Missing Since: 1990-06-01 Location: Mount Clemens, Michigan
Royce visited the Hayloft, a now-defunct bar in the 100 block of north Gratiot in Mount Clemens, Michigan, on June 1, 1990. She had gone on a date that day with a man she’d met a few days earlier. They met at his apartment and had a few drinks before going to the Hayloft. Another man, her date’s friend, went with them. The bar staff later stated the trio were behaving normally that evening; there was no apparent argument or anything unusual happening at their table. At around 11:00 p.m., while her date was in the restroom, Royce suddenly said she had to get out. She walked away from the table, leaving her shoes and her black purse behind. The security camera showed Royce walking out of the bar alone, fifty minutes after she arrived. She had had at least four drinks that evening. She appeared to be intoxicated when she left, and her family thinks she may have been drugged. A few minutes later, the men she was with went outside the bar to look for her, didn’t see her, and went back inside to wait for her to return. By 2:00 a.m., closing time, Royce had still not returned to the Hayloft. She has never been heard from again, and her car was left behind at her date’s apartment. There was a possible sighting of Royce at a pay phone across the street from the Hayloft on the night of her disappearance. There was a late 1970s model car nearby, but no one saw Royce get into the car. The police tried to pull the records from the pay phone, but were unsuccessful. Witnesses reported seeing a woman resembling Royce at Newport Apartments in Clinton Township, Michigan, a few days after her disappearance. Police investigated the sighting and determined the woman seen was not Royce. She has never been heard from again. The two men who accompanied her to the bar that night were interviewed by police and cleared as suspects. Leslie Williams was arrested after confessing to the murders of four teenagers in eastern Michigan in May 1992. There was speculation that Williams may have been involved in Royce’s case, but he was in prison at the time she disappeared. Royce was divorced and lived with her parents in Madison Heights, Michigan prior to her disappearance; she was attending business school. Her case remains unsolved. Investigating Agency Macomb County Sheriff’s Office 586-307-9358 Source Information Mount Clemens Police Department The Detroit Free Press The Doe Network NamUs WXYZ 7 Already Gone Podcast Updated 3 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated March 28, 2019; last name corrected, four pictures added, distinguishing characteristics and details of disappearance updated.