Mary Lou Bostwick was 15 when she vanished from Waverly, New York, three days before her sixteenth birthday in July 1972. On July 17 her father drove her to a friend’s apartment on Broad Street where she was expected to babysit; that was the last time a family member reported seeing her. When her mother arrived on Mary Lou’s birthday with a cake and gifts, the friend said Mary Lou had never shown up. Personal items, including a change of clothes carried in a grocery bag, were later found at the apartment.

The family insisted she was not a runaway and would have contacted them. Foul play is strongly suspected. The case grew cold, and the family followed a possible link to the 1973 murder of 16-year-old Sharron Coston in nearby Sayre, Pennsylvania. A witness who testified against the man convicted in Coston’s case was later considered a suspect in Mary Lou’s disappearance, and Mary Lou’s mother believed the two cases were connected. Various tips and rumors have circulated over the years but none produced provable leads.

Mary Lou’s disappearance remains unsolved and is listed with the Pennsylvania State Police. If anyone knew Mary Lou, her movements in July 1972, or has information about the Broad Street apartment or people present then, please come forward.