Well, I kinda hinted at the idea that she was suspected of murder. I want to make it clear that it is completely unproven, she was never charged with any crime, and to this day the case is unsolved. But... People still have their suspicions. I talked to my mom earlier today about this, and she says that to this day she just can't rule it out. I'll say that the primary suspect was a serial killer/child abductor well known at the time, though if my memory serves he was never identified or apprehended. And there was no evidence to link him (or anybody) to the crime

My mother had two sisters growing up. One younger, one older. One night, the younger sister (14/15 at the time) snuck out of the house to visit a friends. This in and of itself was not terribly uncommon. It was an abusive household, and the daughters really had to learn to take care of themselves at a young age.

Around midnight, my mother gets a call from her sister from a payphone. She had gone out, she was coming home.

She never got home. That phone call was the last thing anyone ever heard from her. A man hunt was launched, people were questioned. And the case never got anywhere. Dead ends in every direction.

Every few years they find a body somewhere, and my mother or aunt gets called for information. Few weeks ago wad the last one, trying to see if they can link a body found in Florida in 1979 to her. Every now and then a story will get published about it, along with a string of other unsolved child abductions from that era.

And my mother and her older sister still wonder... Did one of their parents just get a little too angry that night?

Oh yeah. I've been talking about her being evil. He's still alive, talks to my mom on holidays. But for decades they never talked. Not evil or crazy like her, I don't think. Just a fucking asshole with a short temper. Too fucked up on drugs and booze at the time to really be trusted. But after this incident, he just shut down. Temper was gone, but so was everything else.

There were hints that someone in the family knew something, but unclear if it had anything to do with this. A vague threat to another family member, decades ago (before I was born). "Don't you fuck around or I'll tell the kids about you know what."