Concern grew in late summer 2021 for 60-year-old Cathy Ann James of Oklahoma after the last known communication on September 4 and a final confirmed sighting the early morning of September 5 at a Casey’s General Store in Blackwell, Kay County. Cathy, an African American woman with blonde hair and brown eyes, was wearing an orange shirt with a Nike emblem and black sweatpants when seen on surveillance; reports say she remained at the store for several hours before vanishing.

The day before she disappeared Cathy had an unusual contact with police in Tonkawa after walking into the wrong house and saying she believed she was in Muskogee, more than two hours away. Bodycam footage showed her confused; a mental health evaluation was conducted by phone but officers said they had no legal grounds to detain her. On September 10 her white Dodge Charger was found abandoned on Interstate 35 near mile marker 179, just north of the Stillwater exit; the car had run out of gas and her purse and cell phone were inside.

What was Cathy doing between the Tonkawa encounter and the time she was seen at the Casey’s, and where did she go after the Charger was left on I-35? Anyone who knew Cathy or who has information about her movements on September 4–10 is urged to come forward.