Katharina Buczek
In March 1957, William and Margaret Patterson of El Paso, Texas, mysteriously vanished without a trace, and the couple was not heard from for months.
So, by August 15, 1957, a friend of the Pattersons, Cecil Ward, decided to contact authorities and report the spouses missing. Cecil alleged that he had not seen William or Margaret since March 5 of that year.
This pushed authorities to visit the Patterson’s home, where they found the place in disarray– suggesting that the pair had left abruptly. There were still unwashed dishes in the kitchen sink, and clothes had been laid out on the bed.
On top of that, the couple never turned off their utilities, and they had an expensive fur coat waiting to be picked up from the cleaners. Finally, the Pattersons left their cat, Tommy, behind.
Prior to their disappearance, William and Margaret owned a photography supply store in El Paso, Texas, that seemingly afforded them a strong financial portfolio. The pair owned a boat and a Cadillac, held investment shares in a boat company, and even owned property in Guaymas, Mexico.
However, when the spouses disappeared, they left all of their expensive belongings behind.
William and Margaret were also reportedly private about their personal lives. They both admittedly endured “rough” childhoods, although they never divulged much more information.
Before opening the photography supply store, William was a former carnival barker– or a person who worked to attract patrons to entertainment events. As he grew older, though, he did not stay close to his family.
Margaret, too, was estranged from her family since they did not approve of her marriage to William. Once moving away from the Midwest and tying the knot with William, though, she was reportedly still a woman of privacy.
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