Debra J. Bennett, raised in Ridgeway, Wisconsin and a 1973 Dodgeville High School graduate, was last seen on July 8, 1976, around 7:15 p.m. She had been living at 1421 Loftsgordon Avenue for five months and was walking barefoot with painted toenails, wearing blue jeans, carrying a blue denim jacket and a brown shoulder-strap purse. She is described as having brown hair and being 5 feet 5.5 inches tall.

Authorities believe she was killed on July 8. At the time she was unemployed and facing eviction. Debra’s badly burned remains were found near Cross Plains on July 21, 1976; the condition of the remains prevented determination of a cause of death or whether she was killed at that location or elsewhere. Dental records and a fractured collarbone were used for identification. Three weeks after the body was found, Debra’s Cardinal Hotel key was mailed back to the hotel; it is unknown who sent it.

The case remains unsolved. If anyone knew Debra, lived in Madison or Cross Plains in July 1976, or has information about the mailed hotel key, please share what is known.