Key facts
- Name: Amy Sue Pagnac
- Born: June 15, 1976
- Age at disappearance: 13
- Last seen: August 5, 1989, ~4:30 p.m. — in the family car at the Holiday Inn gas station, Osseo, MN, with Marshall Midden (described in news reports as her stepfather); they were driving home from the family farm, two miles away in Maple Grove
- Description: 5’0″, 100 lbs, brown hair, blue eyes; scars on her left cheek, left eyelid, and the side of her nose; a circular-shaped scar on her left knee; pierced ears
- Clothing: Sweatpants, a light-colored shirt, and sneakers
- Medical: Occasional seizures from pressure on her brain; required allergy medication
- Classification: Non-family abduction (Charley Project); endangered missing (NCMEC)
- Case numbers: Maple Grove PD 89-9409; NCMEC 733090; NCIC M-412469641
- Status: Still missing, 37 years; NCMEC poster active with an age-progressed image
- Investigating agency: Maple Grove Police Department (763-494-6100); NCMEC (1-800-843-5678)
The gas station stop
August 5, 1989, was an ordinary Saturday. Thirteen-year-old Amy Sue Pagnac had spent the day with Marshall Midden at the family farm; driving home toward Maple Grove, they stopped at roughly 4:30 p.m. at the Holiday Inn gas station in Osseo, two miles from the house.
Midden went inside briefly to use the restroom. When he came back out, Amy was gone from the parked car — and she has never been heard from again.
That is the entire last-seen account, and the case’s defining problem: no one besides Midden reported seeing Amy at the gas station that day, and police could never verify she had been there. Everything about the final minutes begins and ends with one man’s statement.
Her family has kept the same telephone number since 1989, in case she ever tries to call.
The investigation
Police first treated Amy as a runaway — she’d run away repeatedly that summer, but always came home on her own. This time she didn’t, and she is no longer classified as one.
The seizure theory entered the file early and never left: Amy’s condition caused occasional seizures, and the NCMEC poster still notes she may have had one and become disoriented. But a disoriented 13-year-old wandering from a staffed gas station on a Saturday afternoon should have been seen. No one was.
Investigators have looked closest to home, more than once. The family home was searched shortly after the disappearance, again in 2007, and then — twenty-five years on, in the spring of 2014 — police searched both the Maple Grove residence and the family’s Isanti County farm over several days. Nothing of interest was ever found.
Amy’s mother, Susan Pagnac, welcomed the attention, telling the Star Tribune the 2014 search gave her “more hope”: “It’s inconvenient, but at the end goal if it brings Amy home it doesn’t matter.” Both parents say they have lived under their community’s suspicion for decades; both maintain their innocence. No one has ever been charged.
On the 36th anniversary in August 2025, Commander Jon Wetternach renewed the appeal: “The case of Amy Sue Pagnac’s disappearance has always been at the forefront of the Maple Grove Police Department… we know that there’s somebody out there who knows something about her disappearance.” The case, he said, “is still assigned to a detective who actively investigates every lead that comes in.”
Theories: what might have happened
She left on her own — a runaway episode that went wrong. Supports: a history of runaway episodes that summer. Undercuts: she always came back; she carried nothing extra; her mother says she was happy, looking forward to eighth grade; 37 years without contact.
She had a seizure and wandered off disoriented. Supports: documented seizures; the NCMEC poster raises it. Undercuts: she vanished within minutes at a staffed gas station on a Saturday afternoon, and no one reported a disoriented 13-year-old. A wandering child leaves a trail. There is none.
She was abducted at the gas station by a stranger. Supports: the window was minutes long; the case is classified as a non-family abduction. Undercuts: no witness saw an abduction, no vehicle was identified, no suspect named.
Harm by the person she was with. Supports: no one but Midden can place Amy at that gas station, and the family home has been searched three times. Undercuts: the searches found nothing, Midden reported her missing within minutes, and no charge has ever been filed. All living persons are presumed innocent.
The family’s belief: she was taken by organized crime. Susan Pagnac believes her daughter was kidnapped, possibly sold into sex trafficking. Undercuts: nothing in the public record supports it — no witness, no tip, no finding from three home searches. A mother’s theory, not an evidentiary one.
Have information?
Contact the Maple Grove Police Department at (763) 494-6100 or NCMEC at 1-800-843-5678. In an emergency, dial 911.
Timeline
- June 15, 1976 — Amy Sue Pagnac is born.
- Summer 1989 — Runs away from home repeatedly; always returns on her own after a short time.
- August 5, 1989, ~4:30 p.m. — Stops with Marshall Midden at the Holiday Inn gas station in Osseo, en route home from the family farm. He goes inside briefly; she is gone when he returns.
- 1989 — Investigation opens; Amy first treated as a runaway, later reclassified.
- 1989 & 2007 — Family home searched; nothing found.
- Spring 2014 — Case reopened; police search the Maple Grove residence and Isanti County farm over several days; nothing found.
- 2021 — Case file updated with a new age-progression image.
- August 2025 — On the 36th anniversary, Commander Jon Wetternach renews the appeal; the case remains with an active detective.
- Today — Still missing.
FAQ
Is Amy still missing?
Yes — 37 years as of October 2026; her NCMEC poster (case 733090) is still active.
Was Amy ever found?
No — nothing since the afternoon of August 5, 1989.
How old would Amy be today?
Born June 15, 1976 — she turned 50 in June 2026.
What are Amy’s distinguishing marks?
Scars on her left cheek, left eyelid, and the side of her nose; a circular scar on her left knee; pierced ears. She was 5’0″, 100 lbs, brown hair, blue eyes — last seen in sweatpants, a light-colored shirt, and sneakers.
Why did police search the family home?
Three times — after the 1989 disappearance, in 2007, and in spring 2014, when the Isanti County farm was searched too. Police never said what prompted the searches; nothing was found, and the parents were never charged.
What did police say on the 36th anniversary?
Commander Jon Wetternach (Aug 2025): the case “has always been at the forefront of the Maple Grove Police Department,” remains with a detective investigating every lead — “we know that there’s somebody out there who knows something about her disappearance.”
Sources
- Official / law enforcement: NCMEC poster for Amy Sue Pagnac (case 733090); Maple Grove Police Department (763-494-6100; 36th-anniversary appeal, Aug 2025); NCIC M-412469641.
- News: Star Tribune via WebProNews, “Amy Sue Pagnac Case Reopened After 25 Years” (2014); KMSP-TV via Have You Seen Us; 36th-anniversary coverage quoting Commander Jon Wetternach (Aug 2025).
- Reference: The Charley Project, Amy Sue Pagnac case file (retrieved Oct 2026); 411gina.org flyer.
Found an error? Tell us via the About page and we will fix it promptly and note the change here. Last verified October 2026.