Rita Marie Kowalski, listed in NamUs as MP11765, was 29 when she stopped responding to those who knew her in Battle Creek, Michigan. The last confirmed in-person sighting was in September 2006 when a friend who planned to drive her to a Grand Rapids rehab said Rita stopped at a relative’s house and then declined the trip. On September 26, 2006, the Michigan Department of Corrections recorded her as a parole absconder.

NamUs and other records show a final confirmed contact on October 15, 2007, when Rita called her mother but would not disclose her location. At the time she had been living with her grandmother in the Wattles Park area. She is described as a white female, blond hair, blue eyes, about 5 feet 8 inches and 216 pounds, with a lower-lip piercing and a tattoo of Rita on the back of her neck.

Her mother did not report her missing to the Emmett Township Department of Public Safety until 2011, leaving a multi-year gap that complicates the inquiry. There are no publicly documented confirmed sightings, vehicles, or further communications after the October 2007 call. Does anyone have information about Rita’s whereabouts in late 2006 or 2007?