Key facts
- Name: Erica Lee Fraysure
- Born: Circa 1980
- Age at disappearance: 17
- Last seen: October 21, 1997, between 9:00 and 10:00 p.m.
- Location: Video-N-Tan, Brooksville, Kentucky (Bracken County)
- Height / build: 17-year-old high school senior; strawberry birthmark on back of neck; last seen in purple sweater with white stripes, Levi’s jeans, white Keds, Winnie the Pooh watch, four gold rings
- Status: Still missing — investigated as a missing person; family believes she was murdered
- Investigating agency: Bracken County Sheriff’s Office (Kentucky State Police originally)
The car between the hay bales
On the night of October 21, 1997, seventeen-year-old Erica Fraysure went uptown in Brooksville, Kentucky — the thing teenagers do in small towns. She was at the Video-N-Tan, socializing with friends, sometime between 9:00 and 10:00 p.m.
She never came home.
The next day, kids found her car: a black four-door 1988 Pontiac Bonneville SSE, unlocked and abandoned off Fronk Road, wedged between bales of hay in a field about a mile from the Video-N-Tan. Inside were her purse, her wallet, her checkbook, her money. There was no sign of Erica. There was no sign of a struggle.
Her car keys were missing. Weeks later, during a search, they turned up across the road, under some leaves — about a hundred yards from the car.
“They say every detective’s life there is one case,” Bracken County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Bob Scott would say, twenty years later. “This is mine.” Scott had been a young state police detective working out of a tiny office in Brooksville’s old courthouse the night Erica vanished. He never let go.
Who Erica was
Erica Lee Fraysure was a high school senior in Brooksville — population around 600, the county seat of Bracken County, a town settled before 1800 that one podcast later described as “plain, sleepy and uneventful… devoid of headline-grabbing mysteries.” Until Erica.
She had a strawberry birthmark on the back of her neck. She wore a purple sweater with two white stripes across the chest that night, Levi’s, white Keds, a Winnie the Pooh watch, and four gold rings on her right hand — one with a sapphire and diamond heart. These are the details families remember when the big facts run out. They are also the details that make a missing girl real to strangers, decades later.
Her grandfather, Jim Fraysure, gave voice to what the family lives with: “Sometimes the phone will ring… that might be Erica, saying Papa come and get me… I know it won’t happen… but it’s something I think about.”
The investigation
Two men drew investigative attention over the years.
Shane M. Simcox, an acquaintance of Erica’s, was with her the night she vanished and may have been the last person to see her — he said she gave him a ride and dropped him off at his house at 9:00 p.m. Simcox was later expelled from school for threatening a teacher, has a criminal record, and refused to take a polygraph in connection with Erica’s case. He has maintained his innocence, and no convincing evidence has been found against him.
Another man who was questioned later shot his wife to death and then killed himself. Authorities said he had been ruled out as a suspect before he died — he had an alibi for the night Erica disappeared.
And then there were the rumors, the kind small towns breed when a case goes unsolved: that Erica’s body was taken to a hog farm. That she was buried underneath the new high school. Chief Deputy Scott heard them all. “Small community… everybody knows everybody… those things didn’t happen… it was a time of innocence here,” he said. “But that innocence was lost.”
In 2017, on the twentieth anniversary, Cincinnati’s WKRC revisited the case. A man who’d had a vivid dream contacted Scott, convinced it meant something. It didn’t lead anywhere. Tips like that — dreams, rumors, hog farms — are what a 29-year-old case runs on when the evidence runs out.
Notably, Erica’s case is still investigated as a missing-person case, not a homicide — though her family believes she was murdered.
Theories: what might have happened
Foul play by someone she knew. The car tells a story: driven a mile from town, parked between hay bales, purse and money left inside, keys carried a hundred yards across the road and dropped under leaves. As Scott put it: “If they were running… [they were] running in the direction of Brooksville” — back toward town, away from the car. That reads like someone leaving in a hurry, on foot, in the dark — or being taken. The last-known-companion account (Simcox’s 9:00 p.m. drop-off) is unverified by anyone else. He refused the polygraph; he maintains his innocence; there is no evidence against him. All of that can be true at once.
Abduction by a stranger. Possible — a 17-year-old girl, a small town, a Tuesday night. But the staged quality of the car scene (money left behind, keys relocated) suggests someone managing a scene, not a random snatch.
Voluntary disappearance. Nothing supports it: her money, her checkbook, her purse all left in the car; no contact in 29 years; no reason ever established.
Have information?
Contact the Bracken County Sheriff’s Office or the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678 (1-800-THE-LOST). In an emergency, dial 911.
Timeline
- Circa 1980 — Erica Lee Fraysure is born.
- October 21, 1997, 9:00–10:00 p.m. — Last seen at the Video-N-Tan in Brooksville.
- October 22, 1997 — Her Bonneville found between hay bales off Fronk Road; purse, wallet, and money inside; keys missing.
- Weeks later — Keys found across the road under leaves, ~100 yards from the car.
- 1997–present — Investigation continues; persons of interest questioned and cleared or uncharged; rumors chased.
- 2017 — WKRC marks 20 years; Chief Deputy Bob Scott: “This is mine.”
- Today — Still missing.
FAQ
Is Erica Fraysure still missing?
Yes. As of October 2026, Erica Fraysure has been missing for 29 years. Her case is still being investigated as a missing-person case.
Was Erica Fraysure ever found?
No. No remains have been identified as Erica’s, and no one has ever been charged in her disappearance.
How old would Erica Fraysure be today?
Erica was 17 in October 1997, which puts her birth around 1980 — she would be about 46 in 2026.
Where was Erica Fraysure’s car found?
Her black 1988 Pontiac Bonneville SSE was found the day after she vanished, unlocked and abandoned between bales of hay in a field off Fronk Road, about a mile from the Video-N-Tan in Brooksville. Her purse, wallet, checkbook, and money were inside; her keys were found weeks later, about 100 yards away under leaves.
Who was the last person to see Erica Fraysure?
Shane M. Simcox, an acquaintance, said Erica gave him a ride and dropped him at his house at 9:00 p.m. the night she vanished. He refused a polygraph, maintains his innocence, and no evidence has been found against him.
How can I help?
Share this case file. Contact the Bracken County Sheriff’s Office with any information.
Sources
- Official / law enforcement: Bracken County Sheriff’s Office (Chief Deputy Bob Scott, lead investigator).
- News: WKRC Cincinnati — “KY teen girl’s disappearance 20 years ago still a murder mystery” (2017).
- Reference: The Charley Project — Erica Lee Fraysure; America’s Most Wanted Fans forum case thread.
- Media: Every Town podcast — “Brooksville, Kentucky: The Unsolved Mystery of Erica Fraysure’s 1997 Disappearance” (2020).
Found an error? Tell us via the About page and we will fix it promptly and note the change here. Last verified October 2026.