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Mary Day was a 13-year-old girl, who mysteriously disappeared from her home in Seaside California, on July 15, 1981. Reportedly, she had a fight with her stepfather William Houle, who beat her, blaming her for poisoning the domestic dog. Despite her disappearance, nobody filed a missing report, until 1992 when her sister Sherrie reached out to the police.
More than a decade had passed, and it was believed that she had died. It was on November 25, 2003, when police found a woman from Arizona who had the same name, birth date, and relevant details as Mary Day on her identification card. Mary Day's disappearance was finally solved when her DNA was tested with Mary's mother Charlotte's DNA, proving her to be the biological daughter.
However, the grown-up Mary Day was completely different and had secrets to hide. The complete story behind the mysterious disappearance of Mary Day is documented in an episode of The Curious Case of... titled The Girl Who Died Twice. The episode is set to make its release on January 21, 2025.
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The official synopsis of the episode reads:
"In 1981, Mary Day vanishes and Investigators suspect her stepfather may have killed her."
What is the story of Mary Day?
Mary Day was born on February 19, 1968, in Little Falls, New York to Charles Day and Charlotte Day. As per a CBS News article, published on December 24, 2023, Mary had two more sisters named Kathy and Sherrie, who had to undergo many financial constraints. The relationship between their parents quickly began to deteriorate.
Charlotte's inability to take care of their daughters led them to end up in foster homes. Their parents eventually got divorced, and Charlotte went on to marry a man named William Houle, who was enlisted in the United States Military. Though William adopted Kathy and Mary Day, their sister Sherrie was left in foster care. The Walts family eventually adopted Sherrie.
As per another CBS News article, published on December 23, 2023, it was in 1979 when William was posted in Hawaii, so the entire family had to move there. Charlotte and William went on to have their own kids named Billie Jeanne and William Jr. This is when Kathy and Mary Day started feeling that their mother was slowly ignoring them.
Both of the sisters eventually started to take care of each other, mainly because William was abusive to his stepdaughters. Kathy and Mary Day's biological father Charles was killed in an accident, and this inheritance money was shifted to them.
With growing assault from William, the young girls began to discuss their escape plans, creating a secret word in their communication.
As per CBS News, It was in December 1980, when Mary Day was removed from the custody of her stepfather after authorities found out about William abusing her. While Mary was in special custody, William was again posted to Seaside, California, where she went on to shift after a few months.
The disappearance of Mary Day
After shifting to Seaside, Mary began running off from her house frequently and was often discovered and returned by the police. As per CBS News, it was on July 15, 1981, when Mary Day mysteriously disappeared from her house in Seaside, California. Shockingly, none of her parents reported their daughter to be missing.
For more than a decade no one filed an official complaint on Mary's disappearance, until 1992, when her estranged sister Sherrie, registered a complaint. However, it had been 11 years, and the police did not launch a complete investigation, doubting if Mary Day was still alive.
As per CBS News, it was in 1999, when Sherrie again contacted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and provided them with an image of Mary. They eventually created an age-progression image of Mary Day. This image was eventually provided to the Seaside Police, who launched an official investigation in 2002.
As per CBS News, Detective Joe Bertaina from Seaside Police was leading the investigation, who met began to retrieve information from Mary's family and siblings. It was in 2003 when Kathy accompanied Detective Beryaina to their childhood house in Seaside. Kathy provided a detailed narrate of the day Mary had disappeared.
On that day, William, Charlotte, and their two own kids went out for dinner, while the sisters were left in the house. As per CBS News, by the time William came back home, he saw his dog very ill, almost on the verge of dying. He was very close to his dog, and watching his situation enraged William immediately.
He blamed Mary to have poisoned the dog and started beating her badly. Kathy recalled that the last time she saw her sister, blood was coming out of her mouth. When Kathy went on to inquire about her sister to Charlotte the next morning, she was restricted not to speak her name ever again.
As per CBS News, when Charlotte was interrogated, she said Mary Day was addicted to drugs, and added that she burnt all her pictures after that night. Kathy revealed to Bertaina, that there was a certain corner in their backyard where they were prevented from playing.
As reported by CBS News, Detective Betaina, along with Captain Steve Cercone bought cadaver dogs, and they directed exactly to that specific corner. When they dug up the land, investigators found a shoe of a little girl.
The cops managed to locate Charlotte and William in Kansas, and both of their stories were suspicious. Charlotte made up a story that, the night Mary had disappeared, she felt as if William was possessed by a demon.
Police considered their story to be made up, and soon began to consider that the couple had murdered Mary. Investigators had enough information, which could prove the disappearance to be a case of homicide. However, they received a very unexpected surprise, which shook the roots of their entire investigation.
The reappearance of Mary Day
As per CBS News, almost nine months after Charlotte and William came up with their story, on November 25, 2003, a woman from Phoenix, Arizona was stopped at a traffic stop. Her pickup truck had stolen license plates, which led the police to check her identity, considering her to be a fraud. The woman had an Arizona state identification car that read her name as Mary Day.
As per another CBS News article, published on December 24, 2023, she had the same birth date and relevant information as the disappeared Mary Day.
The woman was soon taken for questioning, and she revealed that she ran away years ago, to save herself from the abuse of her parents. However, the primary thing, which differentiated her from the disappeared child was her thick southern accent, which Mary Day didn't have.
Investigators also discovered that her identification was issued, only three weeks back before she was caught when the cops were having a massive search, to find the lost girl. Finally, the only thing that could determine her true identity was a DNA test. As per CBS News, when Charlotte tested her DNA, it proved that she was indeed Mary Day. Investigators reached a conclusion and the case was closed.
However, the new Mary had changed a lot, and her siblings found it hard to accept her. Kathy saw that she didn't remember their childhood codeword, which they used to devise their escape plan.
As per CBS News, when Sherrie invited Mary to stay with her, she realized that the new Mary showed signs of multiple personality disorder. Mary often narrated her stories which didn't have any logical explanations.
Additionally, Mary was suffering from alcoholism, acted violently with her sister, and tried to kill herself. Mary eventually went to Arizona, got married, and eventually shifted to Missouri. As per CBS News, it was eventually reported that similar to her father, her husband was also abusive.
Mary Day stayed in Missouri until she died in 2017. None of her family members reported on the news, and no funeral was arranged. Sherrie never contacted Mary after she left her home, and neither did her family members. The authenticity behind Mary's true identification remains a mystery to this date.
To know more about the disappearance of Mary Day watch The Curious Case of... episode titled The Girl Who Died Twice on Investigation Discovery.
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