Tammy Passineau Missing Person Case

Sep 12, 2010

Mar 12, 2024

Tammy

Passineau

40

18

65 inches

160 lbs

White / Caucasian

Female

In the spring of 2004, 18-year-old Tammy Sue Lynn Passineau disappeared from Syracuse, New York. She was last seen on April 11, 2004, in the area of West Water Street. Tammy was a young mother whose infant son was in foster care at the time. Described as a drifter who often changed residences, her family was initially not alarmed by her absence. However, concern grew when she failed to contact them, cash her social services checks, or refill necessary medications for a diagnosed mental illness. Her family officially reported her missing in May 2004, a month after she was last seen. Prior to her disappearance, she frequently sought help for herself or asked for food at the Syracuse University Hospital emergency room, but all contact ceased after April 2004. The investigation into Tammy's disappearance took a dark turn when it became linked to Nicholas Lee Wiley, a man with a long and violent criminal history who had been released from prison just months before she vanished. After his arrest in June 2004 for the murders of two other Syracuse women, Lottie Thompson and Hannah Finnerty, Wiley confessed to killing a total of seven people. One of his claimed victims was a "red-haired girl named Tammy," and Passineau was the only missing person in the area who matched that description. The connection was solidified in December 2004 when investigators found Tammy's DNA on a box cutter that belonged to Wiley. In March 2005, Wiley was charged with her murder. Although a conviction was secured, Tammy's body has never been found. Authorities believe Wiley disposed of her remains in a dumpster, and they were likely taken to a county trash-burning facility and incinerated. In October 2006, Nicholas Wiley was convicted for the murders of Tammy Passineau, Lottie Thompson, and Hannah Finnerty and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. During his trial, he claimed he killed Passineau in a fit of rage after an argument. The case is a painful example of a presumed homicide where, despite a legal resolution and a convicted killer behind bars, the absence of remains leaves a profound and lingering void for the victim's loved ones.

Apr 11, 2004

Syracuse

New York

Onondaga County

9035

Syracuse Police Department

Syracuse

New York

Onondaga County

13202

511 S. State Street, New York

3154425111

Local

Law Enforcement

04-258047

Syracuse Police Department

Red/Auburn

Brown

Brown

09/08/2026