Sylvia Torgow Missing Person Case

Jul 06, 2016

Jan 12, 2024

Sylvia

Torgow

73

18

63 inches

140 lbs

White / Caucasian

Female

In the late summer of 1970, a young woman named Sylvia Torgow vanished from Plymouth, Michigan, leaving behind a story shrouded in mystery. Just 18 years old at the time, Sylvia, a female with blonde hair and hazel eyes, was last accounted for on September 17, 1970. Originally from Florida, her disappearance was not that of a typical missing person; she was an inmate at the Huron Valley Women's Prison, and on that September day, she escaped. She had been serving a two-to-four-year sentence for the theft of credit cards, a charge to which she had pleaded guilty the previous year. Having only been sentenced in April of 1970, she had served roughly five months before her escape. Sylvia was known to have several distinguishing marks, including scars on her left arm and forehead, as well as a tattoo on her right hand. Her history suggested a life of transient identities, as she was known to use a remarkable number of aliases. These included names such as Yvonne Bauldrey, Sylvia Campbell, Vickie Boyle, Joyce Boyle, Lara Foster, Lora Foster, Lorrie Lorry, and Vivian Boyle. This comfort with changing her name adds another layer of complexity to the search for her, suggesting she may have had the skills and inclination to create a new life for herself, leaving her past entirely behind. Decades have passed since Sylvia Torgow was last seen, and her case remains unresolved. The circumstances of her escape from the correctional facility are not detailed in public records, leaving questions about how an 18-year-old inmate managed to disappear so completely. The investigation, led by the Michigan Department of Correction's Absconder Recovery Unit, has faced the significant challenge of tracking a person who was adept at living under different names. Without any confirmed sightings or contact since 1970, the trail has long gone cold. The case is a quiet but persistent reminder of a life that took a dramatic turn and then seemingly vanished, leaving behind only a name, a handful of aliases, and the enduring question of what became of Sylvia Torgow.

Sep 17, 1970

Plymouth

Michigan

Wayne County

18508

Michigan Department of Correction - Absconder Recovery Unit

Pontiac

Michigan

Oakland County

48341

Tanya Weidman

Investigator

2001 Centerpoint Parkway, Michigan

State

Other

E124036

1970-09-17

Michigan Department of Correction - Absconder Recovery Unit

Blond/Strawberry

Hazel

Hazel

07/27/2026