Lori Ann Murchison-Dunbar

Murchison-Dunbar, circa 1995

  • Missing Since 09/02/1995
  • Missing From Fort Smith, Arkansas
  • Classification Endangered Missing
  • Sex Female
  • Race White
  • Date of Birth 12/06/1970 (53)
  • Age 24 years old
  • Height and Weight 5'2 - 5'5, 100 pounds
  • Clothing/Jewelry Description A white sleeveless cotton shirt, cut-off blue denim shorts, white socks, black sandals, a gold oval-shaped knuckle ring on her left index finger, and a necklace with a cross pendant on a black ribbon.
  • Medical Conditions Murchison-Dunbar has attempted suicide in the past. She may have an alcohol dependency.
  • Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Murchison-Dunbar's hair was bleached blonde at the time of her 1995 disappearance. She has a tattoo of a unicorn on her left shoulder, a tattoo of a heart with an arrow piercing it on her left breast, and a rose tattoo on her left ankle. Her ears are pierced and she has moles on her chin. She has scars on her left ankle and left leg and a Cesarean section scar on her abdomen. Murchison-Dunbar wears upper dentures and only has about five teeth in her lower jaw. She has a dimple in her cheek that appears when she smiles. Some agencies refer to her as Lori Murchison.

Details of Disappearance

Murchison-Dunbar was last seen at approximately 5:40 a.m. in Fort Smith, Arkansas on September 2, 1995.

She was on the corner of Parker Street and south 6th Street near the Continental Motel at the time of her disappearance. She and her boyfriend had been arrested after they got into a car accident while intoxicated, and she disappeared the day she was released from the Sebastian County Jail.

Murchison-Dunbar has never been heard from again. She never picked up her last paycheck from her place of employment, Oaks Lodge Nursing Home, and never contacted her baby daughter, who is being raised by her mother. Her boyfriend had given her $50 to bail him out of jail; she may have had the money with her when she vanished.

In 1995, the FBI accused a former Sebastian County prosecutor, Ron Fields, of dealing drugs and of ordering a Fort Smith police officer to kill Murchison-Dunbar. The case was brought before a grand jury, but no indictments were issued due to a lack of evidence, and it is unclear whether Fields was really involved in her disappearance.

Police also received information from five different sources that Murchison-Dunbar died of an accidental drug overdose and a man who was with her disposed of her body. Authorities attempted to prosecute this man for abuse of a corpse, but the statute of limitations had expired and the individual has never faced charges in Murchison-Dunbar's disappearance.

Murchison-Dunbar was traveling back and forth between Fort Smith and Wilburton, Oklahoma for some time prior to her disappearance. She was involved with drugs in 1995. Her case remains unsolved.

Investigating Agency

  • Fort Smith Police Department 501-709-5100

Updated 5 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated July 9, 2015; distinguishing characteristics updated.