Audrey Lyn Nerenberg was 18 and living in Canarsie, Brooklyn, when she left home on July 15, 1977, telling her mother she was going to a nearby store to buy cigarettes. She never returned and had no identification or medication with her. Audrey had been diagnosed with hebephrenic schizophrenia and was an outpatient at Kingsboro Psychiatric Center, with multiple hospitalizations between 1974 and 1977.

Her family received a ransom call later that day that produced no follow up, and there were unconfirmed tips that she might have been admitted to a hospital as a Jane Doe, but searches of psychiatric facilities turned up nothing. Investigators have examined several leads, including a suspicious acquaintance of Audrey’s brother and possible connections to Andre Rand, but no concrete evidence ties him to this disappearance. Audrey had no history of running away and was usually able to seek help if lost.

Anyone with information about Audrey’s disappearance is urged to come forward.