Leah Pillsbury was 40 years old when she was last known to have been in Portland, Maine, in early January 2023. Public records identify her as a White/Caucasian woman with brown hair and brown eyes, about 5 feet 7 inches tall and 150 pounds. Her NamUs case, MP99139, lists Portland in Cumberland County as the place connected to her last contact, with the Portland Police Department as the investigating agency.
The information made public describes a woman whose disappearance began in the quiet hours after she was last seen, leaving those closest to her and the wider community with unanswered questions about what happened next.
According to reports based on police information, Leah was last seen at about 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 4, 2023, in Portland’s Deering neighborhood. The next morning, Thursday, January 5, she was reported missing by her husband at around 8:00 a.m. Police said it appeared that she left her home sometime overnight. By about 9:30 a.m. that same morning, family members had located her car at Two Lights State Park in Cape Elizabeth, a coastal park known for its rocky shoreline, ocean views, and walking trails. That discovery shifted the search from Portland to the Cape Elizabeth coast, where the presence of her vehicle raised urgent concern but did not answer where Leah had gone.
The search that followed involved multiple agencies and covered difficult terrain. Portland police were assisted by the Cape Elizabeth police and fire departments, Maine State Police, Maine Marine Patrol, the Maine Warden Service, and Scarborough police. Authorities searched the oceanfront park, the shoreline, and nearby waters, reflecting the seriousness of the situation and the hazards of the coastal environment. Maine Public reported on January 5 that law enforcement agencies were searching Two Lights State Park and nearby water, and WGME reported that the search included land, water, and shoreline areas. Despite that extensive response, the initial searches did not locate Leah.
Later in January 2023, police said Leah was still missing. The Portland Press Herald reported on January 24 that there were no updates in the case at that time and that police were withholding additional information, including her name, at the request of her family. Police also stated then that they did not suspect foul play and did not believe there was anything the public could do to help locate her. Cape Elizabeth Police Chief Paul Fenton said his department had continued assisting Portland and was doing occasional water searches as weather allowed, while land searches had stopped. Those details paint a painful picture of a case in which investigators searched the most likely areas, continued checking the water when possible, and protected the family’s privacy while the uncertainty remained.
Leah’s case is one of sudden disappearance from an ordinary setting into a vast and unforgiving coastal landscape. She was last seen at night in Portland, was reported missing the next morning, and her vehicle was found shortly afterward at Two Lights State Park in Cape Elizabeth. Search teams from several agencies combed the park, shoreline, and water, but no public report from those searches confirmed that she had been found. The public record centers on a brief and troubling sequence: Leah at home or in her neighborhood in Portland, an apparent overnight departure, a vehicle located by family at the coast, and a broad search that produced no clear resolution in the information available from public sources. At its heart, the case remains the story of Leah Pillsbury, a woman with family and loved ones, whose disappearance left a painful absence and a trail of unanswered questions from Portland to the rocky edge of Two Lights.Last Seen: Jan 5, 2023
