Resources for Missing Persons

According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day. Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends. Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.

Missing Person Case Updates with Photos

Kathleen Hazel Pehringer


Pehringer, date, approximate 1989
Date Missing 04/17/1989
Missing From
Riverton, Wyoming
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
White
Date of Birth 11/02/1947 (74)
Age 41 years old
Height and Weight 5'0 - 5'2, 110 - 130 pounds
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Light brown hair, brown eyes. Pehringer's nickname is Kathy. Her ears are pierced one time each. She wears eyeglasses and smokes cigarettes.
Details of Disappearance Pehringer was last seen at her Riverton, Wyoming home on April 17, 1989. She disappeared while her fourteen-year-old daughter was at school. She took her purse and glasses with her, but her vehicle was left behind.
When Pehringer's daughter came home from school, her mother was gone and there was no note to explain her absence, which was uncharacteristic of her behavior. She has never been heard from again. Her loved ones described her as a responsible and punctual woman who had been taking classes at Central Wyoming College.
Authorities believe Pehringer left her residence willingly with someone she knew, and intended to be gone for only a short time. There was no sign of a struggle of her house after she vanished, but several cigarette butts were found; some were of Pehringer's preferred brand, but a few were from a brand she didn't smoke.
After her disappearance, her daughter found her diary and gave it to the police. According to the diary, Pehringer had been dating Donald Kenneth Pack Jr., who had been paroled from prison a few years earlier.
Pack had served a twelve- to fourteen-year sentence for for aggravated rape and kidnapping, and was a suspect in more than 30 rapes in the Jackson, Wyoming area. His preferred victim was a single or divorced woman in her mid-thirties, slightly overweight and of below average to average height, a description that matched Pehringer.
Psychologists who profiled Pack said he was very intelligent and very dangerous and would probably kill his next victim to keep her from reporting the attack. However, authorities were never able to tie him to Pehringer's disappearance.
About a year after she went missing, Pack's parole was revoked after he was arrested on weapons charges and he spent another year in prison before being released again. In 2018, Pack was sentenced to eight to twelve years in prison after some old evidence was located and tested for DNA, tying him to two unsolved rapes.
Authorities believe Pehringer was the victim of a homicide. Her remains unsolved.
Investigating Agency
Riverton Police Department
307-856-4891
307-856-0415
Other
The Doe Network
The Associated Press
NamUs
Wyoming Missing Persons
The Casper Star-Tribune

Missing Person Photos

A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2 to 5 percent of missing children in Europe. By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends. A number of organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and images of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.

Resources for Missing Persons

According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day. Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends. Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.

Missing Person Case Updates with Photos