Sherry Melissa Eyerly, Missing, July 1982 OR.
Sherry Melissa Eyerly Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance Missing Since: July 4, 1982 from Salem, Oregon Classification: Endangered Missing Date of Birth: December 6, 1963 Age: 18 years old Distinguishing Characteristics: Brown hair. Details of Disappearance Eyerly had a part-time job delivering pizza's for a Domino's Pizza franchise in Salem, Oregon in 1982. She was called into work in on July 4, 1982. Eyerly left work at 9:30 p.m. that day to deliver a pizza to an address on Riverhaven Drive south near Brown Island Road in Salem. She has never been heard from again. Eyerly's pizza delivery van was found abandoned later that evening. The parking brake was set, the door was open, three boxes of pizza lay on the ground, and Eyerly's hat lay nearby. There was no sign of a struggle, however. Police determined that the address Eyerly was supposed to go to was ficticious. The person who called in the delivery had also given a false name. The call had been placed from a hotel in Salem. Darrell J. Wilson is a suspect in Eyerly's case. He committed suicide a month after her disappearance, just hours after being questioned by police about it. He had at first denied knowing Eyerly but later admitted being acquainted with her. He drove a lime-green pickup truck similar to a vehicle that was seen near the site of Eyerly's disappearance shortly before she vanished. After her disappearance, Wilson painted the truck brown. Wilson was camping at Elkhorn Lake, thirty-four miles east of Salem, the night Eyerly disappeared, but he was gone from the campsite between 6:30 p.m. on July 4 and 3:30 a.m. on July 5. Authorities searched his vehicle for physical evidence connecting him to Eyerly's case but found nothing. He remains the prime suspect in her disappearance. Investigators believe Eyerly was abducted by someone she knew and trusted, and that it was a carefully orchestrated crime, possibly committed by more than one person. Extensive searches of the area turned up no clues as to her whereabouts. Her case is unsolved. Investigating Agency If you have any information concerning this case, please contact: Marion County Sheriff's Office 503-540-8096 http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/e/eyerly_sherry.html

11:24 a.m. Eyerly case: Victim's mother releases statement DENNIS THOMPSON Statesman Journal December 18, 2007 A convicted serial murderer serving two life sentences pleaded guilty this morning to the 25-year-old unsolved disappearance of pizza delivery girl Sherry Eyerly. William Scott Smith entered a guilty plea before Marion County Presiding Judge Paul Lipscomb in a brief hearing heavily attended by law enforcement officials and Eyerly’s family. Eyerly died during a botched kidnap attempt, according to a confession Smith made to Marion County Sheriff’s investigators who were reviewing the cold case. Under a plea deal with prosecutors, a third life sentence will be tacked on to the two Smith already is serving for the sex slayings of two other young Salem women in 1984. Eyerly, 18, disappeared without a trace the evening of July 4, 1982, after being sent to deliver three large pizzas to 4401 Riverhaven Drive around 9:40 p.m., Deputy District Attorney Don Abar said. Her car was found around 10:13 p.m. near that address with the driver’s door open, the engine running and the emergency brake set. The three pizzas lay on the ground near her car. “This is probably one of the more famous missing persons cases in this area,” Abar said following the hearing. “She was just, poof, she was gone, and her family spent thousands looking for her.” Eyerly’s family declined comment, but her mother released a statement to the media. “I want to thank all the law enforcement personnel who worked so hard these last two and a half decades to bring some justice for Sherry and the people who loved her so,” Linda Eyerly Tunnel said in her statement. “I have special gratitude for the cold case team which never forgot about my daughter, and never gave up trying to bring a definitive resolution to her murder.” Marion County Sheriff Russ Isham will hold a news conference at 1:30 p.m. today to provide further details of the Eyerly kidnap and murder. http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200671218021