Mabel Andrews, 16: Conflicting Reports About 1970s Missing Person Case
Information regarding this case can be quite confusing to pin down.
Agencies reporting on Mabel Andrews can't seem to agree about the information in her case. One claims she was 16 when she went missing from Orlando, Florida, in 1976, while another states she was 17. Additionally, court documents reportedly say that the teen's brother, Tommie Lee Andrews, told authorities that Mabel disappeared on Christmas Eve in 1974 when she was 14 years old. Further, in some databases, her name is spelled "Mable." With so much confusion about an age or a missing person's date, one can only imagine the misinformation that has been shared over the years.
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There were documents reportedly filed by Mabel's brother in 2014 to declare her legally dead. It looks as if the courts wouldn't label Mabel Andrews as a deceased person, and the brother was appealing that decision.
The paperwork states that Mabel was last seen on December 24, 1974. According to Tommie Lee, Mabel left their home to visit a nearby park. However, the teen was never seen again. Their parents filed a missing person's report, indicating that Mabel would never run away from home. The documents further stated that after decades of Mabel Andrews being missing, her family believes "there exists a presumption that she is deceased."
Police Reports Detail A Sister's Story
Records from the Orlando Police Department state that Mabel's non-identical twin, Mary Catherine Andrews Brown, told authorities that her sister would often run away and "frequent the Green Parrot and was known to get into vehicles with men." Additionally, the records show that Mabel was declared missing by her family on December 24, 1975, but police claim that they "recovered" the teen on January 16, 1976. Investigative agencies more commonly use the latter date as the missing person's date.
A news report provides conflicting information regarding Mabel Andrews, stating that she regularly walked to her grandmother's house, which was precisely where she was when she vanished.
Mabel was also listed as a missing adult in OPD records, even though she was just a young teen when she disappeared. Until 2017, the last public record of the case, it seems that it was listed in records as an active and ongoing investigation.
Mabel Andrews: What To Know
At the time of her disappearance, Mabel Andrews stood 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighed 115 pounds (height and weight are approximations). She had black/dark brown curly hair and brown eyes. Mabel has a slight deformity of a pinky toe wrapped over the top of an adjacent toe, but it's unknown on which foot. Her dental records and fingerprints are unavailable, but her DNA (taken from family members) is reportedly on file. She was a student at Jones High School, and her middle name is Louise. Mabel would be 61 years old at the time of this publication.
Anyone with information about this case is encouraged to contact the Orlando Police Department at (407) 246-2470 or their local law enforcement authorities. The agency case number is 2014-240932.
Please share this story about Mabel Andrews. She is our sister, and her life matters.
Sources
NamUs
The Doe Network
Echoes Path
The Charley Project
FindLaw
Case Number: 2014-240932
Agency: Orlando Police Department
Phone: (407) 246-2470
Email:
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