Missing Since: 1992-06-18 Location: Gallatin, Tennessee
Diane was last seen in Gallatin, Tennessee on June 18, 1992. She had recently moved into an apartment in Hendersonville, Tennessee with her young daughter, and would drop the child off at her mother’s house while she was at work. On the day of her disappearance, Diane’s estranged husband of eight years, Bruce M. Vaughn, picked up their daughter from Diane’s mother’s house and took her to his own home in White House, Tennessee. Diane called her cousin that day and said she was going to White House to pick up her daughter. Bruce stated she did come over, then they had an argument and she left. She told him she was going to get gas and dinner and return to her apartment. She was supposed to visit her cousin afterwards, but never arrived there. She has never been heard from again. Her blue 1991 Ford Tempo was found abandoned on June 20, parked outside O’Charley’s restaurant on Two Mile Parkway at the Rivergate Mall in Goodlettsville, Tennessee. One employee at O’Charley’s thought he’d seen her sitting alone at the bar on the night of June 18, but everyone else said she hadn’t been there. Police believe the car may have been parked at the restaurant to mislead the investigation. One witness reported seeing a woman matching Diane’s description outside of O’Charley’s at 11:00 p.m. on the night of her disappearance, getting into a truck with a man who had shoulder-length red hair and a beard. The man’s pickup truck was a red 1980s model with a toolbox, chrome running boards and White spoke wheels. This sighting has never been confirmed. At the time of her disappearance, Diane was seeing a married coworker and had just started divorce proceedings against Bruce. Police called his actions after her disappearance “bizarre”: he refused to cooperate with the investigation and quickly retained an attorney. He also gave two different versions of when he last saw Diane: in one version, he said she left his house at 8:00 p.m., and in another story he claimed she left later, sometime after 9:30 p.m. According to Diane’s cousin, Bruce did not want his wife to divorce him and threatened suicide if she went through with it. He would also call her at the grocery store where she worked and threaten to come over there to talk to her. There was no known history of violence in the couple’s relationship, however, and Diane’s mother defended her son-in-law in the media. Investigators believe Diane was the victim of a homicide. Her case remains unsolved. Investigating Agency Sumner County Sheriff’s Office 615-452-2616 Source Information NamUs Middle Tennessee Mysteries The Tennessean Updated 1 time since October 12, 2004. Last updated July 18, 2020; casefile added.