Mary Rachel Bryan was a young girl who vanished alongside her mother, Lelia Lewis Bryan, in 1941.
Background[]
Mary Rachel was born on July 14, 1937 to parents Edis Clarence Bryan, also known as E.C and Eddie, and Lelia Lewis Bryan. The family lived in Carolina Beach and both Lelia and Edis worked for the Atlantic Cost Line Railroad. Mary Rachel was enrolled in a daycare centre at the time parents engagement and subsequent marriage. However, Lelia's mother was not fond of Edis because he was divorced.
Case[]
Mary Rachel and her mother, Lelia, were last seen in Carolina Beach, North Carolina at 9:00 P.M. on May 10, 1941. The exact version of events surrounding Mary Rachel and Lelia's disappearances is unclear. According to Edis, the two went shopping but accounts vary on whether they were going to buy groceries or a new brassiere at the dime store. Lelia was driving Edis's black 1935 Ford model A coupe with the 1941 North Carolina number plate: 219-056.
The two were planning to go to Bladenboro to visit Lelia's family at the time of their disappearance but Edis would not be accompanying them due to his difficult relationship with his mother in law. As a result, Lelia's brother, Berry Lewis, arrived at the Lewis-Bryan home to visit them that evening. When he did Edis was asleep and Mary Rachel and Lelia were gone. He woke Edis up to ask him were Mary Rachel and Lelia were and was told that they had gone to the store. As a result, Berry spent approximately an hour driving around looking for them before deciding that they'd probably missed him and returned home. However, when he arrived back at the property the Ford was not in the driveway. At this point either Edis, Berry or both of them called the police.
The disappearances received considerable attention in the local media because the Lewis family was well liked. Stories and advertisements were also ran in newspapers throughout the nation. The island was extensively searched for any trace of Mary Rachel, Lelia, or the car and professional divers scoured areas of the Cape Fear River, Snow's Cut and the Intracoastal Waterway. Police visited gas stations within 50-100 miles of the Lewis-Bryan residence to see if Lelia had stopped at any of them since Edis believed the Ford had less that half a tank of gas left. All possible sightings and leads were investigated. This included one reported sighting as far away as Pinellas, Florida.
Later in the summer of 1941 authorities believed that they had a break in the case when a piece of automobile windshield was pulled from Snow's Cut. The glass was discovered a few feet offshore at a small beach. It had been underwater for some time and may have come from a 1935 Ford although investigators were not certain of this. The fragment was sent to the SIB laboratory in Raleigh for further testing. However, it was unfortunately lost and the case eventually grew cold.
Edis is the prime suspect in his wife and daughter's disappearances. He told authorities that he had been in the garage making concrete forms when the two had come home from the beach at 6:30 P.M. that day and made supper. In 2009 the concrete foundation of Edis's beach cottage was removed and searched under by investigators. It had been theorised that Mary Rachel and Lelia had been buried there however nothing of interest was found. Edis died in 1976, he was never charged in Mary Rachel and Lelia's disappearances.
Mary Rachel and Lelia were declared legally dead in 1948. The possibility of a murder-suicide was considered in their case but no evidence was found to support this. Similarly the possibility that the two had been murdered was investigated but insufficient evidence was found to support this.
Characteristics[]
- Dark brown hair.
- Brown eyes.
Sources[]
- Mary Rachel Bryan at NamUs
- Mary Rachel Bryan at the Charley Project
- Mary Rachel Bryan at the Doe Network