Sharon Hensley, a vibrant young woman from Bismarck, North Dakota, was 24 years old when her family last had contact with her in February of 1973. At the time, she was with her boyfriend, William Felix Vail Sr., and she had mentioned plans to travel by boat from Florida to South America with friends. Her family did not realize she was missing until more than a year later, in March 1974, and a formal missing person's report was not filed for over three decades.
Hensley had ties to Sulphur, Louisiana, and was also known to be in Florida. The circumstances surrounding her disappearance are deeply troubling, with conflicting accounts provided by Vail, the last person known to have seen her.
Vail's explanation of Hensley's disappearance has shifted over time. He initially told her family that they were in Key West, Florida, when she decided to leave him. According to Vail, Hensley joined an Australian couple who were sailing around the world, after burning all her identification and expressing a desire to start a new life and forget her past. In a letter to her parents, he gave the couple's names as John and Vanessa, but later claimed their names were Frank and Sally. However, Vail also gave other accounts, including that she had boarded a bus bound for Mexico. Hensley has not been seen or heard from since 1973.
The investigation into Sharon Hensley's disappearance is intertwined with the criminal history of William Felix Vail Sr. Vail's first wife, Mary Horton Vail, drowned in the Calcasieu River in Louisiana in 1962 under suspicious circumstances. Years later, in 2016, Vail was convicted of her murder and sentenced to life in prison. During Vail's trial for Mary's murder, evidence regarding the disappearances of both Sharon Hensley and Vail's second wife, Annette Craver Vail, who went missing in 1984, was permitted in court. This highlighted a disturbing pattern of women connected to Vail meeting tragic ends. While Vail was never charged in Hensley's case, foul play is strongly suspected, and her disappearance is considered a suspected homicide. The Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Office in Louisiana continues to investigate her case, holding out hope for answers in this long-unsolved mystery.Last Seen: Feb 1, 1973
