In 1989, This Arizona Woman Vanished After Allegedly Leaving A Letter Behind Claiming She Was Leaving Her Husband: Her Husband Later Admitted To Signing The Letter Himself And Landed On The Suspect List
In 1977, Pamela Page and her husband, Rob, moved to Peoria, Arizona– a suburb located just outside of Phoenix.
While their marriage appeared solid, though, the strange disappearance of 32-year-old Pamela in 1989 has raised countless questions.
It all began on July 22, 1989, when Rob returned home and realized his wife was not there. At the same time, he reportedly found a letter written by Pam.
In the correspondence, Pam claimed to have left town with another woman named Sarah. She also said that she had been planning to leave for a long time.
While later speaking with authorities, Rob said that he was embarrassed about his wife leaving him for another woman and used this as an excuse regarding why he did not immediately alert Pam’s family in Arkansas of her disappearance.
Four days after Pam went missing, though, her oldest sister, Trena, called the house. At that point, Trena learned what had happened but just could not believe it.
“It seemed out of character for her not to let anyone know where she was. But I didn’t think about that at first. I just had one thing on my mind– getting word to somebody that Pam was missing,” she recalled.
Once Pam’s father, Willie Frisby, was alerted, he also asked to see a copy of the letter. So, Rob faxed his father-in-law a copy, and Willie detailed how he was immediately concerned.
“When I received that faxed letter, I knew that something was very wrong. For one thing, I looked at the signature. I had birthday cards and letters from Pam, and the signature wasn’t her signature,”
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Afterward, Rob apparently told Pam’s family that he was unable to file a missing person report with the police because his wife had just left him.
“But when we drove to Arizona and arrived at the police station, they had never heard of him,” Pam’s sister, Jimmie Rice, said.
This pushed investigators to start their investigation by questioning Rob– who told authorities that he had visited various auto parts stores on the day of Pam’s disappearance.
He also claimed that while at one auto parts store, his truck wouldn’t start. So, Rob reportedly tried to call home but got no answer. Afterward, he called a taxi and claimed that once he arrived home, he never went inside the house.
Instead, Rob alleged that he just went into the garage, grabbed a part for his truck, and rode his bike to travel back to the auto parts store.
Then, once Rob was able to get his truck to start, he claimed to have driven home and subsequently gone inside the house. It was at that point Rob said he discovered the letter from Pam.
Within the letter, Pam wrote that she had taken $60,000 in cash– all of their money– from the safe at their video store, Fast Forward Video. After reading this, Rob reportedly went to the store to check the safe and confirmed that the money was gone.
The letter also detailed how Pam left her and Rob’s Corvette parked outside a local doughnut shop. And the next day, Rob said he found the vehicle.
Not long after Rob spoke with police, though, investigators began to question his side of the story. No employees from the final auto parts store Rob allegedly visited remembered seeing Rob– or anyone else– inquiring about an ignition switch.
Rob also told investigators that his car– which was a distinctive blue with Fast Forward Video advertisements on it– had been parked outside of the store for almost four hours on the afternoon of Pam’s disappearance.
However, no employees recalled seeing the vehicle parked outside the store, and no one remembered seeing anyone working on the truck.
Three weeks after Pam disappeared, the letter she allegedly wrote was also sent to the Arizona state crime lab for analysis. There, it was determined with near certainty that the signature on the letter had not been signed by Pam herself.
Detective Sergeant Doug Hildebrandt ultimately questioned Rob regarding this finding.
“Mr. Page refused to believe me and was adamant that his wife had, in fact, signed the letter. After continuing to question Mr. Page about the signature on the letter, he admitted to me that he, in fact, did sign that letter,” Det. Sgt. Hildebrant said.
This admittance was enough to land Rob on the suspect list. And afterward, he began to tell a very different story about what happened.
At that point, Rob claimed to have discovered the letter– which stated that Pam would be leaving him– on the family computer a couple of days before Pam vanished. He also alleged that he confronted his wife about the letter upon finding it.
Then, according to Rob’s tale, he went home a few days after discovering the letter and found the house to be a mess. He said that most of Pam’s clothing was gone, as well as one of their dogs and some family photos.
Pam’s house keys and credit cards were reportedly left on the kitchen table. However, Rob was reportedly unable to find his wife’s driver’s license.
Afterward, Rob claimed that he launched into action– reportedly going downstairs, adding four sentences to the letter he found on the computer, and printing it out. Then, he signed his wife’s name before driving the Corvette to the doughnut shop and calling a taxi using a payphone across the street.
“Mr. Page stated that he fabricated some of the things he did because no one would ever believe him that his wife had, in fact, left him had he not done this,” Det. Sgt. Hildebrant explained.
“Due to Mr. Page’s inconsistent statements and the suspicious circumstances surrounding the disappearance of his wife, he was offered a polygraph examination on several occasions to eliminate him as a suspect in his wife’s disappearance.”
Although, Rob ultimately declined to undergo a polygraph test every single time the examination was offered.
So, in spite of investigators’ suspicions, no charges were ever filed against Rob since the police did not uncover any evidence of wrongdoing except for his changing story.
Over the Christmas holiday in 2010, Rob Page also died of cancer. So, Pam’s family– who has always believed Rob had something to do with her disappearance– believe they may never find out what truly happened to her.
“We have always thought that Rob had something to do with her disappearance,” Jimmie Rice revealed in 2010.
“We had no idea he had cancer until I received a phone call this week from my brother, Willie, who was married to Rob’s sister, Bettina, that Rob had died. Now we may never know what happened to her.”
That year, Jimmie did claim to have suspicions about Bettina knowing more information. However, this was never confirmed.
“We believe it is possible that Rob may have told his sister, Bettina, something on his deathbed, but she is not talking to us, and we have no access to search the house in case he may have left a note or something behind,” Jimmie said.
So, Pam’s family has continued searching for answers and seeking closure to the 33-year-old cold case.
At the time of her disappearance, Pamela Page was five foot eight, weighed 200 pounds, and had red hair and hazel eyes. She was last seen at about 8:30 p.m. on July 20, 1989, by a Fast Forward Video store employee.
If you have any information regarding Pamela Page’s disappearance or whereabouts, you are urged to contact the Peoria Police Department at (623) 773-7097.
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