On August 31, 1998, 49-year-old Pamela Deane Bennett, a female resident of Clarkston, Washington, disappeared, leaving behind a life that appeared to be suddenly and unexpectedly abandoned. Her home on Beachview Boulevard was discovered with the back door unlocked, and valuable rafting equipment was left out in the yard, which was uncharacteristic for her. Also missing along with Pamela were her car and her two-year-old dog, a Viszla named Daisy. Friends and family grew concerned when weeks passed without any contact. The state of her home suggested she had left in a hurry and did not plan to be gone for long, as she had not arranged for anyone to water her plants. Relatives officially reported her missing about three weeks after she was last in contact.
The investigation into Pamela's disappearance took a significant turn when her dark green 1995 Ford Mustang was found abandoned in Tijuana, Mexico. The vehicle was located on September 24, 1998, in the parking lot of the Zona Ria Plaza mall, where it had reportedly been sitting for ten or more days. The car was unlocked with the keys still in the ignition, but there was no sign of Pamela or her dog. Disturbingly, the vehicle had been wiped clean of fingerprints, adding a layer of suspicion and indicating a possible attempt to conceal evidence. There was a confirmed sighting of Pamela at a Mail Boxes Etc. store in Pullman, Washington, a few weeks after her initial disappearance from Clarkston, but her trail went cold after that.
At the time she went missing, Pamela was divorced and had been dating a man she knew as Joseph Blake, whose real name was Ronald Reagan. This relationship added a troubling dimension to the case, as Reagan himself had disappeared on July 23, 1998, just over a month before Pamela, after a warrant was issued to search his van. Shortly after Pamela vanished, police uncovered a large-scale methamphetamine lab in a home Reagan had been purchasing in Lenore, Idaho, a residence Pamela was known to have visited. Reagan was eventually apprehended and died in prison without ever disclosing any information about Pamela's disappearance. Pamela has not used her credit cards or Social Security number since she went missing and was legally declared dead in 2007. The overview of this case is that of a woman who vanished under suspicious circumstances, with her unlocked home and abandoned car in Mexico pointing toward a sudden and possibly perilous departure. The connection to a man involved in major drug trafficking operations suggests a strong possibility of foul play, leaving her family without answers and her case unsolved.
Last Seen: Aug 31, 1998
