Vanished in Plain Sight: Where is Wendy Eaton?
A young teenager vanished while walking to get her brother a birthday gift, and it’s baffled police for more than four decades
When Roland and Joan Eaton woke up on May 17, 1975, they had no idea it would be the last morning they would ever spend with their teenage daughter. The Eatons had been married for more than two decades and lived in an upper-middle class neighborhood in Media, Pennsylvania. They had chosen to live in Media because it provided a safe and comfortable environment for raising their three children. Fifteen years later, the neighborhood was still safe and comfortable, but their days of raising children were starting to come to a close. Two of their kids, 19-year-old Richard and 21-year-old Nancy, were now young adults in college. Their youngest child, Wendy, was only a week away from her 16th birthday. She had just received her learner’s permit that morning, a significant milestone on her path to adulthood.
It was a gorgeous Saturday, with temperatures in the mid-70s. Roland and his wife decided to take advantage of the sunny weather and play a round of golf at a local country club. Wendy was sunbathing on the flat roof outside of her bedroom window, and they asked her if she wanted to come along. She declined, saying she wanted to go to a nearby mall to get a birthday present for her brother. Her parents told her they…