Josephine Yvette Cogburn was 16 when she and her 15-year-old sister, Joyce Irene Cogburn, vanished from Norman, Oklahoma on October 2, 1983. The sisters were living with a male family friend who had been granted temporary custody; he reported them missing, saying they had gone to the library and never returned. Initially treated as a runaway case, that theory was questioned because both girls left behind all their personal belongings and no friends or classmates heard from them.

The sisters had a difficult family history: their father died in 1968, their mother later remarried, and the family reported allegations that the stepfather had tried to molest the younger girls. Josephine and Joyce had moved to Norman after disciplinary problems at home in Broken Bow. The man who had custody has been named a person of interest; their older sister says Josephine told her Joyce had been involved with the man and had recently ended the relationship. The custodian later cut off contact with the family, refused to return the girls’ belongings, and has since died; the apartment where they lived was demolished.

There have been several unconfirmed sightings over the years but none substantiated. What information might help locate Josephine and Joyce or clarify what happened the day they disappeared?