Kim Sue Leggett was 21, a wife and mother, and worked as a secretary at the Ross Cotton Gin in Mercedes, Texas. She was last seen on October 9, 1984, between 4:30 and 4:45 p.m., speaking with two men near her car. Her parents later received a disturbing phone call demanding a ransom, and when they went to the gin they found Kim’s car with her purse and keys inside but no sign of her.

A ransom note demanding $250,000 arrived in the days after her disappearance; the note appeared to be in Kim’s handwriting while the envelope showed different handwriting. Investigators eventually came to suspect Kim had been murdered, though no body was ever found and no suspects were definitively identified. Rumors in the case included possible retaliation linked to her stepfather, Lefty Gardner, a pilot alleged to have refused participation in illegal activity, but no substantial evidence has confirmed any theory.

Kim’s disappearance remains unsolved. If anyone knew Kim, saw her near the Ross Cotton Gin on October 9, 1984, or has information about the men seen by her car or the ransom communications, please come forward.