Key facts
- Name: Sandra Kay Powell
- Born: March 15, 1970
- Age at disappearance: 16
- Last seen: March 11, 1987
- Location: South Bend, Indiana
- Height / build: 5’5, 130 pounds, black hair, brown eyes; chipped teeth; scar on right side of neck; ears pierced
- Other: About four months pregnant
- Status: Still missing — Endangered Missing (first filed as a runaway)
- Investigating agency: South Bend PD (574-235-9201); Black and Missing Foundation (877-97-BAMFI)
The witness
She hid in the floorboard of the car.
In June of 1986, Sandra — 16, a Washington High School student living with her mother Sally McCoy — was sitting in the passenger seat of a parked car while her friends Tonya Newbill and Wayne Mack stood beside it. A car drove by and one of its passengers opened fire.
“I heard gunfire. Tonya screamed and ran. Wayne struggled to get to his car. He grabbed his side and said, ‘I’m shot’ and fell.” Wayne Mack, shot in the abdomen and chest, died in the hospital.
Sandra and Tonya testified later that year, though neither had seen the shooter. Bobby Peck, 22, was found guilty of murder; the motive was retaliation. During the trial, an unidentified person threatened several witnesses, including Sandra. There was extra courthouse security and some witnesses were placed in protective custody.
Sandra Powell was sixteen, four months pregnant, and a witness in a murder trial where the people who took the stand had been threatened.
The night she vanished
March 11, 1987 — four days before Sandra’s seventeenth birthday —. She spent the day with a friend, and at some point during the evening the two became separated. Sandra never came home.
The friend said Sandra had been on the phone with an unknown person the night before, but insisted she had given no indication of wanting to run away. She took none of her belongings and no money.
The father of her unborn baby had told her he planned to marry someone else. But an upset teenager and a runaway are not the same thing.
Police listed her as a runaway. Her dental records were never collected — and they have since been lost, which would seriously hinder identifying her remains if they were ever found. It took about fifteen years for the case to be reclassified as Endangered Missing.
The tips went nowhere. A friend thought she saw Sandra on Soul Train; police never got a tape of the episode. Another tipster claimed Sandra was appearing in adult films; her relatives watched several looking for her and never saw her. Authorities say they have not received credible tips in years, and are uncertain whether her disappearance is connected to the trial at all.
The investigation
South Bend police carry Sandra’s case (574-235-9201; case no. 89005175), and the Black and Missing Foundation — which brings attention to missing people of color whose cases receive less coverage — carries her file at 877-97-BAMFI.
This is a case defined as much by what didn’t happen: the dental records never collected, the runaway label stuck for fifteen years, the sightings never verified. In 2014, her mother Sally McCoy told ABC57: “It’s possible. Definitely possible,” she said “The children and I try to go along day by day, just thinking that she’s out there someplace. Everybody says give it up and admit she’s dead. But I don’t do that. I still have hope.”
An age-progression image of Sandra at 52 was released in 2022. The Endangered Missing classification means investigators treat her disappearance as suspicious, not voluntary. After nearly forty years, the most honest thing in the file is a mother refusing to stop saying her daughter’s name.
Theories: what might have happened
Retaliation for her testimony. A 16-year-old witness in a murder trial, threatened during the proceedings, disappears a year after the conviction. Supports it: the threats were real and documented, and the timing is close. Undercuts it as a finding: authorities are uncertain whether her disappearance is related to the trial, and no one has ever been charged or publicly named in connection with her case. Any living person is presumed innocent.
Foul play unrelated to the trial. The unknown phone call, the separation from her friend, the boyfriend marrying someone else — but no thread has produced a suspect, a witness, or a credible tip in years.
Voluntary departure. Undercuts it: Sandra took no belongings and no money, showed no sign of wanting to leave, and was four months pregnant. A pregnant sixteen-year-old does not run away with nothing and stay silent for thirty-nine years.
Have information?
Contact South Bend police at (574) 235-9201 or the Black and Missing Foundation at 877-97-BAMFI. In an emergency, dial 911.
Timeline
- March 15, 1970 — Sandra Kay Powell is born.
- June 1986 — Sandra witnesses the drive-by shooting that kills her friend Wayne Mack in South Bend.
- Late 1986 — Sandra testifies; Bobby Peck is found guilty. Sandra and other witnesses are threatened by an unidentified person.
- March 11, 1987 — Sandra spends the day with a friend; they become separated in the evening and she never comes home.
- 1987 — Filed as a runaway. Her dental records are never collected.
- Circa 2002 — The case is reclassified as Endangered Missing, about fifteen years later.
- 2014 — Her mother Sally McCoy speaks to ABC57, still hoping Sandra is alive.
- 2022 — An age-progression image of Sandra at 52 is released.
- Today — Still missing.
FAQ
Is Sandra Powell still missing?
Yes. As of October 2026, Sandra Powell has been missing for 39 years, and the South Bend Police Department’s case remains open.
Was Sandra Powell ever found?
No. No trace of Sandra has ever been verified.
How old would Sandra Powell be today?
Born March 15, 1970, she turned 56 in March 2026.
What was the murder trial Sandra testified in?
In June 1986, Sandra witnessed the drive-by shooting of her friend Wayne Mack. She later testified at the trial where 22-year-old Bobby Peck was found guilty of murder. Sandra and other witnesses were threatened by an unidentified person during the proceedings.
Why do her dental records matter?
Classified as a runaway, her dental records were never collected — and they have since been lost. Dental records are a primary way unidentified remains are matched to missing persons, so their loss seriously hinders any future identification.
Who is investigating Sandra Powell’s case?
The South Bend Police Department (574-235-9201; case no. 89005175), and the Black and Missing Foundation (877-97-BAMFI).
Sources
- Official / law enforcement: South Bend Police Department (case open; (574) 235-9201; case no. 89005175); Black and Missing Foundation, Inc. (877-97-BAMFI).
- News: ABC57 (2014: Sally McCoy, via Our Black Girls).
- Reference: The Charley Project, “Sandra Kay Powell” (retrieved Oct 2026); The Doe Network; Our Black Girls; True Crime P.I. podcast; Cat Leigh, “Pregnant Teen Vanishes After Testifying In Murder Case.”
Correction: an earlier version described Sandra as a 33-year-old who vanished in 1999 after visiting a boyfriend, with her purse found at a car wash. None of those details appear in any public record for Sandra Kay Powell; the verified record is a 16-year-old who vanished in South Bend on March 11, 1987. Found a further error? Tell us via the About page and we will note the fix here. Last verified October 2026.