Kay Frances Read, 62, was last known to be safe on February 14, 2008, in Tucson, Arizona, after spending Valentine’s Day with her elderly mother. She called her mother at about 9:42 p.m.; that was the last confirmed contact. Kay lived alone on the city’s east side and depended on leg braces and crutches because of childhood polio. Her mobility aids, eyeglasses and purse were left inside her home; the security door and front door were closed but unlocked. An overturned space heater with its electrical cord missing and a missing cord from the kitchen phone were noted by investigators. Kay’s turquoise van and its keys were also gone.

Surveillance footage and witness accounts placed a man driving Kay’s turquoise van to an ATM and attempting to use her bank card, seeking help at auto-parts stores, buying gasoline and later seen with the van on fire. The burned vehicle contained the space-heater cord taken from Kay’s home. Fingerprints from Luis Armando Vargas were recovered from the overturned heater, and witnesses and family members identified him as the man with the van. Vargas was later tried and convicted on multiple charges including first-degree murder; Kay’s remains have not been found, a loss her family described as especially painful.

Does anyone remember seeing a turquoise van in the Marigold Circle area or along Golf Links and Kolb around February 15, 2008?