Barbara Jean Dreher was 39 when she vanished from Washington, D.C., on August 12, 1984. A mother of five and a longtime secretary for the D.C. public schools, she was last seen at 5:00 p.m. after dropping two young sons at her adult daughter’s home. She left in a burgundy 1980 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme and said she was going to pick up some money; she never returned. At the time she was wearing a green shirt and white slacks.

A few days later a relative saw Dreher’s car driven by an unknown man who parked at an apartment building in southwest D.C. The relative identified him to police, but because the vehicle had not been officially reported stolen the man was not detained; he later denied driving the car or knowing Dreher. The impounded car yielded a ski mask, gloves, rope, and some of Dreher’s personal items.

The investigation suffered major setbacks when key items, including the original missing persons report, the ski mask, and the rope, were lost by police and the file had to be restarted under the original case number. Dreher’s family say she would not have abandoned them, and foul play is suspected. If anyone knew Barbara, her movements that day, or saw that burgundy Oldsmobile in August 1984, please come forward with information.