In the summer of 1986, a young woman named Amanda Lee Fravel, known to her friends as Mandi, vanished from Las Vegas, Nevada. At 20 years old, she had moved to the city from California the previous year, seeking independence after a difficult upbringing. She supported herself by working at a Taco Bell and shared an apartment on South 3rd Street with a roommate. Amanda was described as a petite woman with green eyes and brown hair that she sometimes bleached blonde.
A distinctive rose tattoo adorned her left hand. In June of 1986, her mother sent her money for a plane ticket to come for a visit to her family's home in Rancho Cordova, California. She was expected to board a flight on June 14th, but she never arrived.
The last day anyone reported seeing Amanda was on Friday, June 13, 1986. On that evening, she reportedly left her apartment with plans to pick up her paycheck from Taco Bell and then visit her ex-boyfriend. She did not own a car and was known to hitchhike frequently, though a friend stated she had stopped this practice after a negative experience. Amanda never collected her paycheck, nor did she ever make it to her ex-boyfriend's home. Her disappearance went unnoticed for a few weeks until her mother and stepfather, concerned that she never arrived for her visit, traveled to Las Vegas to find out what had happened.
Upon their arrival, Amanda's parents' concern grew to alarm. When they went to her apartment, they discovered a troubling scene. All of her personal belongings had been packed away. More distressingly, her two kittens were found inside, nearly starved. Known for her love of animals, those close to Amanda knew she would never have willingly abandoned her pets without arranging for their care. Her roommate, a man in his late forties named Lew Frank, drew the suspicion of Amanda's family and friends. He claimed to be from Georgia, though he had no accent, and said he had moved to Nevada with the intention of opening a brothel. Investigations into his name found no official records in Nevada, leading to the possibility that 'Lew Frank' was an alias. Despite these suspicions, he was never officially named a suspect in her disappearance. Decades later, the case of what happened to Amanda Fravel remains unsolved, with foul play strongly suspected.Last Seen: Jun 13, 1986
