The Disappearance of Patti Adkins
One of my favorite shows to watch on Investigation Discovery is Disappeared, however I always want there to be a resolution. Unfortunately for Patti, her case is still unsolved but remains open. This is season 3, episode 2 titled ‘Secret Rendezvous.’ Patti’s case has been reported on many podcasts, as well as TV shows and hopefully one day it will be solved.
Background
Patti was a 29 year old mother from Marysville, Ohio. She had a seven year old daughter named Michaley, who she loved very much.
Patti
Patti and Michaley
Patti worked at a Honda factory, and was excited because the factory was going to be “shutdown” for the week of 4th of July, and Patti was going on a vacation with a co-worker. The last day of work was on Friday, June 29, 2001. The day before work, Patti dropped off her daughter at her ex’s house. She was due back to pick her up a week from that Friday.
Honda Factory in Marysville, Ohio
Patti went to work like any normal day. According to her co-workers, she was in a rush to leave work that night. She clocked out around midnight, and that was the last time she was seen or heard from.
1 week later
Patti was supposed to come back from her trip on July 8, 2001. This was on a Sunday. It was around 12pm that Patti was supposed to go to her sister, Marcia’s to pick up Michaley. Marcia thought that her sister could be just running late, but kept trying to call her.
A few hours later, Marcia decided to call Patti’s boyfriend, the one she went on vacation with. A woman answered, oh ya by the way everyone the man was married! The wife said he wasn’t home yet. Marcia thought that was even more of a sign that they were just running late.
However, a few more hours passed and Marcia called again around 5pm. This time, the man answered. Marcia asked where her sister was, and apparently he got really quiet and tried to say he didn’t know anything about Patti, and that they just worked together. Marcia even asked the man “what did you do to my sister?”
That same day, Marcia called the police.
Marcia also called the man again around 3am on July 9. She said that she knew he was in a relationship with Patti because of the details about his life and his family that Patti told her. The man still denied it, but Marcia thought it was odd that the man and his wife stayed on the phone with her for 45 minutes.
Investigation
The police went to Patti’s house to search, and they didn’t find anything in her home. They did take her financial records and her computer.
The police discovered that Patti was giving this man money. He apparently had a business and wanted to buy out of the company. The amount of money that Patti withdrew was about $90,000 in a span of a year. Her sister’s also remember that Patti had told them about it, and they were a little annoyed because Patti had been saving her money over a 10 year time period. Patti had reassured them that he was going to pay her back.
Patti had also told her sisters some other troubling information. She had said that she was told not to bring any clothes to Canada, and that the boyfriend said they would buy clothes when they go there. She also said she was going to have to hide in the bed of his truck after work, while he dropped off a co-worker, and then they would leave for their trip.
2 weeks missing
On July 13, 2001- 2 weeks after Patti went missing, the police went to search the boyfriend’s home. They were looking for any money or gifts Patti had given him. They knew that Patti had loaned him money, and she had given him a Hard Rock Cafe t-shirt. They also searched the man’s business, in a nearby town.
The police also interviewed the man’s wife, and she said he had come home around 2:30am on that Friday of June 29. She also said he was home all week, except for a fishing trip with some of his friends.
They also interview the man’s co-worker, who he had dropped off after work. He said the two of them went to Burger King that night and then he was dropped off.
While the police were interviewing the man, they asked him if Patti had ever given him any gifts. By this time, they had found the Hard Rock Cafe t-shirt. He said that the only gift Patti had ever given him was a birthday card, which he had ripped up in fear his wife would get jealous.
The man’s truck was also searched. Patti had told her family that the man was going to drive a truck from his other business for their trip. They found that the cover that Patti had hidden under was missing. They eventually found it in his business.
There was also no trial of the money found in the man’s financial records, so where did this money go?
Evidence
On August 3, 2001, the police found cat hair and blood in the bed of the truck. The cat hair was sent to a lab in Texas that specializes research in animal testing. The hair was found to belong to Patti’s cats. However, they hit a dead end with the blood sample. The blood sample was so small, they described it was like if you were bitten by a mosquito bite.
The police had also brought in cadaver dogs to the man’s home because they found a concrete slab, and apparently the dogs went crazy. They dug it up and nothing was found.
Where is Patti?
The courts officially declared Patti Adkins deceased in 2006.
The Union County Sheriff’s station is working on this open homicide case- they believe Patti is no longer missing, but was killed.
The number for the Union County Sheriff’s station is: 937-645-4126. The lead investigator is Lieutenant Jeff Stiers.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I’ve actually looked up this case quite a few times, and it really bothers me that they don’t have more concrete evidence to lock this man up. I don’t believe anyone else besides this man and maybe his wife had something to do with Patti’s disappearance. The whole relationship and his covering up of it is my guess at what the motive is.
We have a 16 year old girl, Michaley, who is being raised without a mom or being raised without anyone knowing what happened to Patti or why it happened. I hope one day soon this case will be solved.
Sources
https://www.dispatch.com/article/20100907/NEWS/309079768
http://charleyproject.org/case/patricia-ann-adkins
