Elizabeth Josephine Betty Jo Steffens Perryman was 26 when she disappeared from Amarillo, Texas, in September 1971. A waitress at a Toddle House coffee shop, she phoned the taxi dispatch to have her husband Van pick her up; when he arrived the restaurant was locked, her purse was left inside, about $86.25 was missing from the register, and staff later reported the place had been hastily cleaned. She was missing for three months before remains identified by dental records as hers were found eight miles west of Amarillo.

Investigators later linked her killing to crimes by the nomadic McCrary-Taylor family, who targeted late-night establishments and abducted female employees. During interrogations after the family’s June 1972 arrest in California, Sherman McCrary and Carl Taylor confessed to multiple murders, including Elizabeth’s, though her case was not closed by a conviction. Family members, especially daughter Regina, have continued seeking answers and pieced together details about her mother’s final days.

Does anyone with memories of Amarillo in 1971 or who knew Betty Jo or her co-workers have information that could shed more light on what happened?