Mary Louise Watkins, 54, disappeared after leaving Modesto, California, on May 17, 1979. A friend saw her pack belongings into a car and Watkins said she was moving to San Jose to live with her daughter, but she never arrived. She had just sold her Modesto home and was carrying $28,000 in cash from the sale; she told her banker she planned to invest in a property venture with a friend, although her daughter said she knew nothing of the sale or a planned move.

Two days later Watkins’ car was found abandoned at the site that is now the Sutter Gould Medical Foundation in Modesto, with none of her belongings inside. Shortly after, her daughter received a letter claiming Mary had run away to get married. Reports note she gave different reasons to multiple friends about leaving town, and foul play is suspected. James Carlin Toliver, who is linked to other disappearances, is named as a key suspect; he died in 1980 after fleeing the scene of another murder.

Does anyone have memories of Mary, her movements in May 1979, or information about the property sale or the people she said she planned to work with?