Family seeks closure in 17-year-old missing case

Sept. 8, 2006 12:00 AM

There were no newspaper headlines in July 1989 when Pamela Page, a Peoria resident and the operator of a video-rental business in Glendale, vanished from her home.

It wasn't until September 1990, after family members had stepped forward to voice their concerns, that The Arizona Republic published a story about her disappearance.

When and where

On July 22, 1989, Page turned up missing from her home in the 6700 block of West Shangri-La Road. She had just returned from a visit with family members in Arkansas.

Summary

Peoria police have not closed the books on this cold case but admit that help from the public would be appreciated. They say that although foul play has been long suspected, it remains a missing-person case under active investigation.

Two questions quickly emerged in this unsolved mystery: Was Page the victim of foul play? Or did she simply walk away to start a new life?

According to one theory, Page quietly stepped away, taking her pet dachshund and a few suitcases of clothes, shoes, cosmetics and mementos and leaving behind her husband and her rental business.

Her husband, once identified by police as a person of interest in the case, later obtained a divorce and claimed she took off with $60,000 in savings.

He denied any involvement in her disappearance. He said he also hired a private investigator in an attempt to track her down.

According to another theory, one that is offered by Page's parents and siblings, she was most likely killed.

Jimmie Rice, 58, a sister who lives in Fort Smith, Ark., said Page was the youngest of eight children and the disappearance has been especially hard on her parents, Willie Frisby, 80, and Mary, 82, also of Fort Smith.

"She was very close to my mom, more than anybody else," Rice said. "She never missed a birthday, never missed a holiday and remained in constant contact with the family."

Rice said relatives are in need of closure. They believe there is somebody who knows something and police will score a breakthrough if that person steps forward.

Police said the case immediately focused on the husband, but no linking evidence was found. Detectives now are pursuing other leads.

Officers admit that in recent years, there has been nothing new as far as significant leads or evidence, but they are hoping for a tip that will finally crack the puzzling case.

Investigator

Chris Boughey, a Peoria police detective.

What bothers police the most

"This woman was very close to her family," Boughey said. "Her disappearance has been devastating. Finding out what happened, one way or another, will allow us to provide a degree of closure for the family, especially the aging parents."

New technology's role

Police have used ground-penetrating radar, a technology developed after Page's disappearance, in an unsuccessful body search, Boughey said. If evidence should emerge, police will be able to examine it with forensic technology that was not available when Page disappeared 17 years ago, he added.

How you can help

Contact Peoria police at (623) 773-7045 or Silent Witness at 1-800-343-TIPS.

- Brent Whiting




The Arizona Republic is teaming with Valley law enforcement investigators to highlight a cold case every week. The hope is that readers with information about a case will call or e-mail police or Silent Witness (1-800-343-TIPS).




http://www.azcentral.com/php-bin/clicktrac...ldcase0908.html

http://charleyproject.org/cases/p/page_pamela.html

Pamela Jane Page


Above Images: Pamela, circa 1989


Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance

Missing Since: July 21, 1989 from Peoria, Arizona
Classification: Endangered Missing
Date Of Birth: January 18, 1957
Age: 32 years old
Height and Weight: 5'8, 200 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Red hair, hazel eyes. Pamela has a scar under her chin. She has two moles on the front of her neck and a mole near her nose. Pamela's ears are pierced. She has had a tonsillectomy and her adenoids have been removed also. Pamela wears eyeglasses. Her maiden name is Frisby and her nickname is Pam.
Clothing/Jewelry Description: A gold necklace and a three-tone gold ring with three to four diamonds imbedded in its setting.


Details of Disappearance

Pamela was last seen by an employee of a video store she and her husband, Robert Brooks Page, owned in Glendale, Arizona at approximately 8:30 p.m. on July 20, 1989. The employee told authorities that Page behaved normally at that time and talked about future plans to open another store. Robert claimed that Page was ill the following morning, July 21, and would not be reporting to work. He then told employees that he had to run errands and would return later in the day. Robert arrived at their store again sometime after 4:00 p.m. He handed a letter to one of the workers that was purportedly written by Pamela. The note stated that she and her husband had marital problems and Page had left the area with a friend named Sarah, who supposedly frequented their store. The letter also stated that Pamela took $8,000 in cash with her and would not be returning.
According to the letter, Pamela parked her yellow 1981 Corvette in a donut shop parking lot in Phoenix, Arizona. Robert located the vehicle there sometime later, but there was no sign of his wife. She has not been heard from again. Robert claimed that she disappeared from their home between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. on July 21, while he was away on his errands.

Pamela's employees, friends and family were shocked by the developments. Many argued that it was against Pamela's nature to write such a note. Several relatives also told authorities that she would not have taken significant amounts of money from their account on a whim, or carry such a large amount of cash on her.

The residence owned by the couple on West Peoria Avenue in Peoria, Arizona was searched and Pamela's identification and jewelry was found inside. She had vanished along with her Dachshund dog, Rerun, who has never been located. Robert did not report her as a missing person; other relatives did so sometime after her disappearance. Robert admitted that he wrote at least part of the letter he produced from his wife himself when questioned by authorities. He also admitted that he drove her Corvette to the Phoenix parking lot and took a taxi back to their home in the 6700 block of Shangri-La Road in Peoria. Investigators have been unable to identify the mysterious friend, Sarah. Pamela's family had never heard about Sarah prior to Pamela's disappearance and there is speculation that Sarah may not exist.

After Pamela's disappearance, Robert declared bankruptcy for her video store. Pamela's family says the store was doing well financially and about to expand, and there was no need for a bankruptcy. Robert also sold Pamela's car; investigators discovered that the sale arrangements had been made prior to Pamela's disappearance. It is unknown if she knew about them. Robert filed for divorce just weeks after Pamela's disappearance and stated she had left him voluntarily and taken $60,000 in savings. He hired a private investigator to locate her, but nothing came of the investigator's efforts. Robert still lives at the same address where he and Pamela resided in 1989.

A witness claimed that he possibly spotted Pamela walking near her video store on 67th Avenue and Greenway in Glendale on July 24, three days after she apparently disappeared. The sighting is unconfirmed. Some members of Pamela's family believe her husband knows more about his wife's disappearance than he has stated, but no one has been charged in connection with her case. Foul play is suspected in her disappearance.



Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Peoria Police Department
623-773-7097
OR
623-773-7051



Source Information
America's Most Missing Persons
** The web site is now defunct **
The Fallen Wall
The National Center for Missing Adults
State to State Unsolved Crimes
The Arizona Republic

http://z10.invisionfree.com/usedtobedoe/in...pic=11197&st=0&

Synopsis: On 7/21/1989 at 8:30 p.m. Pamela Jane Page was last seen by an employee at her business, Fast Forward Video, 15410 N. 67th Avenue, Glendale, Arizona. On 7/22/1989 her husband, Robert Page, reported to the employee that Pamela was ill and would not be in. He later in the evening of 7/22/1989 reported he had found a letter from Pamela to him in their home. The letter advised she was leaving. She was reported missing by her family on 7/27/1989. There has been no record of Pamela Jane Page locally or nationally since her disappearance 19 years ago. Foul play is strongly suspected.





REWARD - Contact Silent Witness at www.silentwitness.org or (480) WITNESS
http://www.peoriaaz.gov/contentform.asp?ID=21842

Mystery deepens in woman's disappearance 20 years ago




By Elizabeth Jackman
Pamela Jane Frisby Page disappeared 20 years ago from her home in the 6700 block of West Shangri La Road in Peoria, but her family has never given up looking for her.

Last week, Pamela's family, who live in Arkansas, were dealt a devastating blow, when they received word that Pamela's husband, Robert Page, had died of cancer over the Christmas holiday.

“We have always thought that Rob had something to do with her disappearance,” said Pamela's sister, Jimmie Rice. “We had no idea he had cancer until I received a phone call this week from my brother, Willie, who was married to Rob's sister, Bettina, that Rob had died. Now we may never know what happened to her.”

Pamela was last seen at 8:30 p.m. July 21, 1989 by an employee at her business, Fast Forward Video at the corner of Peoria and 67th avenues.

After Pamela's family had not heard from her, they contacted Rob, who informed them she had left him and read them a two-page letter he said she had written him.

“He later admitted he wrote the letter on a computer and signed it,” Rice said.

As time passed, a lot of things Rob told them just didn't add up.

“Rob told us the police would not take a missing persons report from him because Pam had left him, but when we drove to Arizona and arrived at the police station, they had never heard of him,” Rice said.

He told Pam's family that he and a friend had found her missing Corvette at a Winchell's Donut Shop; however, a witness later reported seeing Rob park the car there and leave in a taxi that he had called from a nearby parts store.

“Pam had two Dachshunds who were raised together and were her babies. She would never separate them, but one of the dogs was missing with her and the other was not,” Rice said.

Over the years, police have continued to look for leads and in 1998-99, brought in expensive ground penetrating radar equipment and excavated the back yard, but turned up nothing.

In 1991, Rice visited a psychic, who described Pam's two story home and said she had a vision of Pam being strangled in an upstairs bedroom, put in the trunk of a car and buried down a deep incline in Coolidge.

In the early 1990s, Pam's disappearance was featured on the television show “Unsolved Mysteries” and her picture is posted on the missing adult Web site, www.theyaremissed.org.

Last July, on the 20th year of Pam's disappearance, Rice, 61, her sister, Judy Stuttle, 60, and their parents, Willie, 83, and Mary, 85, drove to Peoria and walked through the neighborhood where Pam lived handing out fliers hoping to turn up clues.

“We believe it is possible that Rob may have told his sister, Bettina, something on his deathbed, but she is not talking to us, and we have no access to search the house in case he may have left a note or something behind,” Rice said.

According to the Peoria Police Department's Cold Case Web site, “Foul play is strongly suspected.”

Rice said Rob's next of kin are his sisters, Bettina, who lives in Arkansas and Patty Sue who lives in Dallas and that he has a girlfriend taking care of the final arrangements.

Rice said her elderly parents desperately want closure on the disappearance of Pam, the youngest of their eight children, before they pass on.

“Now my mom and dad, and our family may never know where Pamela is,” Rice said.

Reach the reporter at ejackman@star-times.com, or 623-847-4615.