Key facts
- Name: Samantha Ann Clarke
- Born: July 17, 1991
- Age at disappearance: 19
- Last seen: September 13, 2010 (~midnight)
- Location: Orange, Orange County, Virginia
- Height / build: 5’1″, 145 lbs, brown hair, brown eyes
- Status: Still missing — reclassified as abduction and homicide in January 2021; body never found
- Investigating agency: Orange County Sheriff’s Office; Town of Orange Police Department
The night she vanished
Around midnight on September 13, 2010, nineteen-year-old Samantha Clarke called up the stairs to her younger brother, Hunter: she was leaving, and she’d be back in the morning. She took only her house key. Her mother, Barbara Tinder, wasn’t home — she was working the overnight shift.
Samantha walked out of their house on Lindsey Drive in the town of Orange, Virginia, and was never seen again. When Barbara got home from work around 7 a.m., Samantha’s pajamas were folded on her bed — she had changed before leaving — but Samantha wasn’t there. Two days later, the family reported her missing.
One detail would shadow the case for years: on the night Samantha vanished, Randy Allen Taylor — a man from the area — repeatedly called the house phone and spoke to her. Her mother later said he called six times. Taylor would later be convicted of the abduction and murder of another young woman, 17-year-old Alexis Murphy of Nelson County, who disappeared in August 2013. But he has never been charged in Samantha’s case, and he is presumed innocent of any involvement in her disappearance unless and until a court finds otherwise.
Her case was first handled as a missing-person investigation. In January 2021, police announced that advances in forensic science had prompted them to reclassify it as an abduction and homicide case. Despite searches, interviews, and the passage of sixteen years, no trace of Samantha Clarke has ever been found, and no one has been charged.
Who Samantha was
Samantha Ann Clarke was 19, a recent graduate of Orange County High School. She was 5’1″ and 145 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes — long hair she often wore in a bun. She had piercings in her ears, nose, tongue, and right eyebrow, wore eyeglasses, and had several tattoos: a Playboy bunny on her right arm, a Tigger figure above her right ankle, two dolphins on her lower back, and the word “lucky” on her left ankle. Friends and family called her Sam.
She was close to her family. When she didn’t come home that September night, they knew immediately that something was wrong — and they never stopped saying so. Her mother has marked every anniversary, and on the sixteenth, in September 2026, she told local media she remains frustrated by the pace of the investigation. Police said the case remains an active criminal investigation.
The investigation
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office (case number 2010-022414) and the Town of Orange Police Department have handled Samantha’s case, which was reclassified from a missing-person case to an abduction and homicide investigation in January 2021.
Investigators have long looked at Randy Allen Taylor. At Taylor’s 2014 trial for the murder of Alexis Murphy, C-VILLE Weekly reported that Taylor was the suspect in the 2010 disappearance of Samantha Clarke, and that Orange Detective Evans Oakerson — who had investigated Clarke’s case — was in the courtroom. The Charley Project lists Taylor as a possible suspect, noting that he knew Samantha and spoke with her by phone on the day she vanished.
Samantha’s mother has said that two men imprisoned with Taylor recorded him telling them where he buried her daughter; about three years before the September 2026 anniversary, police took her to that site and dug. No remains were found.
Taylor is serving two life sentences for the August 2013 abduction and murder of 17-year-old Alexis Murphy. He has never been charged in Samantha Clarke’s disappearance and is presumed innocent of any involvement unless and until a court finds otherwise.
Theories: what might have happened
Homicide. In January 2021 the case was reclassified as an abduction and homicide investigation. Supports it: the abrupt total silence, leaving with only her house key, no sign she planned to go anywhere — and no contact in sixteen years. Unresolved: no body, no confirmed crime scene, no charges.
The Randy Allen Taylor connection. Taylor, convicted of murdering Alexis Murphy, was investigated in connection with Clarke’s case — he knew her, called her the night she vanished, and remains listed as a possible suspect by the Charley Project. But investigation is not accusation: he was never charged, and the presumption of innocence applies. The link remains what it has always been — a lead that never became a case.
Voluntary disappearance. Considered and discarded. A close-knit 19-year-old who told her brother she’d be back in the morning and then went permanently silent, with no contact in sixteen years, does not fit any voluntary-departure pattern.
Have information?
Contact the Orange County Sheriff’s Office at (540) 672-1200 (case 2010-022414) or the Town of Orange Police Department. You can also call the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s tip line at 1-800-843-5678. In an emergency, dial 911.
Timeline
- July 17, 1991 — Samantha Ann Clarke is born.
- September 13, 2010, ~midnight — Leaves her home on Lindsey Drive, Orange, VA, telling her younger brother she’ll be back in the morning; takes only her house key; vanishes.
- September 15, 2010 — Reported missing, two days after she was last seen.
- May 2014 — Randy Allen Taylor convicted of the abduction and first-degree murder of Alexis Murphy; sentenced to two life terms.
- January 2021 — Clarke’s case reclassified from missing-person to abduction and homicide.
- September 2026 — Sixteenth anniversary; her mother publicly criticizes the investigation; police say the case remains an active criminal investigation.
- Today — Still missing.
FAQ
Is Samantha Clarke still missing?
Yes. As of October 2026, Samantha Clarke has been missing for 16 years.
Was Samantha Clarke ever found?
No. No trace of Samantha has ever been found.
Who is Randy Allen Taylor and what is his connection to the case?
Taylor was convicted in 2014 of the abduction and murder of 17-year-old Alexis Murphy. Investigators looked at him in connection with Samantha Clarke’s disappearance, but he was never charged in her case and is presumed innocent of any involvement unless a court finds otherwise.
How old would Samantha Clarke be today?
Samantha was 19 in September 2010 — she would be 35 now.
How can I help?
Share this case file. Anyone with information should contact the Orange County Sheriff’s Office or the FBI.
Corrections (October 2026 verification pass)
- “Last text at 7:50 p.m.” narrative removed — replaced with sourced account. The 7:50 p.m. text message and “her phone went dark” framing could not be verified in any published source and conflict with the sourced timeline: Samantha left home around midnight on September 13, 2010, told her younger brother she’d be back in the morning, and took only her house key (Charley Project; podcast transcript citing the family). Rewritten accordingly.
- Height/weight: “5’4″, ~110 lbs” → “5’1″, 145 lbs.” Per the Charley Project. (Some secondary sources list up to 5’4″; weight is consistently 145 lbs.)
- Born: “~1991” → July 17, 1991. Per the Charley Project.
- Investigating agency corrected: removed “FBI” (unverified in published sources); the case is handled by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office (case 2010-022414) and the Town of Orange Police Department. Tip line added: (540) 672-1200.
- Added verified developments: case reclassified from missing-person to abduction and homicide in January 2021 (Cville Right Now); Taylor was the named suspect at his 2014 trial per C-VILLE Weekly; mother says Taylor called the house phone six times the night Samantha vanished (Cville Right Now, Sept 2026); prison-recording burial tip searched with no results (Cville Right Now, Sept 2026).
- Physical description expanded (piercings, tattoos, glasses, nickname “Sam”) per the Charley Project.
Sources
- Official / law enforcement: Orange County Sheriff’s Office; FBI.
- Reference: The Charley Project; NamUs; National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
- News: The Daily Progress (Charlottesville); Richmond Times-Dispatch; NBC29.
Found an error? Tell us via the About page and we will fix it promptly and note the change here. Last verified October 2026.