Eva Gerline DeBruhl

• Missing Since 06/29/1977
• Missing From Catawba, South Carolina
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Female
• Race White
• Date of Birth 05/25/1962 (62)
• Age 15 years old
• Height and Weight 5'1 - 5'2, 105 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A pink floral-print sweater, light blue floral-print shorts, and no socks or shoes.
• Associated Vehicle(s) Late model blue and white or green and white Jeep-type vehicle
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Blonde hair, blue eyes. Eva's middle name may be spelled "Jurlyn" or "Jerline" by some agencies. She wears eyeglasses.

Details of Disappearance

Eva was last seen at her residence in Catawba, South Carolina on June 29, 1977. She mowed the lawn and then went inside to make some iced tea. She told her father he had been called in to go to work, and he left just after 11:00 a.m. Eva's mother, who worked the night shift, was asleep at the time. She woke up at about noon and her daughter was gone.

Eva has never been heard from again. A pot of iced tea and a glass were later found undisturbed in the house, the television had been turned on, and Eva's rubber flip-flops were on the front lawn. None of her clothes or other belongings were missing, except her eyeglasses.

Eva's grandmother lived near the family's home in 1977. She stated that on the morning Eva went missing, she saw a late model blue and white or green and white Jeep-type vehicle drive up to the DeBruhl residence and stop by the front door. A man got out and stood on the front porch; he appeared to be talking to someone through the screen door. She assumed the man had come to talk to Eva's father about fixing a car, but Eva's father had already left by then.

The man drove away, but returned ten or fifteen minutes later. Eva's grandmother didn't notice whether it stopped a second time. She didn't hear any suspicious noises and did not see her granddaughter get inside the car. The man driving it has never been identified and it is unclear whether he has any connection to Eva's case. He is described as Caucasian and of medium height and build. He wore a light green shirt and dark green pants.

Henry Lee Lucas later confessed to killing Eva. A photo of Lucas is posted with this case summary. He is also considered a possible suspect the disappearances of Elizabeth "Terri" Bishop and Cheryl Scherer, and he confessed to involvement in the unsolved disappearances of Janet Callies and a married couple, John and Faye Whatley. He was convicted of the 1979 murder of an unidentified female in Texas and sentenced to death.

The state's former governor, George W. Bush, commuted his sentence to life imprisonment prior to Lucas's scheduled 1999 execution. He later died in prison. Lucas claimed to have killed approximately 600 people, but he confessed to many crimes he did not commit and the exact number of his victims is unknown.

Eva is described as shy and deeply religious; she was a member of the Providence Baptist Church and sang in the choir. She graduated from Castle Heights Junior High School prior to her disappearance and was looking forward to attending Rock Hill High School in the fall of 1977. Her family stated she was well-behaved, earned pocket money by babysitting, had no boyfriends and always kept her mother informed of her whereabouts.

Her father is deceased, but her mother and two sisters continue to search for her. Foul play is suspected in her case.