Katharina Buczek
So, when Marty went to pull out of the gas station, the truck would not start. This forced her to call one of her brothers, who arrived and got the car running again.
And finally, Marty’s brother watched as his sister pulled out on Highway 30 and headed toward Astoria. Then, no one ever heard from Marty again.
“It was like she turned, and he just saw her go. Nobody saw her again. He was the last one in our family to see her,” said Linda Benthin-Weirup, Marty’s sister.
Marty was supposed to meet up with her sister at a restaurant in Astoria that night, but she never showed. Then, once Marty did not return home the following day and failed to call her family, everyone knew something was terribly wrong.
After all, Marty’s son, Andrew, was left behind at home– something Gloria believes her daughter would have never done.
“She would have never left Andrew. Never. And if you could talk to him, he’d say the same thing: ‘Mom would have never left me,'” Gloria said.
So, Marty’s family immediately called the police and began searching for both Marty and the truck. Fliers were posted, and authorities combed the area– but, unfortunately, neither Marty nor the pickup truck was ever found.
Now, it has been over thirty-two years since Mary disappeared. And for her family, never getting answers and having to live with the constant “what-ifs” has been torturous.
Whenever Gloria drives through her town, or any town for that matter, and spots a dark-haired woman, she gets that same glimmer of hope that they might be her daughter.
“You’re always looking, always, and you never quit looking. Your heart and mind tell you to keep going,” she said.
Marty’s family members also have a few different theories about what happened to her. Some believe that Marty may have crashed while driving down the winding roads that lead to Gloria’s house– even though there was no evidence of a car accident at the time.
