Hello! I haven't posted on this message board in a looong time!

Anyways, I watched a segment on TV the other day. It's about a woman named Mary Ann Perez from New-Orleans, who went out to a Country music bar one night in the late 70's and vanished. Her car was found in the bar's parking lot; her purse with all of her ID's and money were eventually found in a lake.

A few years after a woman called her daughter-in-law's house and told her that Mary Ann was still alive but that she wasn't allowed to come on the phone. Also, a killer in a prison in another state apparently confessed that he and his wife murdered her, but since her body was never found it's hard to put much credence on what that guy said.

This is one creepy segment! Has her family ever got to know what happened to Mary Ann??

Hello! I haven't posted on this message board in a looong time!

Anyways, I watched a segment on TV the other day. It's about a woman named Mary Ann Perez from New-Orleans, who went out to a Country music bar one night in the late 70's and vanished. Her car was found in the bar's parking lot; her purse with all of her ID's and money were eventually found in a lake.

A few years after a woman called her daughter-in-law's house and told her that Mary Ann was still alive but that she wasn't allowed to come on the phone. Also, a killer in a prison in another state apparently confessed that he and his wife murdered her, but since her body was never found it's hard to put much credence on what that guy said.

This is one creepy segment! Has her family ever got to know what happened to Mary Ann??

Welcome back! :) I've never heard any further about what happened to Mary Ann Perez. The serial killer seemed to know quite a bit of info about her so I tend to think (even though serial killers sometimes have a tendency to confess to killing tons of people) that he is telling the truth. As to why her body was never found, I'm wondering if she could have regained consciousness, briefly, and wandered off where she later died and her body is still out there somewhere. Of course too bad they can't find out that "kook" who called her family and gave them false hope, imo, so they can throw the book at her.

about to watch this one again

Sad case. I have a couple of things to say.

I find it very hard to believe that she's still alive regardless of what the anonymous caller said. One of her relatives suggested that she was being choked by the serial killer but managed to escape. As a result of being choked, she suffered from amnesia. That seems very unlikely. It's been about thirty years since she's disappeared and she still hasn't turned up. I do believe that the serial killer and his wife killed Mary Ann but her remains have yet to be found. Louisiana has a lot of swamp land, so her body could have been dumped somewhere like that.

I find it very hard to believe that she's still alive regardless of what the anonymous caller said. One of her relatives suggested that she was being choked by the serial killer but managed to escape. As a result of being choked, she suffered from amnesia. That seems very unlikely. It's been about thirty years since she's disappeared and she still hasn't turned up. I do believe that the serial killer and his wife killed Mary Ann but her remains have yet to be found. Louisiana has a lot of swamp land, so her body could have been dumped somewhere like that.

1. Till her body is found, the possibility of her being alive can't be ruled out.

2. Keep in mind that we are taking the word of a deranged serial killer, who he himself cannot fully identitfy her as the victim. Killing is no problem for him, how hard is it for him to lie? For all we know he may have thouht he could gets some leniency if he identifies a missing woman. It is quite possble that Mary was never Courtney's victim, period.

3. If Mary isn;t the victim of Courtney, there may be other possibilities to her disappearance. There are two scenrios were she could be alive.
a. She staged her own disappearance and is living in Mexico
b. She is suffereing from amnesia or some other mental handicap.
c. Some form of Stockholm Syndrome took place after a kidnapping and she has stayed with her abducter. (least likely scenario)

1. Till her body is found, the possibility of her being alive can't be ruled out.

2. Keep in mind that we are taking the word of a deranged serial killer, who he himself cannot fully identitfy her as the victim. Killing is no problem for him, how hard is it for him to lie? For all we know he may have thouht he could gets some leniency if he identifies a missing woman. It is quite possble that Mary was never Courtney's victim, period.

3. If Mary isn;t the victim of Courtney, there may be other possibilities to her disappearance. There are two scenrios were she could be alive.
a. She staged her own disappearance and is living in Mexico
b. She is suffereing from amnesia or some other mental handicap.
c. Some form of Stockholm Syndrome took place after a kidnapping and she has stayed with her abducter. (least likely scenario)
1. This is true. But I still have my doubts.
2. One cannot just accept Courtney's word; I agree. But he did claim that he killed her and Perez hasn't been seen since. There's something to that. I don't think he would gain much from identifying her as his victim. If anything, he would receive further punishment.
3. If she did stage her own disappearance, we would have to find some motives. The UM segment didn't have any mention of her wanting to leave her family.

One of the things I remember most about this episode was how heartbreaking it was to watch one of her daughters, who seemed to be totally heartbroken about this, and kept saying she had hope up until the end. Very very sad and disturbing case... all b/c a hard-working, single mom just wanted to have a night out on the town with a friend. Makes you kind of sick really.

In the segment the daughter says that between 10 and 11 Mary Ann called to say she will be home shortly. But instead another woman calls hours later (1.30 in the morning) to tell that Mary Ann has car trouble and will come home soon.
Nobody knows that female caller, there was no car trouble so obvious this was a lie.
Probably in an attempt to buy time:
1. in case the family would be worried already and report her missing.
2. so that they would have enough time to hide the body and out of the area before cops would drive around to search for Mary Ann
Another point about that late call is that the serial killer did not act alone. He had a participating wife. So therefor I do think they at least had Mary Ann for a couple of hours and the wife made the call.
Maybe Mary Ann said something about her family being worried if she would not show up. In an attempt to get away from this couple. That brought the couple to the idea of calling.

I do not think Mary Ann is alive today because:
1. I have never heard of a mother that let her daughter babysit, go out first, call home later to say she will be home soon and then decide to start a new life on her own. That doesn't sound logical to me.
2. both the killer and his wife claim that they lure Mary Ann into the car and later kill her. And they did know details about the case.

I also think the call years later about a captive Mary Ann sounds strange. Not genuine. It is highly unlikely to held a person captive for fifteen years. (Íf other people abducted her.) And if the words spoken by the female caller in the UM segment are accurate and correct reinacted then it is weird to say 'I don't understand why you don't want to help her' and immediately thereafter hanging up. It just does not ad up.

Another point: the body is never found and all other victims of David Courtney are. It is possible he had made more victims that he never spoke of because nobody asked him who have been never found.
And sometimes a body won't be found because wild animals spread parts of the body. I am sure there are more explanations.

For the family it would be good if they could bury her and have a place to lay flowers. For them I hope she will be found.

I also think the call years later about a captive Mary Ann sounds strange. Not genuine. It is highly unlikely to held a person captive for fifteen years. (Íf other people abducted her.) And if the words spoken by the female caller in the UM segment are accurate and correct reinacted then it is weird to say 'I don't understand why you don't want to help her' and immediately thereafter hanging up. It just does not ad up.

Good post. I always thought these phone calls were so dumb. "I don't understand why you don't want to help her"....well maybe if you stayed on the line for more than two seconds you stupid b----!

I have to think she encountered some manner of foul play. She could have been murdered by the serial killer who confessed. I just don't buy that she is alive all these years later.

Exactly, if you have just one chance to seek help for Mary Ann you do not say such a sentence and immediately hang up after that. This sounds more like a revenge call. Someone who had some beef with the direct family of Mary Ann. Someone they know by voice and that's why that person did not call them but another person in the family. If this had been a genuine call that person would try and try to get help. Would have given directions to where they were and other relevant details. Anything. Would have taken all the time she had to make that 'sneaky' call. No, this was done to hurt the family and for no other reason. It would be a good thing if they catch that person because this kind of calls should be punished.

Fifteen years is a too long time to be captive. I remember only one case where a person was held longer than that, for 24 years, and that was done by a familymember. Not a random person.

Exactly, if you have just one chance to seek help for Mary Ann you do not say such a sentence and immediately hang up after that. This sounds more like a revenge call. Someone who had some beef with the direct family of Mary Ann. Someone they know by voice and that's why that person did not call them but another person in the family. If this had been a genuine call that person would try and try to get help. Would have given directions to where they were and other relevant details. Anything. Would have taken all the time she had to make that 'sneaky' call. No, this was done to hurt the family and for no other reason. It would be a good thing if they catch that person because this kind of calls should be punished.

Fifteen years is a too long time to be captive. I remember only one case where a person was held longer than that, for 24 years, and that was done by a familymember. Not a random person.

I don't believe that Mary Ann is alive, either. I think the killer was telling the truth, and her body just hasn't been found for whatever reason. The call sounded like a crank call to me, kind of like that phone call saying that woman from Omaha was still alive, when really she'd died during an abortion.

However, it's not beyond the realm of possibility for someone to be kept captive, even by a stranger. Jaycee Dugard was kept for 18 years.

You're right about the Jaycee Lee Dugard case. That was indeed more than 18 years. Bút, in all the cases where women are captive for that long they were used as sex slaves. They were abducted at a young age. As children or in their young adult lifes (18 or 19 years old) and in this case we talk about a grown older woman. Usually not the preferred age for that kind of predators. Another argument of which I think it is not possible she was held captive for that amount of time.

Yes, I believe that the guy that confessed to killing her did do it. Strange they didn't find the body but not that unusual, depending on where exactly it was left and the environment/predators/etc. Whoever made those phone calls had a cruel sense of humor.

Yes, I believe that the guy that confessed to killing her did do it. Strange they didn't find the body but not that unusual, depending on where exactly it was left and the environment/predators/etc. Whoever made those phone calls had a cruel sense of humor.

Considering that the confessed killer and his wife were drunk or on drugs or whatever, it doesn't surprise me that the body wasn't found. And the phone call smacked of a crank call to me. Didn't the caller say something like, "Why aren't you trying to find her?" What purpose would that serve? Just to be cruel and make somebody feel guilty, is what I think.

Considering that the confessed killer and his wife were drunk or on drugs or whatever, it doesn't surprise me that the body wasn't found. And the phone call smacked of a crank call to me. Didn't the caller say something like, "Why aren't you trying to find her?" What purpose would that serve? Just to be cruel and make somebody feel guilty, is what I think.

I agree; this is perhaps the most heartbreaking case ever profiled on UM,, at least for me. First of all, the children of Mary Ann seem so sweet and lovely, and it's horrible to think that they had to suffer without a mother all this time.

I think the thing that makes me lose hope that she might be found is that her purse was found weighted down with a brick in the lake. Obviously, she met with foul play because that would not have been done for any reason other than to hide evidence (and I'm positive Mary Ann did not intentionally run away).

The only question is: Did David Courtney do it, and did Mary Ann die? I am not sure he did it, b/c his details were sketchy (met a woman at a bar and she was tipsy)...that's very general. Plus the body wasn't found where he claimed it would be.

At the same time, I do think she is dead, and I wish that her body could be found so that her family could have some peace!!!

You have to wonder why this type of crap happens to such great people.:mad: :confused: ohno:

She would be 68 now, if alive. Hard to believe someone would have kept her a prisoner for 35 years and is now running an old age home too.

I'm not sure if she will ever be found-dead or alive, but you can't lose hope, she could of had amnesia and has since blended into society.

Based on what was presented I think David Courtney killed her.

Based on what was presented I think David Courtney killed her.
I think he killed her-or tried to, because her body was never recovered even though all other of Courtney's victims were found where he said they would be. I just can't rule out the very small chance she was just knocked unconscious and woke up not knowing anything.

Did they ever determine who the caller was that made the first phone call? The woman who identified herself as "Dorothy"?

It would be nice to believe that she's still alive somewhere, but unfortunately I think it's highly unlikely. For nearly 4 decades now there hasn't been so much as a whisper about anyone having seen her or recognizing someone as her. Also, based on something I saw in another thread, I'm inclined to believe that even her family has come to accept that she is probably gone forever. Mary Ann's daughter Shannon, who was interviewed in the segment, died in 2009, and in the obituary she is described as being the daughter of "the late Mary Ann Perez." While there have been no new developments that might make a hard fact out of that, I can't imagine the family willingly putting that in there if they still thought the was a good possibility that she was out there somewhere.

Well after viewing this segment time and again, I can honestly say this case only has two outcomes:Murder or Abduction! I tend to lean more toward murder because of the confession of the murder from the serial killer and his wife and that Louisiana has so many swamps and creatures there would probably be no trace left of her. However, knowing now about Jaycee Dugard and her lengthy abduction from a non family member, (its a rare occurrence, but still a slim hope) that this could be the case or a combination of the two.

I feel that she is dead sadly. I wanted to know if David Courtney and his wife were truely in the vicinity around the time Mary disappeared?

About that phone call received the night of Mary Ann's disappearance, could it have been David Courtney's wife? Maybe she got the number from Mary Ann, pretending she would call for her (if the lured into the trailer story is true) and then called so that no one would come looking for her.

About that phone call received the night of Mary Ann's disappearance, could it have been David Courtney's wife? Maybe she got the number from Mary Ann, pretending she would call for her (if the lured into the trailer story is true) and then called so that no one would come looking for her.

Good possibility. I found it weird in the segment the caller says something like, "I don't understand why you don't want to help her!" and then hangs up. Almost like the caller may have been egging the daughter-in-law for something along the lines of a reward or personal info and the daughter-in-law didn't know how to respond which made the caller angry. I think Courtney murdered Mary Ann on the night she went missing unfortunately. I think the only reason LE is holding on to the fact that she might be alive was the fact that all of Courtney's other victims turned up where he said they would be.

I really don't know on this one, a big part of me thinks she could be alive but then I think she could be dead too. Why would only her purse have been found in the river? If she's dead and buried out there somewhere, why stash the purse in a completely different location? Most women are very protective of their hand bags, because they contain everything that is important to them, why relinquish her purse to someone if she was alive. How would the mystery phone caller have gotten Mary Ann's phone number, much less a relative's if she were dead? I mean people are not inclined to give their or their family's phone numbers out to total strangers; it doesn't make sense. I mean someone will not need to write down their own phone number, right? Because it's their number and they know it by heart, so how would the mystery caller "Dorothy" have obtained the Mary Ann's and her sons numbers? Did the person who killed her possibly learn her last name? If she had amnesia as some have said there would be no way she would remember her phone number so someone else could call. She's gotta be dead and the calls were a hoax (cruel thing to do IMO) or someone mistook someone else for her, someone that looked like her. Sounds unlikely, but it does happen. It has happened to me before where I've been mistaken for someone else or have mistaken a stranger for someone I know, it doe s happen. Very strange case either way you slice it!

Another one that will, in all likelihood, never be solved.

I think the only reason LE is holding on to the fact that she might be alive was the fact that all of Courtney's other victims turned up where he said they would be.

I think this is probably it. I think Micki Jo West was a similar case--Marvin Irvin killed her, but her body has never been found and it wasn't where he said it was going to be. Unfortunately, this demonstrates the sobering reality that a small (mercifully) subset of people treats other people as less than a set of house keys.

I certainly think Courtney killed Mary Ann Perez.....and I also think "Dorothy" was his wife buying time so no one would look for her while they dumped her body. And for the call years later saying Mary Ann was still alive.....Courtney's wife was a sick person and Im sure since they had her purse they knew her name.....does anyone else think all those years later she found out who her family was and as a sick joke called them up to give them false hope since it was the only body or one of at least that he said he killed that wasnt found? Maybe she doesnt have the courage to kill on her own so she did something like that to get her rocks off

I certainly think Courtney killed Mary Ann Perez.....and I also think "Dorothy" was his wife buying time so no one would look for her while they dumped her body. And for the call years later saying Mary Ann was still alive.....Courtney's wife was a sick person and Im sure since they had her purse they knew her name.....does anyone else think all those years later she found out who her family was and as a sick joke called them up to give them false hope since it was the only body or one of at least that he said he killed that wasnt found? Maybe she doesnt have the courage to kill on her own so she did something like that to get her rocks off

Yes I also think David Courtney killed her and the call that she was still alive was a hoax.

My first impression when seeing this episode, was that Courtney was lying or possibly mis-remembered where he disposed of Ms./Mrs. Perez

This case is so sad. David Courtney and his wife need to meet this guy

http://31.media.tumblr.com/39d941c0125417abbda881f47baeb9c1/tumblr_myv1dlzZFs1r4ojo0o1_500.gif

Mary Ann Perez's, Shannon Perez Miller died in 2009.

I certainly think Courtney killed Mary Ann Perez.....and I also think "Dorothy" was his wife buying time so no one would look for her while they dumped her body. And for the call years later saying Mary Ann was still alive.....Courtney's wife was a sick person and Im sure since they had her purse they knew her name.....does anyone else think all those years later she found out who her family was and as a sick joke called them up to give them false hope since it was the only body or one of at least that he said he killed that wasnt found? Maybe she doesnt have the courage to kill on her own so she did something like that to get her rocks off

I have no doubt that the woman calling as 'Dorothy' was really Courtney's wife, on the night Mary Ann vanished. The second phone call in 1990 is still a little hard for me to figure out.

It had been 15 years since Mary Ann went missing when that call was made. Why wait that long to make a hoax phone call when there was more than a decade's worth of time she could have done that? Also, why did the caller insist on talking with Mary Ann's son and not want to give much information to the daughter-in-law? She's still a family member who could pass the info along to the rest of the family and if your intention is pulling a cruel hoax on them, you shouldn't have to go through the whole song and dance of wanting to talk to the son before begrudgingly telling the daughter-in-law that Mary Ann is still alive. Your cruel joke is accomplished no matter which one of them you tell.

I'm wondering what Courtney's wife's criminal record was. Because if she was a common accomplice to him when he did his other killings, she could have very well been in jail herself circa 1990 and not have been able to make that phone call. I wouldn't be surprised if the second phone call was a hoax, I'm just wondering if the wife could have pulled it off.

Given the fact that Courtney is the lowest of the low and did not appear to be very bright and even dumber when drunk, my guess is he did not correctly identify where he and his wife dumped Mary Ann's body. I do believe that he killed her that night as if she were still alive, someone would have spotted her or someone who knows her would have contacted the authorities.

With that being said, as many bayou's and gator infested swampland as there is in Louisiana, it wouldn't surprise me if her body ended up around one of those and was eaten. Either that or her body/remains were found and could not be identified and thus, is buried similar to Little Miss Panasoffkee.

Saw this segment today on Pluto. Seriously. I saw it some years ago on a some foreign country’s equivalent of YT, and now again today. I was kind of surprised because I figured it was one of those segments that would never be seen again. Am I right remembering that it was never on lifetime or Amazon or anywhere else?

But there was no update. I thought she had finally been identified? Her remains had been found years ago, and then “misplaced” which is why it took so long to identify her.

Or was that someone else?

Recently watched the S04 MAP case. It looks like the case has been solved, according to this:

https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Mary_Ann_Perez

It's strange that the remains were found in November 1976 (the same year that she disappeared), but that LE didn't announce this until 2017 - more than 40 years later.

It's sad that the daughter interviewed in the UM segment (Shannon, IIRC) passed before she could get closure re: her mother - this is also according to the above link.

One thing that never made sense about this case was, why the phone call from "Dorothy"? First off, why call Mary Ann's home at all? To throw her family off the trail? But why? The killers had, in all likelihood, already murdered her. What was placing the call supposed to do? And how did they know who to call? Did Mary Ann give them her home phone number? But there again, why on earth would she have done such a thing?

One thing that never made sense about this case was, why the phone call from "Dorothy"? First off, why call Mary Ann's home at all? To throw her family off the trail? But why? The killers had, in all likelihood, already murdered her. What was placing the call supposed to do? And how did they know who to call? Did Mary Ann give them her home phone number? But there again, why on earth would she have done such a thing?

It's fairly obvious if the killer told the truth. She was tipsy. They planned on kidnapping her. While she was tipsy, they asked her number to tell her kids she was ok. She believed them. She gave them her number. They called. They figured the car trouble story might keep them from calling the police immediately to give them time to do everything. The 15 year later hoax call sounds like someone who saw the story and wanted to extort money from the son. The son was the plan. She did not figure the daughter-in-law, so she got angry and hanged up the phone. That is if everything is true. People could be making things up or remembering things incorrectly, maybe even mishearing things that were said.

My guess is she regained consciousness after being strangled and died from the elements, an animal predator or dehydration/starvation. That would explain why the body was not there. She didn't die at that moment.

They put a brick in the purse, so it is never found, but it was.