Wendy Lynn Huggy

Wendy, circa 1982; Age-progression to age 52 (circa 2017)

  • Missing Since 04/07/1982
  • Missing From Clearwater, Florida
  • Classification Non-Family Abduction
  • Sex Female
  • Race White
  • Date of Birth 07/21/1965 (58)
  • Age 16 years old
  • Height and Weight 5'8 - 5'9, 110 pounds
  • Clothing/Jewelry Description Turquoise jewelry.
  • Medical Conditions Wendy was pregnant at the time of her disappearance.
  • Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Wendy has a circular dog bite scar on the outer center of her left thigh. She may use the last name Freeman.

Details of Disappearance

Wendy was last seen in Clearwater, Florida on April 7, 1982. Her grandmother dropped her off a few blocks from the Patrician Apartments at Nursery and Belcher Roads, where her uncle lived. Huggy was supposed to meet him that day.

At some point she met a female friend who lived in the same apartment complex, and she, her friend and her friend's mother went to Clearwater Beach. Wendy, who didn't have a car of her own, got a ride from the beach to the Countryside Mall. From there, she called her grandfather to say a man named Don would be driving her home.

Wendy was scheduled to return to her grandmother's house later in the evening, and start a new job at a fast food restaurant the next day. She never arrived home and her family never saw or heard from her again.

Wendy resided in Holiday, Florida at the time of her 1982 disappearance. She was born in Illinois. Her mother, a flight attendant, was often unable to care for her due to the demands of her job, so Wendy spent a lot of time in Florida with her grandparents.

She had gotten married in Illinois, but her marriage was unhappy and she left her husband and moved back to Florida in 1982. She had dropped out of high school, but received her GED certificate and hoped to attend cosmetology school.

Her grandparents reported her missing a week after she was last seen, but the police decided she was a runaway and closed her case after only fifteen days. Although Wendy was under eighteen, the fact that she was married made her a legal adult and free to leave home if she wanted.

Three years later, when she still had not returned home or contacted her loved ones, her grandparents filed a second report and the police began looking into other theories as to the cause of her disappearance.

Authorities exhumed the body of an unidentified female in Tampa, Florida in June 2001, hoping that they would be able to identify Wendy. The woman had been tied to a concrete block and dumped off of Anna Maria Island on the Gulf Coast of Florida in 1982. Wendy's dental records did not match the victim. In 2011, the dead woman was identified and her husband was charged with murder.

Wendy's mother and her grandparents have all died. She does have an aunt living as well as a half-brother, born after her disappearance, who both hope for resolution in her case. Investigators believe Wendy is probably deceased, but no suspects have been named in her disappearance. Her case remains unsolved.

Updated 8 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated December 30, 2019; two pictures added.