Mary Ann Mergel was 65 when she left Chatsworth, Georgia, and returned to New Jersey in early 2004 after her husband’s death. She had been living in a double-wide mobile home on Devonwood Lane to be near her son Paul and his family. After March or April 2004 her contacts with friends and family stopped, and her sister filed a missing persons report on May 1, 2004.

When investigators checked Mary’s home they found her belongings packed and her vehicle still at the residence. Neighbors were questioned and search dogs were used but no trace was found. Subsequent inquiry uncovered that Paul had been cashing Mary’s Social Security checks, using her credit cards for large charges, and selling her car and appliances. He pleaded guilty to seven counts of first-degree forgery and was convicted of theft and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon; he has been treated as a person of interest in her disappearance.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation classifies this as a missing person and death investigation. A 2013 tip prompted a four-day search with cadaver dogs and crime scene specialists that turned up nothing. Family members believe foul play was involved; the case remains open. Does anyone have information about Mary’s movements after March 2004 or contacts she may have had in Georgia or New Jersey?