Arlington woman still seeking answers 45 years after mother's disappearance
KING COUNTY, Wash. - What happened to Barbara McClure? It’s a question her loved ones have been asking since she disappeared in 1978, and it’s at the top of her daughter's mind, Jamie Stupey, every day.
McClure was last seen walking home from the Fandango Disco in Lake Forest Park on November 2, 1978. Nine days later, her driver’s license was found near the intersection of I-5 and I-405. Her daughter was just two years old when her mom disappeared.
"I have always had a vision of her knocking on my door for some odd reason and me not having a word to say because you don’t know what to say," Stupey said.
Sunday marked McClure’s 70th birthday.
Stupey told FOX 13 she strongly believes she’ll find the answers she’s looking for, but the clock is ticking.
"It’s been 45 years so, the detective at the time has passed, my grandparents have passed, there’s no more time and if we don’t find the answers soon, the people responsible are going to be dead," Stupey said. "Some of the people I’m talking to are almost 90."
Last week, a billboard with the words "What happened to Barbara McClure?" went up in Edmonds.
"It’s like a 5,000-10,000-piece puzzle because there are so many pieces," Stupey said. "I do believe she deserves justice and I believe I deserve answers and I believe that 2-year-old who was left in a crib because her mom didn’t come home deserves for people to come forward and tell what they know."
As a mom now herself, Stupey told FOX 13 that not knowing what happened to her own mother heavily impacted her until a few years ago. It made holidays like Mother’s Day hard, but she says she’s blessed and now looks at it differently.
"I think about that mom who lost time, she lost time, and she didn’t deserve that, she deserves people to look for her and she deserved to raise that little girl who looked for her," Stupey said.
Stupey adds, she would love to see whoever is responsible for this serve time, but what’s more important to her is just knowing the truth about what happened. Stupey is also calling for detectives dedicated to cold cases in King County, so that families like hers don’t have to wait 45 years for answers.
FOX 13 reached out to the King County Sheriff’s Office about this case. They said they can’t comment because this is still an active and open investigation.
If you know anything about McClure’s disappearance, you’re asked to contact crime stoppers at 800-222-8477.
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