Orla Alyne Barrick, known locally as the rose lady, was 61 and living alone in a gated, mostly seasonal community on Laurel Ridge Road near Mammoth Cave when she vanished. The last confirmed sighting was about 2:00 p.m. on April 12, 1996, when she was seen walking her Pomeranian, Fifi, and speaking briefly with a teenager. She had canceled plans to visit her brother that weekend for unclear reasons.
A welfare check on April 15 prompted officers to force entry into her locked cabin. Fifi was found alive in a crate, but the house showed signs of a violent struggle: a displaced sofa, bloodstains on carpet, a broken nightstand glass, bloodied bedding, a missing fitted sheet and missing small clutch purse. A burning cigarette and dentures soaking in a bowl suggested her evening routine was interrupted. About $400 in cash remained in her freezer.
Investigators concluded she was likely attacked and killed inside her home and that her body may have been wrapped in the missing sheet and removed. Extensive searches, including helicopters, dogs and a dive after a report of hair in the Green River, produced no sign of her. Family members have privately suspected the handyman she had visited that day, but no official suspect has been named and the case remains open. Does anyone who lived in the area in April 1996 remember seeing Alyne, her dog Fifi, or anything unusual near Laurel Ridge Road?