In 2004, This Texas Teen Vanished After Showing Up To Her Sister’s House Upset: She Has Remained Missing For Over 18 Years
Samantha Leighann Tapp and her older sister, Kendale, navigated a tumultuous childhood together.
As kids, they lived in foster care before their foster mother was no longer able to care for them.
Afterward, Samantha and Kendale were forced to split up and live with different relatives. While Samantha lived with an aunt, Kendale stayed with their grandparents.
Eventually, though, Samantha was able to join her sister– living with her grandparents in Burleson, Texas. And together, the pair had a very close sister relationship.
According to Kendale, she and Samantha were always there for each other. And by the time Samantha was 16-years-old, she had grown into a fun-loving teen who loved being outside, auto racing, and making other people laugh.
On October 12, 2004, though, everything changed for the sisters.
After Kendale moved out of her grandparent’s house and into her boyfriend’s house, Samantha went to go visit her. Upon arriving, though, Kendale recalled how her sister was quite upset over something– although it remains unclear what.
Regardless, Samantha ultimately asked to stay with Kendale at her boyfriend’s house. Kendale wound up refusing, though, and told her sister to go back to their grandparent’s home.
Samantha then left quite angry, and Kendale assumed her sister had just gone somewhere to calm down. She never realized that would be the last time she ever saw or heard from Samantha again.
Facebook – pictured above is Samantha
After the 16-year-old did not return home, her friends and family figured that she might have temporarily run away. Apparently, Samantha had done that various times in the past and always turned up a day later.
This theory was also partly supported by the fact that just before the teen’s disappearance, she took her aunt’s car without getting permission– resulting in probation.
Once several days passed and Kendale did not hear from her sister, though, she became very concerned. At that point, Kendale attempted to report Samantha missing, even though this effort did not work.
Since there was no evidence suggesting foul play, authorities believed that the 16-year-old had just left of her own will. So, the police never actually conducted an in-depth investigation or search effort into Samantha’s disappearance.
Being that her case was also designated as a runaway situation, Samantha’s disappearance received little to no media coverage.
So, Kendale has continued the search for her sister, mainly alone, for the past 18 years.
She started working with Lou Barry, a private investigator, and Jason Watts, a case advocate, to investigate the circumstances of Samantha’s disappearance. While the timeline and many details have remained unclear, though, various clues suggest that Samantha might still be alive.
For instance, within just one week of Samantha’s disappearance, Kendale and her grandparents discovered rearranged furniture and unexplained cigarette butts in their grandparent’s backyard. This pushed Kendale to believe that her sister might have gotten together with some friends when their grandparents were not home.
Then, in 2011, Samantha’s name was run by the Columbia County St. Helens Police Department in Oregon. But, there are no remaining records regarding the original inquiry’s details.
By 2013, though, there was reportedly another inquiry– when the name “Samantha Tapp” was run by the Dallas-Fort Worth airport customs department. The airport was located between 30 and 40 minutes away from her hometown of Burleson. But strangely, there is no record of that inquiry, either.
Kendale claims that her sister did not have a passport at the time of her disappearance. So, it has been speculated that perhaps someone else was using Samantha’s name.
At the same time, though, there has been no usage of Samantha’s social security number since her disappearance.
In 2021, Kendale did submit a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to learn more about the details of her sister’s case. This request was successful, and Kendale ultimately obtained reports via the Texas Attorney General.
Since then, she, Lou, and Jason have continued to follow up on leads within the reports in hopes of determining Samantha’s whereabouts or getting her sister to contact her. That’s why over the past 18 years, Kendale has kept the same phone number just in case her sister decides to call one day.
Moving forward, Kendale also hopes that she will be able to convince authorities to change Samantha’s case classification from “endangered runaway” to “missing person.” In doing so, she believes her sister’s case will be provided with more media support and attention.
In the meantime, though, a Facebook page entitled “Help Find Samantha Tapp” has been created to raise awareness about her disappearance and keep Samantha’s memory alive.
At the time of her disappearance, Samantha was between five foot four and five foot six. She weighed about 120 pounds and had brown hair and brown eyes. Samantha might have gone by an alias– such as Samantha Vandiver or Samantha Brown. She would be 34 years old today.
If you have any information regarding Samantha’s disappearance or whereabouts, you are urged to contact the Burleson Police Department at (817) 426-9903.
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