Tammy Sue Lynn Passineau was 17 and living a transient life in Syracuse, New York, when she was last seen on April 11, 2004, near West Water Street. Her family did not report her missing right away because they were used to her moving around and knew she struggled with mental illness; weeks without contact and uncashed social services checks eventually prompted concern.

Investigators linked Tammy’s disappearance to Nicholas Wiley, a recently released Level 3 sex offender arrested in June 2004 in connection with other Syracuse murders. Wiley reportedly confessed to multiple killings and named a red-haired girl Tammy. Dried blood on a box cutter belonging to Wiley was forensically matched to Tammy’s DNA. Tammy’s body was never recovered; investigators believe she may have been disposed of in the same dumpster where another victim was found and possibly incinerated at a county trash-burning facility.

Wiley was later charged and convicted in connection with Tammy’s death, but her remains have not been found, leaving the family without full closure. Did anyone in Syracuse at the time see Tammy or recall her in the West Water Street area in April 2004?