Mary Lou Boston

Mary, circa 1968

  • Missing Since 09/01/1968
  • Missing From Sacramento, California
  • Classification Endangered Missing
  • Sex Female
  • Race White
  • Date of Birth 12/04/1944 (80)
  • Age 23 years old
  • Height and Weight 5'4, 120 pounds
  • Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes.

Details of Disappearance

Mary was last seen in Sacramento, California on September 1, 1968. She has never been heard from again. Her brother reported her missing; he stated in the police report that Mary's disappearance was extremely uncharacteristic, as she was a devoted mother to her three children and wouldn't have abandoned them.

Mary was married to Silas Duane Boston at the time of her disappearance. Her brother stated Silas acted "nervous and jittery" when Mary disappeared, didn't report his wife missing and said he didn't want to get involved. Mary's brother also noted that a .22 caliber rifle, one of Silas's prized possessions, was missing. Silas said he had traded the rifle for some items he wanted.

In December 2016, at the age of 75, Silas was charged in a double homicide committed at sea in 1978. Federal agents were investigating him as a suspect in Mary's disappearance when one of Silas's sons told them that as a thirteen-year-old, he'd witnessed his father murder two British tourists and throw them overboard in the Caribbean Sea. The bodies of Dr. Christopher Farmer and his girlfriend, Peta Frampton, were found in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Guatemala on July 8, 1978.

Silas allegedly bragged to others about shooting Mary to death and burying her body at an undisclosed location. He told one traveling partner that he'd shot Mary twice as she begged for her life, then buried her body near a remote creek in nothern California. He told the same person that he'd killed two tourists in Belize and three drug dealers in Sacramento. He may have also been involved in a hit-and-run homicide in Sacramento in 1972.

Silas never faced trial for Farmer and Frampton's murders or any other cases; he died of natural causes in April 2017. Foul play is suspected in Mary's case due to the circumstances involved.

Investigating Agency

  • Sacramento Police Department 916-808-0621

Updated 3 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated September 5, 2017; details of disappearance updated.