She Vanished In 1997 After Cruising Around Her Small Kentucky Town With Friends, And Her Car Was Later Found Unlocked In A Field
Born on May 6, 1980, Erica Fraysure lived with her parents, Maggie Doherty and Kevin Fraysure, in Germantown, Kentucky.
As a senior attending Bracken County High School in 1997, she had plans to study accounting at Northern Kentucky University following graduation. Erica also worked part-time at a local pizza joint known as Carota’s Pizza, located in Augusta.
But, what started off as a normal evening with friends on October 21, 1997, turned tragic when Erica disappeared while driving home, and her small Kentucky community has been left reeling ever since.
That night, Erica was last seen with her friends between 9:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. They were hanging outside of a Video-N-Tan store located in Brooksville, Kentucky – a town with a population of less than 650 people.
According to Erica’s best friend, Amanda Lang, cruising around town was a typical activity for teens in the area.
“Back then, to hang out with your friends on a Friday night or a Saturday night, you got in your parent’s car, or your own car if you were lucky enough, and you went to Brooksville, and you cruised town. That’s what we did,” Amanda explained.
However, after riding around in her Pontiac Bonneville with some friends on the evening of October 21, 1997, Erica never returned home, and she was never seen or heard from again.
At the time, Amanda and other friends of Erica’s assumed she’d just stayed out – like many teens sometimes do.
“I thought, ‘She’s a teenager; she probably went and got drunk, and she fell asleep at somebody’s house, and they’ll find her,'” Amanda recalled.
National Center For Missing & Exploited Children – pictured above is Erica
That never happened, though, and Erica’s mother ultimately reported her missing to the Bracken County Sheriff’s Office.
Once an investigation was launched, her car – a black four-door 1988 Pontiac Bonneville SSE – was discovered abandoned on October 22, 1997. It was found unlocked in a field located off Fronks Lane and parked in between rolled hay bales.
Inside, investigators found Erica’s purse, checkbook, wallet, and some money. Later, her car keys were found in a field located across the road. But, no evidence of foul play or foreign hairs or fingerprints were located inside the vehicle.
“There was nothing in the car that would lead anyone to believe there was foul play. We weren’t even able to find fingerprints. There were no foreign hairs, nothing in the purse,” said Chief Deputy Bob Scott.
For Amanda, her best friend’s disappearance left a significant mark on her life. First, the following spring, it was “traumatizing” to see Erica’s empty seat at their high school graduation ceremony. The fear of the unknown, of what happened to Erica, also pushed Amanda to alter her life plans.
“I was supposed to go to the local university for college on a graphic arts degree. And I was too scared to leave. So I stayed home, and I went to the community college. And I just never left. I was always too scared,” Amanda said.
Still, Amanda wasn’t actually with Erica the night she vanished. Rather, another acquaintance – a 20-year-old man named Shane M. Simcox – had been in the car with her. Erica and Shane reportedly knew each other for less than a year.
Shane reportedly told authorities that, on the night Erica vanished, he’d been barhopping with friends and became a bit drunk. Then, Erica and one of her female friends drove up in her car to a street corner in Brooksville.
Shane alleged that after Erica’s friend got out of the car, she offered to drive him around town. So, they cruised alone together for 10 to 15 minutes. Afterward, Erica reportedly decided to head home, and at about 9:00 p.m., she dropped Shane off at his step-grandfather’s home.
In a 1997 interview, Shane admitted that he was the last person to see Erica alive. He was identified as a person of interest that same year by Chief Deputy Scott, but Shane refused to take a lie detector test to prove that he was not involved in Erica’s disappearance.
Authorities also have not been able to find any evidence against Shane or the other people of interest in Erica’s case – who have not been charged.
So, no suspects have ever been named in Erica’s case, and according to Chief Deputy Scott, the investigation into her disappearance has remained at a standstill for decades.
“We don’t know any more about what happened to Erica now than we did the day we first examined her vehicle,” he said.
Tragically, Erica’s parents have since passed away – never knowing what truly happened to their daughter. According to Amanda, it was devastating for Erica’s mom, who “lived in torment.”
And now, the lack of answers continues to haunt Erica’s hometown community, with many of her former classmates-turned-parents worried that the same thing could happen to their own children.
“I don’t even let my kids walk to the mailbox – and my daughter is almost 13 – because I’m scared. It changes you. It really changes who you are and how fast you had to grow up,” Amanda admitted.
But, while the circumstances surrounding Erica’s disappearance remain unclear, Amanda believes that if someone came forward with information, it could help provide closure to the whole community.
“I think it would certainly bring me peace. Maybe if I knew that she was murdered and we knew who it was, then I think we would all be able to find some peace and not live so scared anymore,” she said.
At the time of her disappearance, Erica was five foot six, weighed 115 pounds, and had brown hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing Levi’s jeans, a purple sweater with two white stripes on the sleeves, and white Keds sneakers.
If you have any information regarding her disappearance, you are urged to contact the Bracken County Sheriff’s Office at (606) 735-2700.
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