Key facts
- Name: Amanda Lee Fravel (“Mandy”)
- Age at disappearance: 20
- Last seen: June 13, 1986
- Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
- Height / build: 5’4″, 110 lbs, brown hair
- Status: Still missing — open investigation
- Case numbers: NamUs MP8239
- Investigating agency: Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department
Friday the 13th
On Friday, June 13, 1986, twenty-year-old Amanda Fravel left her Las Vegas apartment. Accounts differ on the errand — to pick up a paycheck from her job, or to travel to her boyfriend’s home. What doesn’t differ is the ending: she never arrived. She often hitchhiked. She was never seen again.
She had been in Las Vegas barely two months. That same week, she was supposed to fly home to California. “She never made it,” her younger sister Melisa told Dateline.
Who Amanda was
Amanda Lee Fravel grew up in the Santa Rosa and Sebastopol area of California with her younger sister Melisa, two years apart and, in Melisa’s words, extremely tight-knit: “We were so close because we came from a rocky foundation.” Their parents struggled with alcohol and split when the girls were young; their father stayed in Santa Rosa while their mother moved to Gilroy.
Amanda was, by every account, defiant in the way of a teenager who’d had to raise herself. Around 1982 she was kicked out of her father’s house for standing up for herself; she went to live with her mother and stepfather in Gilroy, and was eventually kicked out there too. Her stepfather, Tom Davis, described her to Dateline as a “typical, rebellious, 16-year-old” whose defiant attitude persisted as she got older.
In April 1986, a month before she turned 20, Amanda moved to Las Vegas and stayed with a girlfriend from Santa Rosa. “She had no reason to disappear,” Melisa said. “She was on her own already.”
The investigation
A young woman who hitchhiked, new in town, last seen on a Friday in 1986 — the investigative landscape was unforgiving. There is no public record of a witness to what happened after she left her apartment, no vehicle description, no confirmed direction. The case file, as it survives publicly in NamUs (MP8239) and the Charley Project, is a physical description and a date.
Dateline covered Amanda’s story through Melisa’s eyes — the sisters sliding down hills and riding bikes as kids, the fracture of the family, the move to Vegas. The Unfound podcast devoted an episode to the case (“Amanda Fravel: The Ultimate Puzzle”). Forty years on, no trace has ever been found and no one has ever been charged.
Theories: what might have happened
Forty years, one afternoon, no witnesses on the record.
A ride gone wrong. The theory the facts point to first: Amanda, who often hitchhiked, got into a car with someone dangerous. Las Vegas in 1986 — transient, sprawling, built for people passing through — was a dangerous place to thumb a ride. This is the most statistically likely shape of the case, and also the one with the least to grip: no driver, no car, no trace.
She started over. That a 20-year-old with a fractured family history and a rebellious streak walked away and built a new life. Against it: she was supposed to fly home that week, she left behind everything, and forty years without a single contact to the sister she was closest to in the world makes it vanishingly unlikely.
Foul play by someone she knew. The boyfriend she may have been traveling to see, the roommate, someone from work — the standard circles. There is no public evidence pointing at any of them, no charges, no named suspects. The presumption of innocence stands for everyone in her orbit.
Have information?
Contact the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (NamUs MP8239). In an emergency, dial 911.
Timeline
- ~May 1966 — Amanda Lee Fravel is born in California.
- April 1986 — Amanda moves to Las Vegas, staying with a girlfriend from Santa Rosa.
- June 13, 1986 — Amanda leaves her apartment (for a paycheck, or to see her boyfriend) and never arrives. Last seen in Las Vegas.
- 1986 — She was supposed to fly home to California that week; she never makes the flight.
- 1986–2026 — Case remains open; no trace found; no charges filed.
- Today — Still missing.
FAQ
Is Amanda Fravel still missing?
Yes. As of October 2026, Amanda Fravel has been missing for 40 years.
What happened to Amanda Fravel?
On June 13, 1986, the 20-year-old left her Las Vegas apartment and never reached her destination. She often hitchhiked. She was never seen again.
Was Amanda Fravel ever found?
No. No trace of Amanda has ever been found.
How old would Amanda Fravel be today?
She turned 20 in May 1986 — she would be 60 in 2026.
How can I help?
Share this case file. Anyone with information should contact the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (reference NamUs MP8239).
Sources
- Official / law enforcement: Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department; National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs MP8239).
- News: Dateline (via NBC News, Melisa Fravel interview).
- Reference: The Charley Project, “Amanda Lee Fravel”; Uncovered, “Missing: Amanda Fravel | Las Vegas, NV.”
- Media: The Unfound Podcast, “Amanda Fravel: The Ultimate Puzzle.”
Found an error? Tell us via the About page and we will fix it promptly and note the change here. Last verified October 2026.