Julia Shimkus, 54, disappeared from her Esplen neighborhood home in Pittsburgh in the winter of 1972 after leaving around noon on December 20 to do Christmas shopping. She was scheduled to work a 5:00 p.m. shift at the Rockwood Lounge in McKees Rocks Plaza but never arrived. When she left she wore a black trench coat, black shoes, a green and white scarf, and dark-framed eyeglasses.

Julia lived with her daughter; her husband had died of cancer in 1965. Family members said she was on good terms with her children and had been considering marrying a boyfriend. A friend who worked as a Woolworth’s clerk reported seeing Julia in 1974 with a male companion, but that sighting was never verified. She was declared legally dead in 1980.

In 1995 new owners of Julia’s former Oregon Street house found bone fragments in a crawl space beneath the kitchen, but testing showed they were animal remains. No confirmed trace of Julia has surfaced since December 20, 1972. If anyone knew Julia, her movements that day, or the people she spent time with in the early 1970s, can you share what you remember?