Freda Loretta Denman was 27 when she disappeared from Independence, Missouri, in the autumn of 1974 along with her two young children: daughter Sheri Lynn Johnson, age 4, and son Michael Lloyd Johnson, age 10 months. They were last seen around November 10, 1974, a date inferred from a TV Guide left open to that Sunday’s listings. Their landlord did not report them missing until March 1975 after months of unpaid rent, a delay that hampered the early investigation.

Investigators who entered the family’s home on the 100 block of East Kansas Avenue found Freda’s clothing in her closet but the husband’s and children’s belongings gone. Bloodstains were noted on a living-room cushion, a chair, a shirt, and a pair of men’s socks; FBI testing at the time was inconclusive. Attention centered on Freda’s husband, Henry Lee Harbison, also known as Michael Johnson, who had a lengthy criminal record and an active warrant when the family vanished. Some associates from a group called the Church of the New Song said the family had been murdered; Freda’s relatives believed she was killed and the children were given away.

The local police file was closed after a misunderstanding about FBI responsibility, and the case remained dormant until it was reopened in 2004. The ultimate fate of Freda, Sheri, and Michael is still unknown. Does anyone have memories, documents, or leads about the Denman family from Independence in 1974?