Mary Henley
Missing From: Wichita, Kansas
Missing Since: June 5, 1951
Age: 25
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 135
Summary
Henley, a young mother of three, left her children in the care of her mother in Cookville, Tennessee, in 1951 and relocated to Wichita, Kansas, reportedly to be with a man named Houston West, who was said to work for Boeing. After her move, Henley maintained brief contact with her children through letters written on stationery from the Royce Hotel. However, the correspondence eventually ceased. In her final letter, she requested her family send her summer clothes. Although they fulfilled her request, the package was later returned, unclaimed. Henley's family never heard from her again. The police had contact with her in Wichita on June 5, 1951; this is the last indication of her whereabouts. Her case remains unsolved.
I have read about her case for years as an amateur researcher and their are some things that pop out. We dont know what the last contact with police was all about or the nature of it. We also know that the name *Houston West* is likely an alias name, we know that because his name was never listed in any of the phone books nor did Boeing have his name listed as an employee (various websites reported this information). This is where her case goes cold, because we dont know anything more. We do know some of her descendants are still alive. Find a Grave.com has several Mary Belle Henley but nothing really matches and lets presume that she changed her last name to West, their are over 6 pages worth of people who have passed under that name, but again, no matches in Wichita. In light of what we do have, we know that she was in Wichita, but her movements and life afterwards are a mystery, its possible that she ran away to start a new life, but its a guess at best.