Cheryl Louise Murray was 43 when she vanished from Peoria, Illinois, around April 1, 1994. She was described as a white woman with blonde, shoulder-length hair, about 5 feet 1 inch to 5 feet 2 inches tall and 100 to 115 pounds. A distinctive feature was that her right middle finger was amputated at the first knuckle. She was also known to use the last name Smith.

Her disappearance is one of several from the early 1990s in the Peoria area that drew investigators’ attention. Authorities linked her case with other missing women from that period, including Stephanie Gibson and Loretta Tinkham. Another Peoria woman who disappeared in 1994, Sheryl Murwin, was later found deceased. Investigators have considered a person of interest in connection with multiple cases: Arie Ray Davis, convicted in the 1995 murder of a different victim, was investigated because family members said Murray frequented some of the same bars as him and early reports described a history of violence toward women. Davis died on death row in 2002 and consistently denied involvement; no definitive public evidence links him to Murray’s disappearance.

Her whereabouts remain unknown. Did anyone in Peoria in 1994 see Cheryl Murray, know where she spent her time, or remember details that could help her family?