Lyrian Wyvonne Barry-Stallings
Lyrian, circa 1960
- Missing Since 06/01/1960
- Missing From St. Louis, Missouri
- Classification Missing
- Sex Female
- Race Black
- Age 23 years old
- Height and Weight 5'0, 150 pounds
- Distinguishing Characteristics African-American female. Black hair, brown eyes. Lyrian's maiden name is Barry.
Details of Disappearance
Lyrian graduated from R.E. Hunt High School in 1956 and moved to New Orleans, Louisiana with Eulice "Eddie" Stallings. She eventually returned home to Columbus, Mississippi with a baby girl. Eddie followed her there and they picked up their relationship, but it was troubled: Eddie was controlling and he was involved with drugs.
It's unclear whether they were legally married, and Eddie began seeing other women and then married one who said she was pregnant with his child. Lyrian was seeing Sonny Lucas, a distant relative. In the summer of 1960, Lyrian decided to move to St. Louis, stay with her aunt, find a job and make a new life for herself and her daughter.
She left her baby, then eight months old, behind with her sister. Lyrian planned to return in August when her pregnant sister's baby was born, and then she and her sister would go to St. Louis together. However, she never returned to Columbus.
Lyrian's aunt stated that after she arrived in St. Louis, she stayed with her briefly, then went to either Needham, Massachusetts or Bridgeport, Connecticut to start a job as a live-in maid. Lyrian's aunt said Sonny Lucas had also moved to St. Louis, and he and Lyrian got into a "knock-down, drag-out fight" the night she left.
Lyrian never contacted her family again. Although they grew increasingly concerned as time passed without her calling or writing them, they didn't file a missing persons report. There's no evidence that anyone ever used her Social Security number, and her family now believes she's deceased.
Her daughter and her parents are now deceased, as is one brother, but she still has six siblings who are interested in learning her fate, and eventually a missing persons report was filed. Columbus police are investigating Lyrian's disappearance.
Investigating Agency
- Columbus Police Department 662-244-3554
Source Information
Updated 1 time since October 12, 2004. Last updated September 17, 2019; casefile added.