Juanita Ritchie, a 38-year-old mother of six from Dwarf, Kentucky, disappeared after leaving home to go to the grocery store on November 1, 1966. Her family reported her missing about a week later, but the initial plea did not prompt an immediate investigation. The original police report and related notes were later misplaced, removing important early leads.

Decades passed with no resolution. In the early 1990s a man gave a written statement saying another man had confessed to killing Juanita during an attempted rape, but that lead went nowhere. In 2012 an anonymous caller told Juanita’s brother her body was in a well in nearby Rowdy; police and the brother had the well pumped but found only debris and deemed a full descent too hazardous. Her Social Security number was never used after she vanished, and the investigation was officially reopened in 2012.

Anyone who knew Juanita, lived in Dwarf or Rowdy in the 1960s, or has information about the leads mentioned is asked to come forward.