Mary Jo Lee Long was 16 when she was last seen on February 22, 1981, in Gardena, California. Originally from Austin, Minnesota, she had moved to Gardena in the spring of 1981 to live with her father and enrolled at Gardena High School after returning to California from a Christmas visit home in 1980. School records show she was absent for several days and did not graduate with her class.

At the time she disappeared Mary Jo was 5 feet 5 inches tall, about 115 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. No formal missing person report was filed in California in 1981; her mother did not report her missing to authorities in Minnesota until 1988. That reporting delay and the subsequent death of her mother in a 1989 car accident have been cited as factors that left the case with few leads. Authorities want to identify and speak with a boyfriend Mary Jo had in California around the time she vanished.

If anyone knew Mary Jo, her activities in Gardena, or the boyfriend she saw there, please share what you remember.