Wisconsin Mother Missing

POYNETTE, Wis. -- In Poynette, there is a sense of deja vu as another mother of two children vanishes.

Mary O'Rourke-Pape, 48, was reported missing June 4 by her mother Doris O’Rourke after she didn't show up where she works at Dane County's Mental Health Center, News 3 reported.

She was last seen in Portage and may be driving a 1996 Toyota Camry, champagne colored, with Wisconsin plates 956-CYH.

Pape has two children, Maggie and John, both 14, whom she has not contacted. Pape is in the midst of a divorce from her husband, Tim.

The family lives just a couple of miles from where Beth Kutz lived. Kutz disappeared five years ago, leaving behind two children. Although her body was never found, her estranged husband was convicted of killing her.

In the Pape case, the sheriff says the husband is being cooperative, however, detectives still feel a sense of deja vu.

"It's another missing mother, and we are certainly not implicating the father in anyway, but we've got a missing mother," said Sheriff Steven Rowe. "(It) makes us come to a heightened sense of concern because we went through that, and we certainly don't want to go through that again. It's out of character for her not to at least call her children, to be in contact with her children and let them know she's all right."

The family told News 3's Joel DeSpain that Pape may be distraught over the breakup of her marriage

"I don't know what else to say. Mary, if you're out there, we love you and you know that we all miss you and your family is very supportive. We'll all work together to help you. Please call," her mother said on News 3 Wednesday. "Her children and us are missing her. We love her. We're praying for her safe return. We'll be supportive of anything. We just want to find her."

Also weighing heavily on investigators' thoughts is a registered sex offender, who was arrested about the time Pape disappeared, after abducting a woman at knife point. He told deputies he had brought other women to the same remote location.

"That just raised our suspicious and our concerns," Rowe said. "We need leads. We're kind of at a dead end right now and at a standstill. We need the public's help."

Anyone with information is asked to call the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office Detective Division at (608) 742-4166 or Crime Stoppers at (800) 293-TIPS (8477).

THEY FOUND HER!

Missing Poynette Mother Found - Woman Tells Police She Didn't Know Anyone Was Looking For Her

POSTED: 10:13 am CDT June 20, 2005
UPDATED: 11:59 am CDT June 20, 2005

A Poynette woman who was reported missing more than two weeks ago has been located, Columbia County officials said Monday morning.

Mary O'Rourke-Pape, 48, is in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Her car apparently broke down there, News 3 reported.

The mother of two told the Cape Girardeau Police Department that she was unaware anyone was looking for her.

Pape's mother reported her missing June 4 after she didn't show up for work.

Family and friends were worried because Pape has two children, whom she had no contact with, which police said was unusual for her. She was is also in the midst of a divorce from her husband.

http://www.channel3000.com/news/4629344/detail.html?rss=c3k&psp=news

I'd say she has some SERIOUS explaining to do! Runaway Divorcee? ;)

Here's the rest of the story. Sounds like a breakdown of her mental state, as well as that of her car. They're not charging her with anything, as she didn't break any laws between here and there.

Missing woman phones from a Missouri hospital

Mark Boxley Portage Daily Register
June 20, 2005

The search for a Poynette woman missing for more than two weeks ended Monday when she made a phone call from a Missouri hospital, where she later checked herself in as a patient.

According to authorities, the woman, Mary O'Rourke-Pape, 48, said she did not know anyone was looking for her despite having had no contact with family or friends for more than two weeks.

O'Rourke-Pape had stopped at the hospital to make a phone call when her car broke down en route to Kentucky, where she was going to visit a friend, authorities said.

The person she called - Linda Bradley, the Kentucky resident she had been going to visit, and who police said had been in Wisconsin to help search for O'Rourke-Pape - immediately called the Columbia County Sheriff's Department. Cape Girardeau, Mo., police then went to the hospital.

"She was in the hospital; she checked in herself," said Sgt. Rick Schmidt with the Cape Girardeau Police Department, adding there was no indication of foul play.

Phone calls to O'Rourke- Pape's hospital room were not answered.

Police were able to track O'Rourke-Pape's movements starting May 31 when she spent the night at the Ho- Chunk Casino. She went to work June 1, Columbia County Sheriff's Department Detective Sgt. Dan Garrigan said, but called in sick the next two days. After that, she disappeared.

She was officially declared a missing person June 4 when her mother filed a report with the Columbia County Sheriff's Department.

O'Rourke-Pape, according to Garrigan, had not been seen in the area since June 6 in Baraboo, when she withdrew money from a bank.

Until Monday, the investigation into her disappearance had come to a dead end, Garrigan said. "Basically, all the leads that we had were exhausted."

Police were unable to find O'Rourke-Pape through many of the routes usually available, because she was not using any sort of credit or debit card while traveling, Smith said. "If she's been buying something, she's been using cash," he said.

It was not unusual for O'Rourke-Pape to leave for a few days at a time, Garrigan said, but it became unusual when she didn't call her mother or her son or daughter, 14-year-old twins.

"That was the most suspicious thing about all this," he said.

During the time O'Rourke- Pape was missing, Smith said, her two children were with their father, Timothy Pape.

According to Cape Girardeau authorities, when she was met at the hospital she was "physically fine." The hospital did not release her condition.

Attempts to contact family members were unsuccessful.

"There are a lot of questions that would be nice to get answers for," Smith said, adding that he was pleased she turned up alive because her disappearance "certainly had all the makings of a bad situation."

http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/index.php?ntid=44258&ntpid=4

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