Michelle Eason was 26 when she vanished from the Main Street area of Poughkeepsie, New York, sometime in September 1997 and was reported missing on October 9, 1997. She was described as a Black woman with extensive dental work and a dark birthmark on her left shoulder. Her disappearance joined a cluster of women who went missing from the same small pocket of the city between late 1996 and the summer of 1998.

Investigators and observers repeatedly considered a link to Kendall Francois after bodies were found inside his family’s Fulton Avenue home, but Francois was never charged in Michelle’s disappearance and she was not among the victims recovered there. His plea agreement required cooperation with her investigation and he reportedly suggested he might have been connected without fully confessing.

Other avenues were pursued: a drug-related theory tied her disappearance to people she was living with near Main and North Cherry Streets, and a rumor said she stole drugs and was killed in retaliation with her body dumped in a river. Her boyfriend was questioned and declined a polygraph, saying medication could affect results; he suggested drug dealers were responsible.

Michelle left behind a young daughter and the case remains open; if anyone knew Michelle, her movements in September 1997, or has information about people she was living with, please share what is known.