Key facts
- Name: Annita Maria Musto Price (alias Annita Musto)
- Born: March 20, 1947
- Age at disappearance: 27
- Last seen: May 30, 1974, ~8:45 p.m.
- Location: Moundsville / McMechen, West Virginia (Route 2 North)
- Height / build: 6’0″, 155 lbs, brown hair, brown eyes; severe burn scars on torso (neck to upper thighs) and left arm from a childhood accident
- Status: Still missing — foul play suspected; no record of her Social Security number being used since 1974
- Case number: AM-1940
- Investigating agency: West Virginia State Police, Moundsville detachment, (304) 843-4100
The shift she never worked
At around 8:45 on the evening of May 30, 1974, Annita Price left her apartment in Moundsville, West Virginia, and got into a green early-70s AMC Gremlin — her boyfriend’s car, borrowed for the drive. She was headed six and a half miles north to McMechen, to her job as a cocktail waitress at the Flamingo Club. (Some sources place the Flamingo Club in neighboring Benwood rather than McMechen — the town is inconsistently reported; Annita’s route along Route 2 North is consistent in all accounts.) She was wearing yellow shorts and a blue shirt.
She never arrived at work.
The next morning, the Gremlin was found abandoned along Route 2 North, near the intersection with 12th Street in McMechen. The doors were unlocked. The passenger-side window was rolled down. Her purse and wallet were in the passenger seat, and some of her makeup — lipstick, an eyeliner — lay scattered on the seat. There was no sign of a struggle. There was no sign of Annita.
Her disappearance wasn’t reported to police for three days.
Annita was 27 years old, a mother of two, and by every account impossible to overlook. She stood six feet tall. Her daughter Madonna Layne, who was five when her mother vanished, remembers: “A boisterous personality. She had a big laugh. You’d hear her before you’d see her.” Sgt. Dan Swiger, the West Virginia State Police cold case investigator who later inherited the file, put it this way: “She had an exuberant personality. She was described by some as a fighter.”
That fighter disappeared between Moundsville and McMechen on a road that runs straight along the Ohio River — and the original investigation, her daughter says, lasted barely any time at all. “They spent a total of 18 hours investigating her disappearance,” Madonna Layne said in 2009. “Not even a full day.” The original state police file was only a few pages long.
Swiger doesn’t dispute the thinness of the file, only the era: “In 1974 I think it was a different time. It’s easy to Monday morning quarterback.”
A custody battle and two cleared men
At the time she vanished, Annita was going through a bitter divorce and custody fight over her two children. After she disappeared, custody went to the children’s father, Leonard. He rarely spoke of Annita to the children; what he told them, family members say, was that she had left and didn’t want anything to do with them anymore — and if the children talked about their mother, they were punished. Law enforcement said at the time there was no evidence linking him to her disappearance. Leonard has since died, and only after his passing were the grown children able to reunite with their mother’s side of the family and start asking questions together.
Annita’s boyfriend — whose car she was driving that night — cooperated with the investigation and was cleared as a suspect.
One more fact has the weight of an epitaph: in the fifty-plus years since that night, there has been no record of Annita Price’s Social Security number ever being used. Whoever she was after May 30, 1974, she was not living under her own name.
Theories: what might have happened
Abduction on Route 2. The car tells the story here: unlocked doors, window down, purse and wallet left behind, makeup spilled on the seat — consistent with Annita stopping, or being stopped, and leaving the car in a hurry, or being taken from it. The road she drove runs along the river between Moundsville and Wheeling; in 1974 it was dark, fast, and lonely at night. What undercuts certainty: there was no sign of a struggle, no witnesses, and no physical evidence pointing to anyone.
Someone she knew. She was in a custody battle, and the statistics on missing women in domestic disputes are grim. But both the ex-husband and the boyfriend were looked at — the boyfriend was cleared, and police said there was no evidence against the ex-husband. Suspicion without evidence is not a theory; it’s a shadow. The presumption of innocence stands.
She left voluntarily. The family and investigators have never taken this seriously, and the facts don’t support it: she left for a work shift she never reached, abandoned a borrowed car with her belongings in it, left two small children, and never used her Social Security number again. People who start over use their names eventually. Annita never did.
In 2009, on the 35th anniversary, a special report called the case “Missing: Annita” and put her daughter’s memories on the record. Madonna was five years old the night her mother drove to work. She has spent most of her life not knowing. “They spent a total of 18 hours investigating,” she said. Fifty-two years later, the question is the same one her mother left hanging on Route 2: what happened between 8:45 p.m. and morning?
Have information?
Contact the West Virginia State Police, Moundsville detachment, at (304) 843-4100 (case AM-1940). In an emergency, dial 911.
Timeline
- March 20, 1947 — Annita Maria Musto is born.
- May 30, 1974, ~8:45 p.m. — Annita leaves her Moundsville apartment in her boyfriend’s green AMC Gremlin, headed to her cocktail-waitress shift at the Flamingo Club in McMechen.
- May 31, 1974, morning — The Gremlin is found abandoned on Route 2 North near 12th St., McMechen: unlocked, window down, purse, wallet, and makeup inside. No sign of Annita.
- June 1974 — Her disappearance is reported to police, three days late; the original file runs only a few pages.
- 1974 — Custody of her two children goes to their father; her boyfriend cooperates and is cleared.
- 2009 — 35th-anniversary special report “Missing: Annita” airs; WVSP cold case investigator Sgt. Dan Swiger discusses the scant original file.
- Today — Still missing; her Social Security number has never been used since 1974.
FAQ
Is Annita Price still missing?
Yes. As of October 2026, Annita Price has been missing for more than 52 years. Her case (AM-1940) remains with the West Virginia State Police.
Was Annita Price ever found?
No. No trace of Annita has ever been found, and there has been no record of her Social Security number being used since May 30, 1974.
How old would Annita Price be today?
Annita was born March 20, 1947 — she turned 79 in March 2026.
What was found in Annita Price’s car?
Her boyfriend’s green AMC Gremlin was found unlocked on Route 2 North with the passenger window down. Inside were her purse, her wallet, and scattered makeup including lipstick and eyeliner. There was no sign of a struggle.
Why did the investigation stall?
Her disappearance wasn’t reported for three days, and the original 1974 investigation was brief — her daughter says about 18 hours total, with a file only a few pages long. The case was later picked up by the state police cold case unit, but the trail had gone cold decades earlier.
How can I help?
Share this case file. If you have any information, contact the WV State Police Moundsville detachment at (304) 843-4100.
Sources
- Official / law enforcement: West Virginia State Police, Moundsville detachment (304) 843-4100; Sgt. Dan Swiger statements (via 2009 anniversary report).
- News: D.K. Wright, “Missing: Annita” — 35th-anniversary special report (May 29, 2009).
- Reference: The Charley Project; NamUs; Doe Network; Unsolved Appalachia, “Annita Maria Musto-Price.”
- Media: Mysterious WV, “MISSING PERSON: Annita Maria Price” (documentary).
Found an error? Tell us via the About page and we will fix it promptly and note the change here. Last verified October 2026.
Note (October 2026): Some sources place the Flamingo Club in Benwood rather than McMechen; the file retains McMechen with the conflict disclosed.