THE VANISHING WOMEN OF IOWA V

Chapter Five The Disappearance of the Pontiac Woman If the Pontiac Woman was responsible for the disappearance of nine women between 1968 and 1974, one question has haunted investigators for more than fifty years: What happened to her? The mystery is made more frustrating by a simple fact. After February 1974, she appears to cease existing. Not die. Not flee. Not change identities. Simply disappear. Following the Aliases In March 1974, investigators began attempting to trace the three names most commonly associated with the suspect. Diane Carter Susan Mills Karen Blake Every lead collapsed. Birth certificates belonged to different people. Employment records led nowhere. Addresses proved vacant lots, demolished buildings, or residences occupied by unrelated individuals. The names appeared genuine enough to avoid suspicion. Yet none belonged to the woman witnesses described. Interview Archive I Detective Harold Jensen Recorded 1991 Q: How difficult was it to identify her? Jensen: We couldn't identify someone who technically didn't exist. Q: Meaning? Jensen: Every name led to somebody else. Q: Was that deliberate? Jensen: It felt deliberate. Apartment 12B One of the most intriguing discoveries occurred in Davenport. Witnesses had repeatedly mentioned visiting a woman who lived in an apartment building near downtown. Property records identified the location as: Riverside Court Apartments Unit 12B Investigators obtained rental documents. The tenant was listed as: Karen Blake The lease began in May 1973. Ended February 1974. Apartment 12B in Davenport, Iowa (March 1974) The apartment was empty. Completely empty. Neighbors recalled a woman living there. Furniture had been present. Visitors had come and gone. Yet when police inspected the unit in March 1974, almost nothing remained. No clothing. No photographs. No correspondence. No fingerprints suitable for identification. No forwarding address. Only one item was recovered. A grocery receipt. Dated February 15, 1974. Three days before the final reported sighting. Interview Archive J Apartment Neighbor Richard Conway Interviewed 1980 Q: Did you know the tenant in 12B? Conway: Not really. Q: Can you describe her? Conway: Friendly. Q: Anything unusual? Conway: She never seemed surprised. Q: What do you mean? Conway: No matter what happened, she always looked prepared. Employment Records Investigators discovered evidence suggesting the woman worked under various temporary positions between 1968 and 1974. Possible occupations included: Insurance clerk Hotel receptionist Bookkeeper Department store employee Each position lasted only months. Sometimes weeks. Then she moved on. Coworkers consistently described her as intelligent and personable. None reported conflicts. None suspected criminal behavior. The Woman Known as "Diane" (1972) One of several photographs later theorized to depict the woman known as Diane Carter, Susan Mills, or Karen Blake. Identification never confirmed. Interview Archive K Former Supervisor Marjorie Bennett Interviewed 1987 Q: What kind of employee was she? Bennett: Excellent. Q: Reliable? Bennett: Very. Q: Anything unusual? Bennett: Looking back? Q: Yes. Bennett: Nobody knew anything about her. The Lover Perhaps the most controversial witness emerged in 1982. A woman identifying herself only as "Anne" contacted investigators. She claimed to have had a romantic relationship with a woman she believed was the Pontiac Woman. The relationship allegedly occurred in 1972. No independent evidence confirmed the account. Yet portions of her statement matched details not publicly released. Interview Archive L "Anne" Recorded 1982 Q: What name did she use? Anne: Diane. Q: Did you believe it was her real name? Anne: No. Q: Why? Anne: Because one night she accidentally answered to something else. Q: What name? Anne: Judith. The interview room reportedly fell silent. Investigators immediately recognized the significance. Judith Mercer. The same name associated with the anonymous letter. The same name mentioned by Eleanor Whitcomb. For the first time, two entirely separate threads of the investigation appeared to intersect. Yet the lead proved impossible to verify. Anne could not provide a surname. Only a first name. Only a memory. The Family Investigation In late 1983, investigators revisited Benton County. The Mercer farmhouse had already fallen into disrepair. Thomas Mercer had died in 1978. June Mercer died shortly afterward. Few surviving relatives remained. Those interviewed offered little information. Some denied Judith ever existed. Others remembered her clearly. The contradictions deepened the mystery. Interview Archive M Cousin Robert Mercer Interviewed 1984 Q: Did Judith Mercer exist? Mercer: Of course she existed. Q: When did you last see her? Mercer: 1964. Q: Where was she going? Mercer: Chicago. Q: Did you ever see her again? Mercer: No. A second relative offered a completely different account. Interview Archive N Relative Name withheld Q: Did Judith Mercer exist? A: Not that I know of. Q: Your family never mentioned her? A: Never. Investigators never resolved the contradiction. The Fire On April 27, 1974, a fire destroyed a vacant farmhouse outside Muscatine. The cause was ruled accidental. During cleanup, workers discovered evidence that someone had recently occupied the structure. Among the items reportedly found: Women's clothing Food containers Newspapers A partially burned suitcase No names were attached. No forensic testing linked the scene to the case. Yet rumors spread rapidly. Some believed the Pontiac Woman had hidden there. Others claimed she died in the fire. No evidence supports either theory. The Burned Farmhouse (Spring 1974) "The Muscatine farmhouse where investigators believed an unknown woman may have lived shortly before disappearing." The Final Clue The last potentially significant lead emerged in August 1974. A bank teller in Omaha, Nebraska reported assisting a woman resembling descriptions circulated among Iowa investigators. The woman reportedly withdrew several hundred dollars from an account registered under the name: Judith E. Mercer The account was closed immediately afterward. The woman left. No photographs were taken. No signature survives. No further transactions were ever recorded. If the report was genuine, it may represent the final trace of the woman investigators spent decades trying to identify. The End of the Trail After August 1974, the case enters darkness. No verified sightings. No arrests. No confessions. No remains. No proven suspect. Only fragments. Witnesses. Rumors. Lost photographs. Missing women. And one haunting possibility. That somewhere in the Midwest, a woman successfully erased herself. Not merely from police records. But from history itself. Case Status Victims: 9 Bodies Recovered: 0 Primary Suspect Identified: No Arrests: 0 Verified Sightings After 1974: 0 Case Status: Unsolved End of Chapter Five Next Chapter: "Theories, Rumors, and Legends" As the investigation fades, journalists, amateur detectives, former officers, and local residents develop competing explanations. Did the Pontiac Woman flee the country? Die under another identity? Continue killing elsewhere? Or was there never a Pontiac Woman at all?