Debora Sue Lowe was 13 when she vanished from Pompano Beach, Florida, on the morning of February 29, 1972. She was last seen walking to Rickards Middle School between 7:30 and 8:00 a.m. but never arrived. A block from her home, her schoolbooks were found discarded in a trash bin. At the time she wore a yellow blouse, black pants with rose-colored stripes, and a tan poncho; she had a chipped front tooth and a small scar on her left leg.

Investigators initially considered that Debora might have run away, but her family rejected that explanation because she had no history of running away and left no personal belongings behind. Over time the inquiry shifted toward more sinister possibilities, including potential links to former deputy sheriff Gerald John Schaefer, who had connections to the Lowe family and was tied to multiple disappearances and murders of young women in that era. Schaefer was never charged in Debora’s case and was killed in prison in 1995. The case remains open and unsolved.

If anyone knew Debora, lived in Pompano Beach in 1972, or has information that could help, please come forward.