Patricia A. Hildreth, known to some as Patty, was 56 years old when she was reported missing from Standish, Maine, in early May 2023. Public records in NamUs identify her as a White/Caucasian woman with brown hair and blue eyes, about 5 feet 4 inches tall, and list her date of last contact as May 6, 2023. The same NamUs case file says she was missing from Standish in Cumberland County, and the case is associated with the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office.
Her listed distinguishing features include a Celtic tattoo on her ankle and a tattoo involving Winnie the Pooh characters and a “thinking spot” or tree on her shoulder blade.
The first public signs of concern emerged when Patricia’s vehicle was found in Scarborough, away from her Standish home. According to local reporting based on information from the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, Scarborough police found the vehicle near the end of Winnocks Neck Road shortly before 11 a.m. on Sunday, May 7, 2023. The vehicle was reportedly blocking or impeding access to a boat ramp leading toward the clam flats, an area connected with the Scarborough Marsh and tidal terrain. Once the vehicle was identified as belonging to Patricia Hildreth of Standish, deputies went to her home on Oak Ridge Road to check on her, but no one was there. Her children were contacted, and they told authorities they were worried because the situation was out of character for her.
Authorities treated the situation as a missing-person case and began searching the area around where Patricia’s vehicle had been discovered. The search involved multiple agencies, including the Scarborough Police Department, the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, the Maine Warden Service, and the Maine Marine Patrol. Reports described search efforts by land, air, and water, reflecting the difficult environment around Winnocks Neck Road, the clam flats, and the marshland. Public appeals asked anyone who had seen Patricia or had information about where she might be to contact either the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office or the Scarborough Police Department.
As the search continued, the conditions around the water and marsh complicated the effort. By May 10, 2023, more than three days after Patricia’s vehicle had been found abandoned near the Scarborough boat ramp, rising tides forced police to halt the search that afternoon. NamUs later summarized that Patricia had last spoken with family before the vehicle was located, that it was unknown what she had been wearing, and that she did not have her cellphone with her. The official NamUs entry also notes that searches were performed without success and that search efforts were stopped on May 10, 2023.
Patricia’s case is remembered through a small number of publicly reported facts, each one heavy with uncertainty: she was a 56-year-old Standish woman, her family became concerned when she could not be found, her vehicle was discovered in Scarborough near the clam flats, and searches of the surrounding land and water did not locate her. The available public information does not provide a clear explanation of how she came to be separated from her vehicle, where she went afterward, or what happened in the hours between her last known family contact and the discovery of the car. At its heart, the case of Patricia “Patty” Hildreth is the story of a woman whose absence was immediately recognized as unusual by those who loved her, a search that moved from her quiet home in Standish to the tidal edges of Scarborough, and an unresolved public record built around hope, concern, and the continuing need for answers.Last Seen: May 8, 2023
