Where Did She Go?

Lane DeGregory: LITHIA

She slept late last Sunday.

After her daughter and grandbaby had moved back to town, after her sister had flown in — surprise! — from Italy, her husband figured she was exhausted.

"I didn't think anything of it," he later told the police.

Margherita "Meg" Tanner woke just after noon and pulled on an old pair of jeans, a blouse with pink flowers, and flip-flops. She walked into the living room of their mobile home and slumped onto the sofa.

Their son's girlfriend was there with their two grandsons, ages 4 and 1. While the girlfriend did laundry in the kitchen, Meg, 50, and her husband, Mark, 53, played with the boys.

Soon Meg went outside for a cigarette. Minutes passed. "She must be getting hot out there," Mark thought. He stretched up in his easy chair and looked outside.

His wife was gone.