Diane Louise Augat was a woman who vanished from Florida in 1998. Foul play is suspected in her case. She used the aliases Diana Louise Augat, Ginny L. Augat, Madonna Augat, Diana Young, Diana Laura Augat, Diane Young Augat, Denise Augat and Jackee L. Yaugat.
Background[]
Diane was a stay-at-home mother in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Her children were taken from her custody in 1988, and she had been married but divorced in 1991.
In the late 1980s, Diane was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and was prescribed medication to manage her condition. However, she only took the medication some of the time and began struggling with drug and alcohol abuse. She was also arrested several times for minor crimes. As a result, she was taken into the custody of medical professionals at least 32 times under Florida's Baker Act. The Baker Act is a law that allows a judge, law enforcement officer or physician to determine that a person is mentally unwell and needs to be subjected to an involuntary medical exam.
Shortly before she vanished, Diane had been released from a psychiatric institution. Diane's mother believed this was a bad idea because Diane needed inpatient care.
Case[]
Diane vanished on April 10, 1998, in Odessa, Florida. That day, she left her residence, which may have been located in the 1000 block of Chesapeake Drive in Odessa, at approximately 11:00 a.m. Later that day, she was seen by a bartender at the Hay Loft Tavern on Little Road and State Road 52. The next day, she was seen walking north on U.S. 19 near New York Avenue in Hudson, Florida. There was also a possible sighting of Diane on April 13 at the Inn on the Gulf in Hudson, where she may have been eating lunch. It is believed that the last place, or one of the previous places Diane was seen, was the Coral Sands Motel.
On April 13, Diane's family received a strange phone call, but because none of them were home to answer, it was recorded by the answering machine. A woman thought to be Diane, said either "Help, help, let me out," or "Help me!" followed by a scuffling sound as if someone was attempting to take the phone from her. Then she said "Hey, gimme that," before the call ended. According to the caller ID box, the place it came in from was called "Starcourt". The family called the number back, but no one answered.
On April 16, 1998, a severed finger was found on the roadside near the intersection of US Highway 19 and New York Avenue in Hudson, Florida. There was reportedly a second finger present at the scene, but law enforcement was unable to locate it. The finger had a coral-painted nail, and it had been amputated just above the knuckle. It was later identified as Diane's right middle finger.
Approximately two weeks after she vanished, a bag of Diane's clothing was found neatly folded in the outdoor freezer of a convenience store in Odessa. In 2000, a second bag of Diane's clothing was found. Diane's brother's girlfriend discovered a clear zip-lock bag in a Circle K convenience store in Pasco, Florida. The bag had "Diane" written on it in black marker, and it contained a tube of bright pink lipstick, a tube of generic toothpaste, black eyeliner and Taboo perfume.
According to Diane's mother, the perfume and eyeliner were things she might have owned, and she had been issued a similar tube of toothpaste by the psychiatric institution she had recently been discharged from. Police have never been able to confirm that the bag belonged to Diane.
In 2001, the owner of the Coral Sands Motel, Gary Robert Evers, was charged with murder after shooting a man during an argument. Before the incident, he had no criminal history in Florida. Gary is considered a possible suspect in Diane's case.
Characteristics[]
- Long, wavy dark blonde hair.
- Blue eyes.
- Pierced ears.
- Fingernails painted coral-coloured.
- Nondescript tattoos on back and right shoulder.
- Scar on abdomen.
- Missing appendix.
- Orthopedic plate.
- Has bipolar disorder.
- History of drug and alcohol abuse.
Clothing and accessories[]
- White tank top.
- Blue shorts.
- White sneakers.
Sources[]
- Diane Augat at the Charley Project
- Diane Augat at NamUs
- Diane Augat at the Doe Network