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Case Description
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Theresa Elizabeth Baxter, a 38-year-old woman, vanished from her Huntington Beach, California, home in the summer of 1977. While some official records list her last seen date as June 1, 1977, other sources, including her family's account, point to August 1, 1977. On that day, Baxter's two daughters returned home from the beach to be told by their father that their mother had left with another man. She has not been seen or heard from since. At the time of her disappearance, Baxter was described a ...Read More
Last Seen: Aug 01, 1977
Links to Additional Sources (8)
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Victim Details

Jan 24, 2026

Jan 24, 2026

Theresa

Elizabeth Baxter

38

38

5'2 inches

125 lbs

White

Female

Baxter was last seen in Huntington Beach, California sometime in the month of August 1977. Her two daughters went to the beach that day and when they returned, their father told them Baxter had run away with another man. She has never been heard from again. According to Baxter's daughter Marie Plata, who was twelve years old in 1977, her parents' marriage was troubled, they fought often, and her father was prone to angry, violent outbursts. Baxter had once taken the children and left her husband, but they eventually returned home. Plata stated that prior to her disappearance, Baxter had been a loving mother who cooked for the family, helped her children with their homework and was involved in the Girl Scouts. She looked through the house herself after her mother's disappearance and found Baxter's purse and driver's license hidden in the attic. Plata was unhappy at home and suspicious of her father, and she eventually ran away and was placed in foster care. Baxter's husband never reported her mother missing; Plata did, in 1988. Police had her Social Security number and fingerprints on file, but could find no record of her anywhere in the country after the summer of 1977. Plata believes her father either killed her or arranged for someone else to do it, but Baxter's husband is now deceased and was never charged in her disappearance. Her case remains unsolved and she is considered missing under suspicious circumstances. Many agencies list the date of Baxter's disappearance as June 1, 1977.

Aug 01, 1977

Huntington Beach

California

Huntington Beach

10

Huntington Beach Police Departmen

714-536-5951

01/24/2026