Missing
Sharon Hensley
Hensley, approximately 1973; Mary Vail; Felix Vail, in 1972; Felix, approximately 1983; Felix, approximately 2012
Date and time person was reported missing : 02/01/1973
Missing location (approx) :
Key West, Florida
Missing classification : Endangered Missing
Gender : Female
Ethnicity :
White
DOB : 12/20/1948 (72)
Age at the time of disappearance: 24 years old
Height / Weight : 5'9, 125 pounds
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes.
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Hensley's family last heard from her in February 1973. They didn't realize she was missing until March 1974, and she wasn't officially reported missing for over 35 years.
Her boyfriend, William Felix Vail Sr., who is addressed by his middle name, said they were in Key West, Florida when Hensley decided to leave him and join an unidentified Australian couple who were sailing their boat around the world.
Felix stated Hensley had burned all her identification and said she wanted to become a different person and forget everyone she knew before. In a letter to her parents, Felix said the Australians were named John and Vanessa. A year later, however, he claimed their names were Frank and Sally.
Hensley has never been heard from again. She is a native of Bismarck, North Dakota, and she and Felix met in California and began seeing each other in 1970. They were reportedly involved with drugs. Photos of Felix are posted with this case summary.
Felix's first wife, Mary Elizabeth Horton Vail, drowned in Louisiana in 1962. A photo of Mary is posted with this case summary. They had one son, named William Felix Vail Jr. and called Bill.
Felix said Mary had fallen in the Calcasieu River while they were running trotlines at night, but Mary was afraid of water, that section of the river was unsuitable for trotlines, and authorities found the trotlines still inside Felix's tackle box.
He was arrested for murder, held for three days and then released without charge, and the case was never put before a grand jury. Felix had $150,000 in life insurance on Mary, but only collected $10,000 from the insurance company because of the doubts about the manner of Mary's death.
Over 50 years later, a pathologist examined the autopsy report and found evidence of foul play, including large bruises on Mary's neck and legs and a scarf in her mouth. The pathologist believes Mary was forcibly asphyxiated and possibly struck with an oar before her body went in the river.
Bill, who was only eight years old, went to the police in California in 1970, after his father started seeing Hensley. He told them his father kept drugs in the house and had forced him to use them, and that he'd heard him confess to Mary's murder.
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