Unsolved cases

Lora Lee Michel

Lora Lee Michel was born in La Grange, Texas, on September 13, 1940, to Willie Walker Willeford and Lena Smith Brunson.

Brunson gave Michel and two other younger siblings up for adoption when Michel was five years old. She was adopted by Otto and Loraine Michel in Schulenborg, Texas. Lora has a sister named, Barbara Michel Wright. 

In the 1940s, Michel was a successful child actress, appearing in a total of 19 films. By the age of nine, she was earning 100 dollars a day.

In 1950, Michel told one of her friends her adoptive mother, Lorraine Michel, was "starving her to keep her small and slim so that she could continue to get screen roles" which led to Lorraine's arrest.

Lora Lee's birth mother, Lena Brunson, filed a countersuit in Beverly Hills for custody of her daughter.

During the custody battle, there was a fight between Mrs. Brunson and Laura's former agent and drama coach Onia Wargin on one side, and Mrs. Michel and her friend Mrs. Effie Forrest on the other, when Mrs. Brunson attempted to hug and physically hold Michel.

At the trial, a clergyman testified that to him, Michel appeared to be "terribly bruised" which she claims to have been from physical punishes made by Lorraine. The clergyman also said that he had seen Michel at her drama coach's home and that she had "black and blue marks on her arms, shoulder, buttocks, and legs. But Michel denied it. Michel said she had not been physically punished but had only been sent to bed.

Onia Wargin, Michel's drama couch, claimed that Otto and Lorain were starving Michel and that Loraine said "I am determined to conquer her gluttonous appetite".

The judge, despite questioning whether Michel was telling the truth or not, ruled that the adoption was legal and gave custody of Michel to her adoptive parents, telling them to move to Texas and let her live a "normal life".

In Texas, Michel was enrolled in Saint Agnes Academy in Houston. Michel even performed in some of the local theoretical productions.

In February 1958, at the age of 17, Michel married Donald Mayo Ford. She gave birth to a baby girl named Donna Ann but decided to put her up for adoption. It was claimed by Donald that they divorced in either November or December 1958.

On February 12, 1959, Michel gave birth to a baby boy named William Henry but the baby was born with congenital atelectasis and passed away the same day.

In February 1960, Michel met Joe Mendel Owen and wed on March 5, 1960. After two weeks, Michel leaves him but they do not legally divorce.

On August 160, she meets Carey Hand Bray, who claims that the two divorced on November 7, 1961, although the divorce record has not been found.

Michel moved to Corpus Christi and worked as a waitress in a nightclub in February 1961. There she meets Frank O'Neil Scoot, who was a former Marine and served in the Korean War before enlisting in the Army.

Despite the two being married to other people, they got married on July 22, 1961. Scott deserted the army in February 1962 and with Michel, they began doing schemes.

The two were arrested in El Paso, Texas in December 1962 and charged in a federal court with driving a stolen court over state lines. According to the reports, Michel and Scott had stolen a 1957 Mercury demonstration model in Arkansas and had driven it to Houston. They started embarking on a six-month trip around the southern and eastern of the United States after they stole Michel's ex-husband's car which was a Ford Convertible, and used three credit cards that were found in the glove department, and ran up 3,700 dollars in bills.

Scott was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison while Michael was sentenced to 13 months at the Federal Women's Institution in West Virginia, After her release, Michel disappeared.

In May 2022, the Los Angeles Times published an article by writer Stacy Herman titled "What  happened to former child star Lora Lee Michel?". In the article, Michellel's sister Barbara Wright Issacs was reported to still be searching for Michel after 55 years, believing that "she's either got to be dead or doesn't want to be found".

Stacy Merman discovered notes kept by Michel's second husband, Joel Wendel Owen, which suggested that Michel had died in 1979 of cancer.

It is still believed that she did die from cancer but her disappearance is still...

Unknown