Key facts
- Name: Deborah Lee “Debbie” Spickler
- Born: January 22, 1955, Mystic, Connecticut
- Age at disappearance: 13
- Last seen: July 24, 1968
- Location: Henry Park, 100 block of South Street, Vernon, Connecticut (Charley Project; The Cinemaholic gives the address as 120 South Street — sources differ on the exact number)
- Height / build: 5’5″, 125 lbs; brown hair, brown eyes; pock-mark on face, chipped tooth
- Status: Still missing — Vernon Police Department / Tolland County Cold Case Squad, open investigation
- Investigating agency: Vernon Police Department; Tolland County Cold Case Squad
The towels
July 24, 1968, was a swimming day. Thirteen-year-old Debbie Spickler was visiting her aunt and uncle in Vernon, Connecticut — she lived in Mystic, down on the coast — and the family had gone to Henry Park, in the 100 block of South Street. Debbie and a cousin walked from Foxhill Drive toward the park’s swimming pool.
Then they realized they’d forgotten the towels.
The cousin went back to get them. When she returned to the spot where Debbie was supposed to be waiting, Debbie was gone.
She was thirteen years old, wearing a white sleeveless shirt, homemade dark green polka-dot shorts with no pockets, and white low-top sneakers. She had brown hair, brown eyes, a pock-mark on her face, and a chipped tooth. Her family said she had no history of running away and no pattern of delinquent behavior. She simply stopped being there, in the minutes it took to fetch towels.
On the very day she disappeared, her mother received a postcard from Debbie — written before she vanished, saying she was doing well and helping her relatives. It arrived like a message from a girl who had every intention of coming home.
Debbie Spickler would be 71 years old today. She has been missing for 58 years.
Who Debbie was
Deborah Lee Spickler was born January 22, 1955, in Mystic, Connecticut — the historic seaport village split between Groton and Stonington. She was 13 that summer, 5’5″ and 125 pounds, visiting her aunt’s family in Vernon the way kids did in 1968: dropped into a relative’s household for a stretch of summer, folded into the routines of cousins and parks and swimming pools.
The details that survive are the small, precise kind that missing-persons files preserve: the homemade shorts with no pockets. The white low-tops. The chipped tooth. The postcard to her mother, mailed in innocence, arriving after everything changed.
The first of three
Debbie’s disappearance is the earliest of the three cases that would become known as the Vernon-Tolland Three. Five years later, in July 1973, seven-year-old Janice Pockett would vanish from her bicycle in neighboring Tolland. A year after that, in November 1974, 13-year-old Lisa White would walk out of a Rockville park and never come home. Three girls, three parks and roads of the same small Connecticut region, six years.
For decades the cases were worked separately. Then, in October 2014, the Tolland County Cold Case Squad was formed — driven in large part by these three girls — and investigators said they had identified connections between them. Age-progressed images of Debbie, showing what she might look like as an adult, are updated every few years. Governor Dannel P. Malloy authorized $50,000 rewards in each of the three cases, totaling $150,000.
The shadow around the cases extends further. In the same towns, in the same era, young women kept disappearing: Susan LaRosa, 20, vanished from Vernon in 1975, her remains found three years later by a construction crew; Patricia Luce, 18, vanished in 1978, her remains found in Marlborough in 1979. The Paper Ghosts podcast, hosted by M. William Phelps — who grew up in the area and has worked the cases for more than a decade — took its name from the faded posters of Debbie, Janice, and Lisa that hung on telephone poles for years: “A faded photograph on a piece of paper, the only thread of hope left.”
Debbie’s case is also the thinnest of the three in the public record — almost no evidence, in the words of one case summary, “available regarding the case in the public domain.” No witness like Janice’s station wagon. No letter like Lisa’s. Just a girl waiting by a swimming pool, and then not waiting.
Fifty-eight summers have passed since the cousin went back for the towels.
Theories: what might have happened
Abduction by a stranger at the park. The theory investigators have always worked: a 13-year-old girl alone for a few minutes at a public park in 1968, in a town where two more girls would vanish within six years. The brevity of the window — minutes — suggests someone who was watching, or who acted on sudden opportunity. There is no evidence for it beyond the circumstances, but the circumstances are stark.
She left voluntarily and met harm. The family was explicit that Debbie had no history of running away, and the postcard to her mother that same day described a girl content with her visit. Nothing in the record supports a voluntary departure.
A predator working the Vernon-Tolland corridor. The reason the 2014 cold case squad exists: three missing girls and two murdered young women, one region, one decade. The cases’ similarities — young females, daylight, familiar ground — keep this theory at the center of the official investigation. But after half a century, similarity has not become identity: no suspect has been publicly connected to Debbie’s disappearance.
Have information?
Contact the Vernon Police Department at (860) 872-9126, or the Tolland County Cold Case Squad at (860) 870-3228 / DCJ.TollandCounty.ColdCase@ct.gov. You can also contact the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678. A $50,000 reward is offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction. In an emergency, dial 911.
Timeline
- January 22, 1955 — Deborah Lee Spickler is born in Mystic, Connecticut.
- July 1968 — Debbie visits her aunt and uncle in Vernon for the summer.
- July 24, 1968 — Debbie waits at Henry Park while her cousin fetches forgotten towels; when the cousin returns, Debbie is gone. Her mother receives Debbie’s postcard the same day.
- July 26, 1973 — Janice Pockett, 7, vanishes from Tolland.
- November 1, 1974 — Lisa White, 13, vanishes from Rockville.
- 1975–1979 — Susan LaRosa and Patricia Luce vanish from the same area; both are later found murdered.
- October 2014 — Tolland County Cold Case Squad formed; investigators cite connections among the three girls’ cases.
- 2019–2023 — Paper Ghosts podcast investigates the cluster; age-progression images updated.
- Today — Still missing. $50,000 reward in effect.
FAQ
Is Debbie Spickler still missing?
Yes. As of October 2026, Debbie Spickler has been missing for 58 years — the longest of any case in this series. Her case is open with the Vernon Police Department and the Tolland County Cold Case Squad.
Was Debbie Spickler ever found?
No. No trace of Debbie has ever been found. Her case remains one of Connecticut’s oldest open missing-child investigations.
How old would Debbie Spickler be today?
Debbie was born January 22, 1955. She turned 71 in January 2026.
What did Debbie Spickler’s postcard say?
On the day she disappeared, Debbie’s mother received a postcard Debbie had written earlier, saying she was doing well and helping her relatives — a message from a girl who showed no sign of planning to leave.
What is the Vernon-Tolland Three?
Three girls who vanished from neighboring eastern Connecticut towns between 1968 and 1974: Debbie Spickler (1968), Janice Pockett (1973), and Lisa White (1974). Debbie’s is the earliest of the three. Authorities have said they see connections between the cases.
How can I help?
Share this case file. If you have any information, contact the Vernon Police Department at (860) 872-9126 or the Tolland County Cold Case Squad at (860) 870-3228.
Sources
- Official / law enforcement: Vernon Police Department; Tolland County Cold Case Squad, portal.ct.gov; NamUs; NCMEC.
- News: Journal Inquirer, coverage of the Vernon-Tolland cold cases; Hartford Courant, cold case unit progress reports (2019).
- Reference: The Charley Project, “Deborah Lee Spickler”; The Doe Network, Case File 2472DFCT.
- Media: Paper Ghosts podcast (M. William Phelps); INFAMOUS podcast, “The Vernon-Tolland Three” (Feb 2023); Small Town Missing podcast, “Missing in Connecticut: Deborah Spickler, Janice Pockett and Lisa White”; Crime Junkie, “INFAMOUS: The Vernon-Tolland Three.”
Corrections (October 2026 fact-check): minor — noted the address discrepancy for Henry Park: the Charley Project lists the “100 block of South Street” while The Cinemaholic gives “120 South Street.” Found an error? Tell us via the About page and we will fix it promptly and note the change here. Last verified October 2026.