Mary Leah Rodermund

• Missing Since 03/02/1978
• Missing From Morgan City, Louisiana
• Classification Non-Family Abduction
• Sex Female
• Race White
• Date of Birth 02/11/1962 (62)
• Age 16 years old
• Height and Weight 5'4, 110 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A brown sweater, a brown shirt, khaki pants, brown loafers and a gold chain necklace.
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, hazel eyes. Mary's ears are pierced.

Details of Disappearance

Mary was last seen in Morgan City, Louisiana on March 2, 1978. She went to the pharmacy on Victor II Boulevard and never returned home. Someone later called her parents to demand a $5,000 ransom, and Mary got on the phone to tell them she was unharmed.

This is the last time anyone heard from her, and the ransom caller never provided any instructions about where to deliver the money. Her car was found abandoned in the pharmacy parking lot.

Authorities believe Mary was a victim of the serial killer Robert Carl Hohenberger, a former sheriff's deputy from California. He had abducted and raped four women in California, escaped from prison there and went to Louisiana, where he lived under an alias name.

A photo of Hohenberger is posted with this case summary. Investigators believe he used his police badge to lure victims to their deaths. He may have killed up to seven people over a three-month period before his death in June 1978. He took his own life when the police tried to arrest him.

Investigators believe he used his police badge to lure victims to their deaths. He may have killed up to seven people over a three-month period before his death in June 1978. He took his own life when the police tried to arrest him.

Mary was a sophomore at Morgan City High School at the time of her disappearance. She is described as an average student who enjoyed dancing, listening to music and going to parties with her boyfriend. She had had a job as a department store cashier, but had recently quit. She planned to go to college eventually and become a psychiatrist.

Mary is the youngest of six children. Her body has never been found. She and Bertha Gould, who disappeared in May 1978, are the only presumed victims of Hohenberger who are still missing.