Mary Bernadette Brubaker, 32, disappeared after a late-1996 drive from Boulder, Colorado, back to Yuma, Arizona, where she and her boyfriend lived. The trip followed a visit with family in Colorado during which relatives noticed a palpable tension between Mary and her boyfriend. Mary, who kept in regular contact with her family, suddenly stopped communicating somewhere between Boulder and Yuma and has not been seen or heard from since.

Her family last expected contact when she was to confirm a Western Union transfer in summer 1997; that check-in never happened. At the time of her disappearance she was described as a white female, 5 feet 8 inches, 125–135 pounds, long straight brown hair to mid back, hazel eyes, pierced ears, and a surgical scar from her left breast to her abdomen. She often wore Levi jeans, a button-up blouse, boots or tennis shoes, gold hoop earrings, bracelets and multiple rings. She and her boyfriend were driving a 1969 orange and black Chevrolet El Camino pickup.

Family members said Mary was in the midst of a tumultuous breakup and had mentioned hearing voices, which increased their concern. No activity has appeared on her credit cards or driver’s license, and the case remains an active missing person investigation. Did anyone in Colorado, Arizona, or along the I-25/I-40 corridor remember seeing that distinctive El Camino in late 1996?