On April 20, 1989, 37-year-old Patricia Meehan crashed her car near Circle, Montana and disappeared into a nearby field. Since then, she's allegedly been sighted over 5,000 times, but her ultimate fate remains a mystery.
Personal PhotoSome believe that Patricia Meehan suffered from amnesia after her car crash, but it’s unclear where she went afterward.
Patricia Meehan stared blankly at the car accident before her.
Though she had been directly involved in the head-on car crash near Circle, Montana, on April 20, 1989, she didn’t seem to register what was happening.
After crawling out of the wreckage and staring at the other driver in a state of disorientation, the 37-year-old Meehan turned away from the scene, her car, and her previous life, and vanished into the night in a nearby field.
Meehan was never heard from again, but there have been over 5,000 alleged sightings of her since the crash. Shockingly, these sightings have been reported all over the United States, including in Alaska and Hawaii. But none of these tips, even the most promising, have led to her actual discovery.
To this day, it’s still unclear what happened to her.
Patricia Meehan’s Life Before Her Disappearance
Personal PhotoPatricia Meehan was reportedly struggling with stress and depression before she went missing.
Born on Nov. 1, 1951, to Tom and Dolly Meehan, Patricia Meehan appeared to have a normal early life. Raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she loved animals, especially horses. She eventually became interested in a career in childcare, and she attended college in Oklahoma to pursue that goal.
Though she was seemingly happy to follow that career path for many years, she eventually felt the need for a change. Restless by nature or simply feeling lost, she relocated to Bozeman, Montana in 1985.
There, she worked as a ranch hand and did a variety of odd jobs to support herself. For a while, it seemed that she had found a great fresh start, especially since she would’ve been around plenty of animals.
But by 1989, Patricia Meehan’s love affair with the West had ended.
Her loved ones said that she seemed to be depressed, and her landlord said that she exhibited unusual behavior, sometimes appearing to be “hyper.”
Meehan’s mother later reflected: “She was, I guess, taking in her own life, what had she accomplished. I think she missed having children because I think she realized she really loved them.”
Patricia Meehan eventually called her father and told him that she wanted to come “home” to Pittsburgh for awhile due to the stress she was under. Her parents were both willing to let her stay with them, but they told her that she should have a conversation with a psychologist first.
She agreed, and she made an appointment to see a psychologist on the morning of April 21st — but she would never make it there.
A Bizarre Car Accident And The Mysterious Disappearance That Followed
Personal PhotoPatricia Meehan stood 5’3″ and weighed about 117 pounds at the time of her disappearance.
Patricia Meehan was involved in a head-on car crash in Circle, Montana on the night of April 20, 1989. It was one day after she’d called her father about coming home — and one day before her psychologist appointment.
Eerily, the 37-year-old was in a location nearly 400 miles away from her home in Bozeman. It would have been a highly unusual place for her to be, even if she had spontaneously decided to travel to Pittsburgh instead of her appointment, and none of her loved ones could explain why she was there.
Even more shocking, Meehan was seen driving on the wrong side of the road while on Highway 200. She nearly hit another car driven by a woman named Peggy Bueller, who quickly moved out of the way. Then, Meehan crashed into a different vehicle, driven by a woman named Carol Heitz.
Heitz, who was fortunately not seriously injured, escaped her wrecked car and soon saw Meehan staring at the accident scene before her.
“She just stared,” Heitz later remembered. “She never said anything, she just stared at me. I will never forget her.”
Bueller, who saw the accident, returned to the scene to help. She also saw Meehan: “As I looked out across the accident, I noticed someone… standing there like a spectator, not like it had happened to her.”
Meehan seemed to be disoriented as she took in the scene around her. Then, to Heitz and Bueller’s surprise, she suddenly disappeared into a nearby field. According to some reports, she climbed over a fence to make her exit.
Police quickly traced the abandoned car to Meehan and began to search for her. Though they found some tennis shoe tracks in the field near the accident, the path eventually ended and authorities were unable to find her.
Initially, some thought she may have fled out of fear. Others theorized that she could have been attempting suicide by driving on the wrong side of the road. But before long, many began to believe that she had suffered amnesia as a result of a serious head injury sustained in the wreck.
Meehan’s worried parents and siblings quickly arrived in Montana to aid in the search for their loved one, distributing posters in the area where she vanished to see if they could find any promising leads.
Before long, leads would start pouring in.
The Many Alleged Sightings Of Patricia Meehan
Personal PhotoA self-portrait of Patricia Meehan that her family discovered after finding a roll of undeveloped film in her camera.
Six weeks after Patricia Meehan’s disappearance, her parents said there had been 25 possible sightings of her — three of which were promising.
One came from a police officer in Luverne, Minnesota, who said he saw Meehan on May 4, 1989. According to the officer, she was drinking water for five hours in a Hardee’s restaurant until it closed. She then moved on to an all-night restaurant, where the cop questioned her. However, she refused to give her name and claimed at various points to be from Colorado and Israel.
“This is not like her,” Dolly Meehan said of her daughter’s alleged behavior. “We think she has amnesia, that she is confused and scared. We’re quite sure she does not know who she is.”
Employees at two truck stops in South Dakota also reported seeing her on May 5th. At one truck stop, she was seen simply drinking coffee. At the other truck stop, she was seen with an unidentified man in his 30s.
As the weeks dragged on, more and more sightings were reported, mostly at truck stops, diners, and fast food restaurants. But every time the reports came in, Patricia Meehan (or perhaps a woman who looked like her) had apparently already left the area, likely by hitchhiking.
After her case was featured on Unsolved Mysteries in November 1989, even more possible leads came pouring in. Her family said they received notices of sightings in “just about every state, including Alaska and Hawaii.”
To her family’s heartbreak, the most promising sightings often described a woman who seemed to not know who she was or where she was.
Her father said, “More than anything else in the world, I want her back with us. And we would then know that she was safe. Not knowing who she is taking a ride from, that’s my biggest worry. I just pray day in and day out that she’s with some good people.”
To date, there have been over 5,000 alleged sightings of Patricia Meehan since she vanished. But none have led to her actual discovery, and no one has ever claimed to be her. She hasn’t been heard from since her bizarre accident, and so her ultimate fate remains a chilling mystery.
Next, read about some other famous unsolved disappearances. Then, check out 11 baffling cases that “Unsolved Mysteries” helped solve.
