Missing Since: 1976-04-21 Location: Columbia Falls, Montana
Nancy was last seen in Columbia Falls, Montana on April 21, 1976. She babysat for a neighborhood family that day and was last seen walking home afterwards. She never arrived at her residence and has never been heard from again. Nancy’s parents were divorced and she lived with her grandmother at the time of her disappearance. Her loved ones described her as a normal teenager and a good student who was interested in the hippie counterculture. However, she was a chronic runaway, and had traveled as far as Seattle, Washington and Los Angeles, California. The police would always find her and bring her home. The day Nancy disappeared, she had just been returned home after running away and spent a day in lockup in Kalispell, Montana before being released to go back to her grandmother in Columbia Falls. It’s possible she ran away again. One of her teachers thought they saw her at a bar in Anchorage, Alaska in May 1983, seven years later, but this sighting was never confirmed. Less than a year before Nancy went missing, another teen girl, Robyn Pettinato, disappeared from a town about ten miles from Columbia Falls. She has never been found. It’s theorized that there’s some connection between the two cases, but this hasn’t been proven. Both cases remain unsolved. Investigating Agency Flathead County Sheriff’s Office 406-758-5585 Whitefish Police Department 406-863-2420 Source Information MySpace Page for Nancy Kirkpatrick The Doe Network The Daily Inter Lake Montana Missing Persons Clearinghouse The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children NamUs Nancy Kirkpatrick’s sister’s Facebook page The Missoulian Updated 8 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated December 31, 2017; details of disappearance updated.