In the summer of 1978, a young 21-year-old American woman named Mary Margaret Click embarked on an adventure, intending to hitchhike from her home in Madison, Wisconsin, to the scenic destination of Banff, Alberta. On June 30, 1978, she was seen leaving her residence and successfully crossed the United States-Canada border at the Pigeon River crossing. The last known communication from Mary was a phone call she made to her family on July 1, 1978, from Isle Royale, Michigan.
After this call, her voice fell silent, and her whereabouts became a profound mystery. She was described as having a heavy build, standing between 5'4' and 5'6' tall, with short, curly brown hair, hazel eyes, and a distinctive chipped front tooth. It was also noted that she may have used the surname 'Podma'.
The initial traces of Mary's journey surfaced in a deeply concerning manner. On the very same day as her last call to family, some of her personal belongings were discovered abandoned on a dirt road just off Riverside Drive in Thunder Bay, Ontario. This discovery was accompanied by witness reports of a woman matching Mary's description seen walking along Riverside Drive around that time. The trail did not end there. A month later, on August 1, 1978, more of her possessions were found in Raith, Ontario, a location situated approximately 92 kilometers northwest of Thunder Bay. These findings suggested a troubling and disjointed path, leaving investigators and her loved ones with more questions than answers.
Decades have passed since Mary Margaret Click vanished, yet her case remains an open and haunting investigation. The timeline of events on the day she was last heard from presents a puzzling sequence, with her calling from an island in Lake Superior and her belongings being found in Thunder Bay on the same day. Despite the passage of time and the efforts of law enforcement, including the Madison Police Department and the Thunder Bay Police Service, no definitive explanation for her disappearance has ever been established. The case is a heart-wrenching overview of a young woman's journey cut short, marked by scattered belongings and fleeting sightings, leaving a family to wonder for years what happened to her after she crossed the border into Canada with hopes of adventure.Last Seen: Jun 30, 1978
