Three-year-old Michelle Kelly Pulsifer was last seen in Huntington Beach, California, on or around July 4, 1969. At the time of her disappearance, she lived with her mother, Donna Prentice, her mother's boyfriend, James Michael Kent, her six-year-old brother, Richard Pulsifer Jr., and Kent's son. Richard Jr. recalls his sister seeming frightened and trying to hide in his room in the middle of the night. He reported that his mother came and took Michelle away, and he never saw her again. He also stated that Kent was physically abusive towards him and his mother.
Shortly after Michelle was last seen, her brother noticed a large cardboard box covered with blankets in the family's garage, which hadn't been there before. His mother told him to stay out of the garage and claimed the box contained a motorcycle seat. Within a few days of Michelle's disappearance, the family abruptly packed their belongings and moved to Illinois. When Richard Jr. asked about his sister, he was told there wasn't enough room in the car for her. For decades, Donna Prentice gave varying accounts of Michelle's whereabouts, including that she was with relatives in California, but family members denied this. No missing person report was filed at the time of her disappearance.
The case remained cold for over three decades until an investigation was launched, which could find no public records of Michelle's existence after 1969. In August 2004, Donna Prentice and James Michael Kent were arrested and charged with Michelle's murder. Investigators concluded that they had killed the child and moved away to avoid detection. Kent later confessed to burying Michelle's body in a shallow grave in a remote canyon, claiming he and Prentice had found her lifeless in her bedroom. He denied killing her himself, asserting that she had been in Prentice's care.
Donna Prentice's first murder trial in 2007 ended in a mistrial. Her defense attorney argued that she was an abused woman who was forced to cover up what happened to her daughter, portraying James Michael Kent as the likely killer. Kent died in custody in 2005 from kidney and liver failure before he could be tried. Despite searches in the area where Kent claimed to have buried her, Michelle Pulsifer's body has never been found. She is presumed to be deceased.
Last Seen: Jul 04, 1969
