Janice Fullam Missing Person Case

Jan 06, 2010

May 21, 2021

Janice

Fullam

61

17

67 inches

120 lbs

White / Caucasian

Female

On a cool autumn evening on October 30, 1981, 17-year-old Janice Fullam vanished from Smithtown, New York. She was a senior at Smithtown High School West and had plans to meet her brother, Jimmy, at a local bar on the Nesconset Highway. Janice, who went by the nickname "Bucky," was described as a trusting and naive teenager who often hitchhiked. That evening, she was wearing a distinctive maroon leather jacket, a blue and red striped pullover shirt, and jeans. Before heading to the bar, Janice stopped at a friend's house to see if she wanted to come along, but the friend declined. Janice then set out alone, walking towards the Nesconset Highway to meet her brother, but she never arrived. Her family and boyfriend became concerned when she didn't return home, and the next morning her empty bedroom, adorned with rock posters, confirmed their fears. At the time of her disappearance, Janice was facing legal troubles that initially led police to believe she had run away. Just five days before she went missing, she was due to be sentenced for selling LSD to an undercover officer. She had pleaded guilty and was facing the possibility of up to a year in jail, a prospect that understandably frightened her. This led law enforcement to issue a warrant for her arrest, assuming she had fled to avoid her sentence. However, her family and boyfriend never believed this theory. They pointed out that she had left all of her belongings behind and had less than a dollar in her possession when she vanished, which they felt was inconsistent with someone planning to run away. They were adamant that foul play was involved in her disappearance. Years have turned into decades, and Janice Fullam's case remains one of the oldest unsolved missing persons cases in Suffolk County. Over time, the theory that she was a victim of foul play has gained more traction with investigators. One retired detective who worked on her case from the beginning came to believe that she may have been harmed by other drug dealers. It was also revealed that Janice had become a police informant after her arrest, but this was known among the local drug community, making it difficult for her to gather information. The man who had allegedly recruited Janice into selling drugs later died of a drug overdose in Florida. Despite the passage of time and the fading of memories, her family has never given up hope for answers. Her mother provided a DNA sample before she passed away in 2007, in the hope that it might one day be matched. The case remains open, a painful and unresolved chapter for a family still waiting to know what happened to their daughter and sister on that fateful night before Halloween.

Oct 30, 1981

Hauppauge

New York

Suffolk County

11788

No

26207

Suffolk County Police Department

Yaphank

New York

Suffolk County

11980

30 Yaphank Ave, New York

6318526110

Local

Law Enforcement

05-85289

Suffolk County Police Department

Brown

Green

Green

09/13/2026