Kathaleen Elizabeth Hine

• Missing Since 01/15/1972
• Missing From Palmetto, Florida
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Female
• Race White
• Date of Birth 08/29/1920 (104)
• Age 51 years old
• Height and Weight 5'3, 120 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A dark-colored sweater, light blue Levi's jeans, a watch with a black band, and a plain gold wedding band on her left hand.
• Medical Conditions Kathaleen has a lung disorder and arthritis in her back. She was taking medication at the time of her disappearance. She did not have the medicine with her when she vanished.
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Kathaleen has very small feet; her shoes size is four or five. She has a deep scar on her left upper arm from a smallpox vaccination, and a vertical Cesarean section scar on her abdomen. She has had a dozen surgeries with resulting scarring. Some agencies state Kathaleen's name as "Kathaleen Elizabeth Folk-Hine." Her nickname is Kay. Kathaleen had a cast on her left forearm at the time of her disappearance. She has RH-negative blood. She has a hereditary hair deformity and has little to no hair as a result; she wears wigs to cover up the defect. Kathaleen wears a partial dental plate in her bottom teeth. She had a deep tan at the time of her 1972 disappearance. She wears prescription sunglasses.

Details of Disappearance

Kathaleen's husband, Gilbert Charles Hine Sr., told police he last saw her at the Palmetto Agricultural Center at the Manatee County Fairgrounds in Palmetto, Florida.

She was supposed to help out at the fair's poultry barn that day, but other witnesses stated that they never saw Kathaleen at the fairgrounds. She has never been heard from again.

Foul play is suspected in Kathaleen's disappearance. She left behind her eyeglasses, her medication, and her purse when she disappeared.

After her disappearance, Gilbert deeded to himself some property that was held in both their names. The paperwork he submitted bore Kathaleen's signature, although she had been missing for years. In other papers filed later, Gilbert listed his wife as deceased.

One of Kathaleen's daughters, Debra Dingeldine, says she got a phone call from her mother on the day she disappeared. Dingeldine says Kathaleen said she wanted to talk to her about something important, then she screamed, and after that the call was cut off.

Dingeldine drove immediately to Kathaleen's house in the 3200 block of north Rye Road in Parrish, Florida and found signs of a struggle there, including overturned furniture. Kathaleen was missing and so was her .38 Special revolver, but its holster was found lying on her bedroom floor.

Gilbert never reported Kathaleen missing. He told police that she had been having affairs with other men and probably ran away with one of them, but Kathaleen's children say this is untrue and have stated their beliefs that she was murdered and probably never went to the fairgrounds the day of her disappearance.

Gilbert, who is now in his eighties, eventually hired an attorney and stopped cooperating with police. He has never been charged in connection with his wife's case, which is unsolved.