Deborah Dean disappeared while traveling home to Tucson, Arizona, on May 3, 1985. She had been visiting a friend in Pennsylvania and was returning home via Greyhound bus. Investigators confirmed that Deborah made it as far as St. Louis, Missouri. However, she never arrived at her intended destination, where her family was waiting to pick her up in Phoenix, Arizona. A single piece of her luggage was taken all the way to Los Angeles, California before being returned to her family. Additionally, her purse was found at a truck stop café in St. Louis, along the Greyhound route. The purse remained unclaimed for several months and, in August 1985, was mailed to her home address in Tucson.