Maebell Dawson

• Missing Since 01/03/1998
• Missing From Jefferson Township, Ohio
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Female
• Race Black
• Date of Birth 06/25/1929 (94)
• Age 68 years old
• Height and Weight 5'4 - 5'6, 180 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A tan jogging suit.
• Distinguishing Characteristics African-American female. Gray hair, brown eyes. Dawson has pierced ears. She wears eyeglasses. She may use the name Mae B. Dawson.

Details of Disappearance

Dawson was last seen in Jefferson Township, Ohio on January 3, 1998. She was entering her one-bedroom apartment on the second floor of the Martin Luther Manor Living Center on Liscum Drive at approximately 9:30 p.m. at the time. She has never been heard from again.

Dawson's family members and friends became concerned when they could not reach her by January 5 and checked her residence. One of Dawson's winter coats was found draped over a chair, and her pocketbook was on the table. The pocketbook contained Dawson's wallet, money, credit cards, and a rent check dated January 8, 1998.

Additional evidence regarding her whereabouts was not discovered in the apartment. She had lived in her apartment for only about a year prior to her disappearance.

Dawson never accessed her bank account again after she vanished. Her loved ones say it is uncharacteristic of her leave without warning. Dawson's children declared her legally dead in June 2003, five and a half years after her disappearance.

Foul play is suspected in her case, because Dawson appears to have left her apartment with the intention of coming back soon. There were no signs of forced entry to her residence. Authorities do not believe she was attacked within her apartment or lured from the premises. Suicide has not been ruled out but has been deemed unlikely.

Dawson was born in Lexington, Kentucky and is a graduate of Paul Laurence Dunbar High School. She had recently retired from her housekeeping job at Miami Valley Hospital at the time of her disappearance. She has also worked as a key punch operator, an elevator operator, a department store sales clerk and in a factory, and she has done volunteer work as well.

Dawson is described as being close to her family. She was divorced and left behind two adult daughters when she vanished. Her case remains unsolved. It is still being actively investigated by law enforcement authorities.