Where is Pamela Pedro?

On September 13, 1982, 17-year-old Pamela Ann Pedro was dropped off at school in Atwater, California. She was a gifted student, a classical pianist, a black belt in karate, and a high school senior preparing to graduate early. By that afternoon, she had vanished.

In this episode of The Lost Girls Podcast, hosts LaDonna Humphrey and Amy Smith examine the disappearance of Pamela Ann Pedro, a case that has remained unresolved for more than four decades.

Pamela was last seen on the morning of September 13 outside Atwater High School, where she was reportedly talking to an unidentified person on a pay phone. When Pamela's mother arrived to pick her up at approximately 1:30 p.m., her daughter wasn't there. She waited, asked the school to page Pamela, and eventually contacted Pamela's father when Pamela still failed to appear.

According to accounts of the case, Pamela's parents contacted law enforcement at approximately 4:30 that afternoon but were told that a missing-person report could not be taken until 24 hours had passed. Pamela has never been heard from again.

At the time she disappeared, Pamela was just 11 days past her seventeenth birthday. She was 5 feet 1 inch tall and weighed approximately 110 pounds. She had black hair, dark brown eyes, a dimple on her left cheek, and a small mole beneath her right eye. Pamela wore braces and large-framed eyeglasses and was of Filipino descent. She was last known to be wearing a light blue and pink checkered long-sleeved shirt, blue corduroy pants, and blue Nike sneakers.

There have been conflicting classifications and details associated with Pamela's case over the years. Some agencies have classified her as a runaway, while other records describe her as endangered missing. Even basic information has sometimes differed between sources, including her date of birth, disappearance date, and hometown. What has remained constant is the most important fact: Pamela disappeared as a 17-year-old girl in September 1982, and her family has spent decades without an answer.

There are also significant reasons to continue asking what happened to her. Pamela reportedly never obtained a driver's license after her disappearance, and there has been no known activity associated with her Social Security number. Her father died in 1986 without learning what happened to his daughter. Her mother later remarried and moved to Oregon, but she has continued searching for Pamela.

More than forty years later, one detail from that September morning remains especially important: the unidentified person Pamela was reportedly speaking with on the pay phone outside her school. Who was on the other end of that call? Did Pamela leave voluntarily to meet someone she trusted, or was that conversation connected to something far more dangerous? And does someone still know what happened after Pamela arrived at school that morning?

LaDonna and Amy discuss the circumstances surrounding Pamela's disappearance, the early response to her case, the conflicting information that has followed it through the decades, and why missing teenagers—particularly those initially considered possible runaways—deserve thorough investigations from the very beginning.

Pamela Ann Pedro would be 60 years old today. Age-progressed images have been created to show what she might look like as an older woman. Regardless of how much time has passed, Pamela is still missing, her case is still unresolved, and her family still deserves answers.

If you have information about the disappearance of Pamela Ann Pedro, even if it seems insignificant or you believe investigators may already know it, please contact the Merced County Sheriff's Department at 209-385-7444.

Someone may remember Pamela. Someone may remember who she was talking to that morning. Someone may remember something they dismissed as unimportant in 1982.

After more than four decades, that memory could be the piece that finally helps bring Pamela home.

Case: Pamela Ann Pedro

Missing Since: September 13, 1982

Missing From: Atwater, California

Age When Missing: 17

Classification: Endangered Missing

Investigating Agency: Merced County Sheriff's Department

Tips: 209-385-7444

The Lost Girls Podcast is hosted by LaDonna Humphrey and Amy Smith and is dedicated to telling the stories of missing and murdered women and girls while keeping the focus where it belongs: on the women, their families, and the search for answers.