THE VANISHING WOMEN OF IOWA I

Chapter One The Last Known Sighting On the evening of October 17, 1971, twenty-three-year-old Patricia Ann Keller left a small bar on the outskirts of Davenport, Iowa. Witnesses later recalled seeing her speaking with an unfamiliar woman wearing a dark coat and driving a cream-colored Pontiac. Patricia never returned home. It would be nearly two years before investigators realized her disappearance might be connected to eight others. At the time, there was little reason to suspect anything unusual. Adults disappeared. People left town. Relationships ended. Young women sometimes vanished without explanation. Patricia's case appeared to be one more tragic mystery among hundreds of missing persons reports filed across the Midwest every year. Yet decades later, retired investigators would point to that October evening as the moment one of Iowa's strangest unsolved mysteries truly began. Patricia Ann Keller Born in 1948, Patricia grew up in Bettendorf, Iowa, the eldest of three children. Friends described her as quiet but fiercely independent. She worked as a clerk at a local insurance office and rented a small apartment near downtown Davenport. According to friends, Patricia had recently become involved in the local lesbian community, a largely hidden network that existed in the shadows of early 1970s Midwestern society. Public acceptance was rare. Many establishments operated discreetly. Patrons often knew one another only by first names. Former friend Linda Hartwell later recalled: "You have to understand what things were like back then. Nobody talked openly about any of it. There weren't signs outside saying who gathered where. You learned from friends, and you kept your mouth shut." Patricia was known to occasionally visit a small establishment called The Lantern Room, a dimly lit bar located along the industrial edge of Davenport. The bar no longer exists. Few photographs of the interior survive. On the night of October 17, Patricia arrived shortly after 8:00 PM. She was never seen again. Witness Accounts The descriptions gathered by Davenport Police in the days following Patricia's disappearance varied considerably. One witness remembered seeing Patricia speaking with a woman in her late twenties. Another believed the woman was over forty. Several recalled dark hair. Others insisted it was blonde. The only detail that appeared repeatedly was the vehicle. A cream-colored Pontiac. Possibly a Catalina. Possibly a Bonneville. No license plate was ever obtained. Former Detective Raymond Schuster, interviewed in 1998, stated: "The problem was every witness remembered something different. We couldn't even agree on hair color. Looking back, that's one reason nobody connected these cases sooner." One waitress recalled hearing Patricia mention that she had "met somebody interesting." The statement would later become a significant point of speculation. No one could identify who that person was. Patricia Ann Keller - Missing Person Photograph (1971) Last known photograph, believed taken during the summer of 1971 at her parents' home in Davenport, Iowa. The Missing Person Investigation Patricia failed to report for work on October 18. Her employer contacted her family two days later. When officers entered her apartment, they found no evidence of a struggle. Her purse remained inside. Several articles of clothing appeared untouched. A suitcase was still stored beneath her bed. Investigators found nothing suggesting she intended to leave permanently. Yet no physical evidence indicated foul play. The case quickly stalled. By December 1971, active investigation had largely ceased. Patricia Ann Keller joined a growing list of unsolved disappearances. For nearly two years, nobody connected her case to any other. Then another woman vanished. And another. And another. Eventually detectives would begin noticing a pattern. Each victim was female. Each disappeared without a body being recovered. Several had ties to hidden lesbian social circles across eastern Iowa. And in more than one case, witnesses recalled seeing an unfamiliar woman shortly before the disappearance. A woman whose identity would never be established. A woman who became known in later newspaper reports simply as: "The Pontiac Woman." Reenactment: The Last Known Witness Sighting (October 1971) Interview Archive A Neighbor Margaret Voss Apartment resident, interviewed 1987 Q: Did you know Patricia well? Voss: Not really. We said hello. She seemed nice. Kept to herself. Q: Did you notice anything unusual before she disappeared? Voss: A car. Q: What kind of car? Voss: Big. Light colored. I remember because it looked expensive. Q: Did you see the driver? Voss: Just once. A woman. Dark coat. Standing under the streetlight. Q: Can you describe her? Voss: No. That's the strange thing. I've tried for years. Every time I think about it, her face just disappears from memory. The Lantern Room Bar at Night (1971) End of Chapter One Next Chapter: "The Teacher's Memory" A former high school teacher recalls a troubled girl from rural Iowa whose history bears unsettling similarities to the woman investigators would later spend decades trying to identify.