In the early morning hours of March 18, 1990, 32-year-old Patricia 'Patty' DePunte vanished after a night out in Atlantic City, New Jersey. She had been celebrating St. Patrick's Day at the Irish Pub on St. James Place, not far from the city's famed boardwalk. Friends and witnesses noted that she was enjoying the festivities and had been drinking heavily.
At the time of her disappearance, Patricia was a hairdresser at Jean's Beauty Salon and was described by loved ones as an outgoing and responsible person who maintained regular contact with her family. Growing up in nearby Pleasantville, she was a graduate of Pleasantville High School. Although she occasionally drank heavily, it was considered entirely out of character for her to leave without informing anyone of her whereabouts.
The last known sighting of Patricia occurred between 2:00 and 3:30 a.m. when she left the Irish Pub with a man she had reportedly met that evening. It was a rainy night, and she apparently asked him for a ride home. While at the pub, some accounts indicate she had been seen arguing with two other women while in the man's company. The man, who was later identified by police and found to be married, told investigators that he dropped Patricia off near her apartment. He claimed to have left her at the corner of Mt. Vernon and Pacific Avenues, about half a block from her residence on South Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, around 4:00 a.m. His car was subsequently impounded and processed for forensic evidence. Patricia had also mentioned possibly going to a nearby casino, but it has never been confirmed if she made it there. She was last seen wearing a white shirt, blue jeans, and high-heeled shoes.
Decades have passed since Patricia DePunte was last seen, and her case remains an unsolved and painful mystery for her family. Described as a petite woman, standing at approximately four feet eleven inches tall and weighing around 95 pounds, with blonde hair and blue eyes, her disappearance left a void in the lives of those who knew her. Despite the passage of time, law enforcement has kept her case open, with the New Jersey State Police and the Atlantic City Police Department periodically asking the public for any information that might lead to a breakthrough. Her family has expressed hope that someone with knowledge of what happened that night will eventually come forward. The investigation into Patricia's disappearance has involved questioning the man she left the pub with and examining his vehicle, yet no definitive answers have been found. The circumstances of her vanishing in the rain-soaked streets of Atlantic City, so close to her home, continue to be a subject of concern and speculation, leaving her loved ones without closure.Last Seen: Mar 18, 1990
