Sunday, March 10, 2013
Amy Pugner disappeared in 2010.
Amy L. Pugner chatted on the phone with her sister as she was painting her new apartment in Washington, Pa., where she had recently moved, on June 8, 2010. That was the last time Amy's sister spoke with her. Amy, a Latrobe native, had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and had a history of drug abuse. Her family considered the move a good thing—something that seemed to indicate that Amy, was getting her life together, leaving her demons behind and heading in the right direction. No one is sure when Amy was last seen, but likely it was June 9 or 10, 2010. Her family became alarmed when, a few days after that last phone call, a man used Amy's cell phone to make several threatening phone calls to them. He demanded money from them and told them…
Sunday, February 24, 2013
While it is widely believed that serial killer Edward Surratt is responsible for their deaths, he never admitted to the slayings nor was he ever charged in their deaths.
Richard Hyde, the principal of Fern Hollow Elementary School in Moon Township, was talking with a friend on the phone in the bedroom of his home he shared with his wife, Donna and two daughters. That was about 1 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 3, 1977. During the conversation, he heard glass break in a window on the other end of his ranch home. After hanging up, he walked past a nightstand that contained a loaded gun and proceeded to the hallway, according to a story in the Beaver County Times. A 12-gauge shotgun blast ripped through his chest/abdomen area. He staggered to the kitchen, past his wife who was in a bathroom off the hallway, and died in a pool of blood on the linoleum floor of the kitchen. Donna, a beautician who had a shop in her home…
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Amanda Marie Koller was last seen or heard from in June 2011, just after she moved back to Pittsburgh from Florida.
Amanda Marie Koller had moved back to the Pittsburgh area from Orlando, FL in May 2011. The 23-year-old did not establish or maintain a permanent address in the few short weeks after her return, according to her mother. On Sunday, June 12, 2011, she was stopped by Pittsburgh police and cited for operating a vehicle without a valid inspection and also without an emissions inspection. Her car, a purple 2005 Scion TC has a Pennsylvania license plate and also one from Florida, both of which expired in 2011. The license numbers are Pennsylvania GLH 0116 and Florida ANA 4580, according to the Pennsylvania Missing Persons website. She has not been seen nor heard from since. Amanda is described as 5-feet to 5-foot 5, about 100 to 150 pounds with …
Sunday, February 10, 2013
The man's death was ruled a homicide.
An Avella resident was hitchhiking on Old Route 40 in Donegal Township, Washington County, about 9:20 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 18, 1972 when he spotted the badly decomposed body of a man. The man was down an embankment, about 65 feet south of the roadway. His skeletal remains were found in a briar thicket, near a small trash dump, about two miles west of Claysville. It was estimated that he had been there for about 8 to 10 weeks. The man's death was ruled a homicide, according to the Pennsylvania Missing Persons website. The man had gunshot wounds in his left torso, possibly from a .22-caliber weapon. While details about the man's appearance and clothing are many, there are no clues as to who he was, where he came from or why he died. The man …
Sunday, February 3, 2013
This man had a fight with his girlfriend in the Strip District, and then vanished.
Jacob "Jake" Lipp, 27, did what many young adults do on the weekend—head to Pittsburgh's Strip District for the night life. He left his home in North Huntingdon Township. Westmoreland County, about 8:45 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 15, and ended up with his girlfriend at the Static bar on Smallman Street. The couple left the bar and then had an argument in the early morning hours on Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012. The girlfriend drove off, leaving Jake in the parking lot. He walked in the opposite direction, back toward the bar. She circled the block and went back, but Jake was already gone. He was last seen at about 3 a.m. in the parking lot outside the McDonald's restaurant at 1630 Penn Ave. in the Strip District, about two blocks from where his …
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Courtney Baltimore is an endangered runaway.
Courtney Baltimore, 16, has been missing from her home in Pittsburgh since Oct. 23, 2012. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, she might have traveled to Hazelwood or Philadelphia. She is described as 6 feet tall, 180 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. She has a heart tattooed on her right hand. Anyone with information should contact the Pittsburgh Police Department at 412-255-2937 or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST (843-5678). For more information about this and other missing person cases, visit Pennsylvania Missing Persons, NamUs or the Doe Network. Follow us on Twitter | Like us on Facebook
Sunday, January 20, 2013
She has not been seen since leaving her home on March 28, 2008.
It's been nearly five years since 30-year-old Faime Lynette Francis left her home in Swissvale and vanished. Faime is described at 5-foot-8, 115 pounds with black hair and dark brown eyes. According to the North American Missing Persons Network, she might wear a wig or add weave to her hair. She also wore an engagement-type ring on her left hand and often dressed in all black. Her disappearance concerned family members because she suffers from mental illness. She did not have her medicine with her when she left home. She has not been heard from since. She would turn 36 years old this May. Anyone with information is asked to call Swissvale Police Department at 412-271-0430. For more information about this and other missing person cases, …
Sunday, January 13, 2013
She took only her ID and Social Security cards when she left her home.
When Lonnett Myer Jackson left her home in the 5100 block of Chaplain Way in Pittsburgh's Hazelwood neighborhood sometime after 11 a.m. on April 11, 2006, she left behind her cell phone, keys and money. Relatives think she took her identification and Social Security cards, though. But she has not been seen or heard from since that day. At the time of her disappearance, Lonnett was 46 years old, 192 pounds and between 5-foot-3 to 5-foot-6. She had graying black hair and brown eyes, a surgical scar on the right side of her head near the hairline, a scar from a Cesarean section and pierced ears. She was dressed in a white undershirt, black sleeveless hooded jacket, dark blue warmup pants and white athletic shoes. She was also known by her …
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Ritter was the fourth young woman killed in seven months in Washington County in 1976-77.
The rape and strangulation death of Brenda Lee Ritter, 18, of North Strabane Township on May 19, 1977 is a case that still haunts police. Her death occurred as the fourth in a series of slayings of young women in Washington County. The murders of Deborah Capiola, Mary Irene Gency and Susan Rush left county residents on edge. The death of Barbara Lewis in Penn Hills within the same time frame left investigators wondering if her strangulation death was at the hands of the same killer. According to a Sept. 28, 2003 story in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Brenda left her boyfriend's home in Chartiers Township about 10:10 p.m. May 18, 1977 during a raging thunderstorm. Her boyfriend, Larry Bonazza, and his mother made sure the doors of Brenda's …
Sunday, December 30, 2012
The teen might still be in the Pittsburgh area.
Taylor Murphy, 17, has been missing from Wilkinsburg since Sept. 20. Authorities believe she could still be in the Pittsburgh area. She is classified by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children as an endangered runaway. Taylor is described as 5 feet, 4 inches tall; 140 pounds; with black hair and brown eyes; and having a tattoo on her upper arm. She will turn 18 on Jan. 23. Anyone having information about Taylor should contact the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678 (1-800-THE-LOST) or call the Penn Hills Police Department at 412-473-3056. For more information about this and other missing person cases, visit Pennsylvania Missing Persons, NamUs, the Doe Network or the National Center for Missing …
