April Dawn Pennington was 15 when she vanished from her family home on Orchard Drive in Montville, Connecticut in the pre-dawn hours of May 29, 1996. Her mother Hazel discovered an open window and a stuffed animal tucked into the bed at 5:30 a.m., a trick April sometimes used when sneaking out. She left without personal belongings and did not take $950 in cash that had been set aside for rent. Her school backpack was later found in her locker.

Detectives learned April left after climbing out her brother’s window and was picked up by two people: a 15-year-old classmate, Patrick J. P.J. Allain, and a 30-year-old man, George Michael Leniart. Allain’s statements to police changed over time, initially describing consensual activity and later alleging rape and that Leniart planned to murder April. Leniart, who had a prior history of sexual abuse and was awaiting trial on an unrelated rape charge at the time, was later charged in connection with the disappearance; that conviction was overturned. April’s body has never been found and the case remains an unsolved, endangered missing person case.