Carol Sue Skidmore

Carol, circa 1977

  • Missing Since 04/09/1977
  • Missing From Rossville, Georgia
  • Classification Endangered Missing
  • Sex Female
  • Race White
  • Date of Birth 10/13/1950 (73)
  • Age 26 years old
  • Height and Weight 5'6, 140 pounds
  • Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Carol's nickname is Sissy.

Details of Disappearance

Carol was last seen in Rossville, Georgia, just south of the Tennessee border, on April 9, 1977. She and her husband of one year, James Ronald Skidmore, and her five-year-old son Lynn Dale Mahaffey, one of the four children she had from a previous marriage, had left their Texas home to visit James's parents in Rossville on March 29, in order to "put their marriage back together."

The last time Carol's parents heard from her was on April 9, when she spoke to them on the phone and said she wasn't sure when she'd be coming home. All three of them disappeared together.

On May 5, Lynn's body was found in Parksville Lake in Cleveland, Texas. He'd been there for several weeks. The child was the victim of a homicide; his body was found wrapped in a plastic bag and weighted with a forty-pound rock. It wasn't identified until June 13.

By then, his stepfather had also been found deceased: James was found dead of a drug overdose in a hotel room in Harrison, Arkansas on June 1. He had died by suicide. He wrote a letter to his former wife, telling her he was going to take his own life because "things weren't working out for him." There was no sign of Carol; she has never been heard from again.

Due to the circumstances involved in her disappearance, foul play is suspected in Carol's case. She is from Texas, and Texas police are investigating her disappearance.

Investigating Agency

  • Texas Department of Public Safety 800-346-3243

Updated 4 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated February 18, 2019; clothing/jewelry description added, details of disappearance updated.