Account
Dec 18, 2009
Mar 31, 2020
Ada
Groomes
90
54
67 inches
150 lbs
White / Caucasian
Female
On an autumn day in 1988, 54-year-old Ada Jane Groomes disappeared from the life she knew in Scottdale, Pennsylvania. She was last seen on October 7th at Groomes Transit Company, a school bus business in East Huntingdon Township that she co-owned with her estranged husband, Donald Groomes. Ada, a woman with blonde hair and blue eyes, was reportedly wearing blue jeans and a peach-colored jacket that day. She had plans to visit her mother in Butler to celebrate her birthday and was also looking forward to a square-dancing event the following weekend. However, Ada never arrived at her mother's house, and her family's concern grew when they could not reach her. Initially, her disappearance was not immediately reported as she sometimes traveled for business or personal reasons. But as time passed with no word, and with her personal belongings, including recently purchased groceries, left behind at her home, it became clear that her absence was unusual and alarming. The investigation into Ada's disappearance quickly shifted from a missing person's case to a homicide investigation by December of that same year. Authorities came to believe that Ada had been killed, though her body has never been found. The circumstances surrounding her last known day were fraught with tension. She was in the midst of a bitter and complicated divorce from her husband of 34 years, with whom she had four children. The divorce proceedings included allegations of infidelity and physical abuse, leading Ada to obtain protection orders against her husband. On the day she vanished, Ada had reportedly gone to Greensburg to pick up a substantial check for their business, only to find that her husband had already collected it. Investigators believe she may have returned to the bus company to confront him. Her estranged husband told police he last saw her leaving in a 30-foot mobile home, suggesting she had gone to Arizona to join a cult, a claim her family found unbelievable. Years turned into decades with no resolution in Ada's case. The mobile home was eventually located in Tampa, Florida, in 1989, but it yielded no clues as to her whereabouts. Two individuals were charged with concealing the vehicle, but those charges were later dismissed. A grand jury was convened in 1992 to investigate the disappearance, but no indictments were ever issued. In 1996, seven years after she was last seen, Ada Jane Groomes was legally declared deceased, a painful step for a family shattered by the loss and the unresolved questions. Her estranged husband, who was considered a person of interest in the investigation, passed away in 2011, never having been charged in connection with her disappearance and maintaining his innocence. The case remains an open and unsolved homicide investigation, a lingering sorrow for a family and community still hoping for answers and the chance to bring Ada to a final resting place.
Oct 07, 1988
Scottdale
Pennsylvania
Westmoreland County
15683
No
7921
Pennsylvania State Police
Greensburg
Pennsylvania
Westmoreland County
15601
Brian Zimmerman
Trooper
100 North Westmoreland Avenue, Pennsylvania
7248323288
State
Law Enforcement
A1-559330
1988-10-26
Pennsylvania State Police
7582
Blond/Strawberry
Blue
Blue
05/26/2026
