Janice Hannigan was 16 and a member of the Yakama Nation when she disappeared after being discharged from a hospital in Wapato, Washington, on December 24, 1971. She had been admitted three days earlier for treatment of bruises to her head and chest; surviving hospital records offer few details and the cause of those injuries is undocumented. At the time Janice was living with her father near Harrah while her six younger siblings were with their mother in Buena, following a difficult parental separation.

Authorities first considered that she might have run away, but that theory weakened as no confirmed sightings followed and the disappearance came to be treated as suspicious. Agencies have sometimes listed March 1, 1971 as her missing date, a likely reference to a separate brief incident. Over the years unconfirmed leads have surfaced, including one tip placing her with a woman in Seattle; none were substantiated. The Yakima County Sheriff’s Office continues to investigate. If anyone knew Janice, her movements in late December 1971, or has information about land near the family’s former home, please come forward.