Samantha Ann Clarke
Clarke, circa 2010; Clarke's tattoos; Randy Taylor
- Missing Since 09/13/2010
- Missing From Orange, Virginia
- Classification Endangered Missing
- Sex Female
- Race White
- Date of Birth 07/17/1991 (33)
- Age 19 years old
- Height and Weight 5'1, 145 pounds
- Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Clarke's right eyebrow, right nostril and tongue are all pierced. She has multiple ear piercings, including a bar on her right ear. She has the following tattoos: a Playboy bunny on her right arm, a Tigger cartoon figure above her right ankle, a black design and two dolphins on her lower back, and the word "lucky" on her left ankle. Photos of her tattoos are posted with this case summary. Clarke's nickname is Sam. She has long hair and frequently styles it in a bun. She wears eyeglasses. She has had her tonsils removed.
Details of Disappearance
Clarke was last seen in Orange, Virginia shortly after midnight on September 13, 2010. She told her younger brother she was leaving and would be back in the morning. She left their home on Lindsey Drive, taking only her house key, and never returned. Her family reported her missing two days later. She has never been heard from again.
Randy Allen Taylor is considered a possible suspect in Clarke's disappearance. They knew each other, and they spoke on the phone on the day she vanished. In August 2013, Taylor was charged with abducting seventeen-year-old Alexis Murphy, who disappeared that month. In January 2014, he was also charged with first-degree murder in her case. He was convicted in May. It wasn't until December 2020, seven years after Alexis's disappearance, that her body was located in Lovingston, Virginia, and it wasn't until February 2021 that the remains were identified.
Taylor hasn't been charged in Clarke's case and it's unclear whether he was involved. A photograph of him is posted with this case summary.
Clarke graduated from Orange County High School three months before she went missing. She has no cellular phone or driver's license, and it's uncharacteristic of her to leave without warning. She had left her home once before and gone to stay in a nearby town for two weeks, but she kept in daily contact with her family by phone.
Her disappearance is considered suspicious, although there is no evidence of foul play. It remains unsolved.
Investigating Agency
- Orange County Sheriff's Office 540-672-1200
Source Information
- NamUs
- The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
- WVIR-TV
- The Free Lance-Star
- The Orange County Review
- The Culpeper Star-Exponent
- The Daily Progress
- Help Find Samantha Clarke
- The Hook
- CBS News
- Reuters
- Someone Is Missing
- The CUE Center for Missing Persons
- Nelson County Sheriff's Office
- Samantha Clarke's Facebook Page
Updated 9 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated February 17, 2021; picture added, details of disappearance updated.