On January 16, 1981, 17-year-old Mary Opitz vanished from the well-lit parking lot of Edison Mall in Fort Myers, Florida. She had been shopping with her mother and brother and told them she would wait at the family’s burgundy 1979 Chevrolet Camaro because she was tired. When her mother returned minutes later, Mary was gone. Her shopping bags and a package of pretzels were left on top of the car; there were no visible signs of a struggle. She had not taken her purse, extra clothes, or $300 that was in her bank account, and she was preparing to take the GED and looking forward to having her braces removed.Nancy Hoffman, Mary’s mother, has maintained Mary did not leave voluntarily.

Less than a month later, on February 11, 1981, 18-year-old Mary Elizabeth Hare disappeared from the same mall parking lot under similar circumstances; Hare’s body was later found in Lehigh Acres, stabbed in the back. The two women attended the same high school, shared a New York background and accent, and frequented some of the same places, but authorities have not officially linked the cases.

Anyone with information about Mary Opitz or her movements at Edison Mall on January 16, 1981 is asked to come forward.