Sheryl Ann Tillinghast

• Missing Since 09/24/1973
• Missing From Wassaic, New York
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Female
• Race White
• Date of Birth 04/16/1956 (68)
• Age 17 years old
• Height and Weight 5'3, 140 pounds
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes.

Details of Disappearance

Sheryl was last seen in Wassaic, New York on September 24, 1973. She was employed in the laundry room at Wassaic State School for Mental Defectives at the time. Sheryl is from Phelps, New York and had originally been sent to a reform school after pleading guilty to a marijuana possession charge. After that school burned down, she was sent to the Wassaic State School.

She didn't want to leave after she graduated due to problems within her family, including verbal and physical abuse. However, she maintained regular contact with her loved ones at home. Prior to her disappearance, Sheryl told her family she was going to visit home for her mother's birthday. She told her older sister she'd gotten a car, and the two of them planned to move to California together.

When Sheryl didn't arrive home as scheduled, her mother called Wassaic State School and was informed Sheryl didn't want to come home. Her mother believed Sheryl had left on her own, didn't report her missing and made very little effort to find her. It wasn't until 1998, 25 years later, that the rest of the family realized no missing persons report had been filed.

Sheryl left behind all her belongings, including two paychecks worth $150 in total. There hasn't been any activity on her Social Security number, bank records or Department of Motor Vehicles records, any indication that she's been married, any sightings, or any other sign of her since 1973.

Her mother died in 1996, but siblings are still searching for her. Foul play is suspected in Sheryl's disappearance, which remains unsolved.