Judith Ann Elwell

• Missing Since 07/06/1967
• Missing From Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• Classification Non-Family Abduction
• Sex Female
• Race White
• Age 5 years old
• Height and Weight Unknown
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A blue and white striped pullover shirt, light green shorts, white socks and blue canvas sneakers.
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Black hair, dark brown eyes.

Details of Disappearance

Judith was last seen at her home in the 1100 block of north Meta in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma sometime before 9:00 p.m. on July 6, 1967. She has never been heard from again. The day after her disappearance, one of her shoes was found next to an abandoned house half a block from her home. A short length of braided rope was under the shoe.

Authorities believe Judith was abducted and lost her shoe in her struggle with the kidnapper(s). No other trace of her was located in spite of an extensive search. A photo of Judith's shoe is posted with this case summary.

Judith's brother, Mark Elwell, stated he believed his sister's abduction was planned. He said he saw a suspicious vehicle, described as a big black car, near the home three weeks before Judith went missing, and the driver, a man, also followed Mark on his newspaper route.

Mark says he saw the same vehicle at the home on the night Judith went missing. He believes the driver was Judith's abductor and was "casing" the house. Mark's theory has not been substantiated.

Almost a month later, on August 3, Brenda Lois White disappeared from St. Patrick Drive in Midwest City, Oklahoma. A photograph of her is posted with this case summary. She was five years old. In November of that year, her remains were found in a shallow grave in a field outside an abandoned house eleven miles from her home.

Brenda's homicide remains unsolved. Her killer may be the same person who abducted Judith. Both girls were the same age and disappeared from the same area within the same timespan. In addition, both girls were from the same family background and lived in similar neighborhoods, they physically resembled one another and they had both been warned against talking to strangers. However, the girls did not know one another and there is no hard evidence that Brenda's killer also kidnapped Judith.

Troy Thiessen, a private detective from Lawton, Oklahoma, believes one man kidnapped both girls and that he knows the identity of the suspect. The name of the suspect has not been publicly released, but some other details are known. He was in his teens in 1967 and lived in Harrah, Oklahoma. As an adult he was in and out of prison for various offenses, including the sexual abuse of his stepchildren for which he served a fifteen-year sentence.

Judith's parents are both deceased; Mark is her only surviving relative. Brenda's police casefile is believed to have been accidentally destroyed in a flood, and Judith's police casefile was also misplaced or destroyed sometime after 1967, but both girls' cases remain open and unsolved.