Missing Since: 1980-01-12 Location: Sacramento, California
Scruggs was last seen at her apartment near Fair Oaks Boulevard and Howe Avenue in Sacramento, California on January 12, 1980. She talked to a friend on the phone at 6:30 p.m., and said she was scheduled to work the next day. Scruggs’s roommate was spending the night elsewhere. When she arrived home the next day, Scruggs was missing. All her belongings, including her purse, clothing and identification, were left behind in the apartment, and she had not gone to work or called to say she would be absent. Foul play is suspected in Scruggs’s case; authorities believe a neighbor murdered her and concealed her body. The suspect had cuts and scratches on his body after Scruggs’s disappearance, and eluded the police for three months before he was picked up and interrogated for twelve hours. He denied involvement in Scruggs’s disappearance and was eventually sent to prison for an unrelated rape. He was paroled in 1989 has never been charged in Scruggs’s case. Scruggs was a student at California State University at Sacramento in 1980; she studied political science and international affairs and had a job as a sales clerk at Weinstocks. She is originally from Pismo Beach, California. Her case remains unsolved. Investigating Agency Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department 916-874-5467 Source Information California Attorney General’s Office The Sacramento Bee NamUs Updated 2 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated May 1, 2010; middle name and picture added, distinguishing characteristics and details of disappearance updated.