim twist to the investigation. The dogs indicated the presence of human remains in the backyard of the home from which Mary vanished. A child’s shoe, consistent with what Mary might have worn, was unearthed, but no body was found. The discovery intensified suspicions of foul play.
The Arizona Claimant
Over two decades after her disappearance, a woman in Phoenix, Arizona, was detained during a routine traffic stop. She claimed to be Mary Day. A DNA test confirmed her as Charlotte’s daughter, yet doubts about her identity persisted. The woman’s unfamiliar southern accent, her lack of knowledge about her past, and her previous use of the alias Monica Devereaux raised questions about her credibility.
Mary’s sisters, Kathy and Sherrie, expressed conflicting emotions. Sherrie eventually accepted the woman as her long-lost sister, despite initial doubts and the woman’s erratic behavior and inconsistent stories. Kathy remained skeptical, citing the woman’s lack of familiarity with their shared past and the suspicious timing of her emergence.
However, the woman’s death in 2017 marked a somber end to the saga, with questions about her true identity remaining unresolved. The mysterious circumstances of her disappearance, the unsettling findings of the investigation, and the ambiguous identity of the Arizona woman create a narrative rife with more questions than answers.
More 48 Hours: What Ever Happened to Mary Day?
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