Jeanette Louise Zapata, 36, was last seen on October 11, 1976, in Madison, Wisconsin, when she saw her three children off to school from the family home on Indian Trace. Two days later a coworker reported her missing after she failed to show up for work as a flight instructor. Her purse, money, new car, and clothing remained at the house, with only a .30-06 rifle noted as missing, suggesting she had not planned to leave.

At the time she disappeared Jeanette was in a contentious divorce from her husband, Eugene Zapata, and had sought a restraining order. On the morning she vanished her attorney received a message at 8:15 a.m.; when the lawyer called back an hour later Eugene answered despite a court order prohibiting him from being at the house. Initial investigation stalled and for years her children were told she had abandoned them.

A later reopening found that Jeanette had not used her Social Security number, renewed her pilot’s license, or obtained a passport after 1976. Cadaver dogs detected the scent of human remains in both the shared home’s crawl space and in a storage locker tied to Eugene.

If anyone knew Jeanette, her routines, or saw anything around the Indian Trace home in October 1976, can you share information that might help fill remaining gaps?