Mary Magdalene Smith, 61, was last seen on March 4, 2017, after leaving her sister’s home in Winston-Salem following a disagreement. She checked into the Motel 6 on North Patterson Avenue (now the Rodeway Inn) and paid for a room through March 9; she reportedly had $600 from cashing her disability check and intended to stay at a local motel. At the time she vanished she was wearing a white t-shirt, a black hooded sweatshirt, black wind pants, and gray Champion sneakers with lime green trim.

Mary is a Black woman with medium curly black hair, brown eyes, pins in her right wrist, extensive skin grafts from prior burns, and a scar on her chest. She lived with schizophrenia and a heart condition and was classified as disabled. The family did not report her missing for about two months; by then the motel had been sold, the room renovated, and old security video discarded. Investigators interviewed more than 130 motel guests; a red bookbag the family believes was Mary’s was later found in a vacant lot about a mile from the motel but searches of the eight-acre lot produced no leads. The case remains an endangered missing person investigation.

If anyone knew Mary, saw her around early March 2017, or has information about the motel area or the vacant lot, please share what is known.