PA COLD CASE: Mary Ann Bagenstose
Mary Ann's mother had no idea when she spoke to her daughter on the calm, breezy morning of June 5th, 1984 that it would be the last time she would ever be heard from again. Waiting for his estranged wife to finish her makeup for the day they had planned, Jere Bagenstose left to take the pair's 2-year-old son Jeremy to the park to feed the ducks, however when he returned, he didn't find Mary Ann. Just a note saying she walked to the nearby gas station. That was the last known communication with the 25-year-old nurse's aide. This is the story of Mary Ann Bagenstose.
On June 5th, 1984, in her last phone call, Mary Ann excitedly told her mother she was going to be picked up by her estranged husband, Jere Bagenstose, to go look at a vehicle she either planned to purchase or he was considering buying for her, depending on which source you read. When Jere arrived, he told authorities Mary Ann wasn't ready yet and needed to finish her make up, so he took their son to Long's Park to feed the ducks. It's unclear how long the two were at the park or when they returned to the home. When they returned, Jere claims his wife wasn't there and had left a note on the kitchen counter (that he supposedly threw away) stating her car wouldn't start so she was walking to the local Turkey Hill she frequented. According to multiple friends as well as Mary Ann's mom, walking to the gas station was out of character for her because she walked with a slight limp due to a car accident when she was younger that required her to wear a lift in one shoe. When investigators spoke to the clerks at Turkey Hill, they did not remember seeing Mary Ann, who was well known to the staff seeing as she was a regular. William Yellets, a boarder who was staying with Mary Ann at the time and has since passed, was also interviewed and provided no substantial information. No belongings of Mary Ann's were disturbed and there was no signs of struggle. There are a lot of questions and holes in the stories regarding this case. Very little detail was released to the public and there is surprisingly minimal media coverage for Mary Ann's story. Why would she have walked three-quarters of a mile to the gas station with a bad leg, especially knowing her husband and son are coming back soon to go look at a car? How long were Jere and Jeremy gone?
The separated couple was in the middle of a divorce and the two were scheduled to attend a custody hearing for their son the day after she went missing. Fields near the home were searched, as well as the floor in the garage dug up, both yielding little to go on, if anything at all. Foul play is suspected and the case has been declared a homicide.
The home where Mary Ann resided, now the home of Jere and his current wife, was searched by dozens of police and forensic units for nearly 9 hours just recently on September 22, 2022. Jere was not present for the search, and the warrant is sealed so it is not yet known what they were looking for, if anything was found, or if it directly relates to Mary Ann Bagenstose's disappearance.
Anyone with information is asked to contact PSP Lancaster at (717) 299-7650 or anonymously contact the Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers Toll Free at 1-800-4PA-TIPS (8477) or online at https://www.p3tips.com/tipform.aspx?ID=107
All callers to Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers remain anonymous and could be eligible for a CASH REWARD for information that leads to an arrest, the solving of a crime/cold case or the location of a wanted person/fugitive or missing person.
