Account
Jan 24, 2026
Jan 24, 2026
Carolyn
Maryann Bealer
25
25
5'4 inches
110 lbs
White
Female
Bealer was last seen in her hometown of Garden Grove, California on August 23, 1979. She has never been seen again. After her disappearance, her car was found abandoned on the Garden Grove Freeway with its lights flashing. She called her brother, Larry Fox, later that day to say she'd been kidnapped and was being held for a $100,000 ransom. Larry Donald Smith, an acquaintance of both Bealer and her brother, admitted he'd picked up Bealer from the freeway. He was subsequently charged, along with two accomplices, with threatening violence in the ransom plot. He told authorities that Bealer was a willing participant in the kidnapping and extortion, which was in retaliation for Fox's alleged theft of over a million dollars from Smith and his associates, whom he named as only "Jack" and "Ray." Smith said the men pressured him into taking part in the scheme. He stated he took Bealer to a cabin on Lake Arrowhead on the evening of the day she disappeared, then took her out on his boat the next day and traveled to Dana Point, California. Jack and Ray boarded the boat and ordered him to leave. Smith stayed on the dock and the two men and Bealer left in the boat, and Jack and Ray returned to shore without her about 30 to 45 minutes later. Smith was charged with Bealer's abduction and presumed murder shortly after she vanished. Small blood stains on his shirt were matched to Bealer's blood type taken from samples of her menstrual blood on her panties. Authorities believe that Smith disposed of Bealer's remains in the Pacific Ocean. He was convicted of the charges and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 1980, one year after Bealer disappeared. Her remains have never been recovered. Bealer was born and raised in the Fontana, California area. She graduated from Bloomington High School in 1972. She and her husband divorced a few months prior to her disappearance. Some agencies may state that Bealer disappeared from Los Angeles, California.
Aug 23, 1979
Garden Grove
California
Garden Grove
7
Federal Bureau Of Investigation
01/25/2026
