Madeline Ponds, a pretty blonde 16-year-old known to her friends as “Midge,” went to work at PJ’s One-Stop on Highway 82 South in Columbus on the last day anyone saw her.
According to some estimates, she is Mississippi’s longest-missing juvenile. If she isn’t the longest missing, she’s one of the top two or three.
On November 20, 1986, her mother gave her dinner at work, and everything seemed normal. Less than 5 minutes after her mother departed, a client entered the store and discovered it vacant, with no sign of Madeline.
Authorities reported that approximately $600 was taken from the register, but all of Ponds’ personal things were still present. Ponds’ car, still parked outside, contained all her personal items.
Madeline’s relatives asserted that she wouldn’t have departed without a reason, while some officials harbored suspicions that her removal was not voluntary. Others were not so convinced.
According to the Clarion-Ledger, Ed Prescott, the Lowndes County Sheriff at the time, stated that he did not believe she was kidnapped or ran away. Prescott surmised that someone had killed Midge, removed her corpse from the area, and dumped it.
Madeline lived just across the Alabama state border, and both the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Department in Mississippi and the Pickens County Sheriff’s Department in Alabama are looking into the case, which remains unsolved.
