Debra Wilhite:The Windmill Restaurant:Evansville

    

   She worked at The Windmill Restaurant on Highway 41 and Highway 57. It was 1974. She was young and worked as a waitress like a lot of people do at that age.  It was hard work. She had long days on her feet carrying heavy trays of food. The Windmill was a busy restaurant at a busy crossroads.  They served home style cooking and were in business at that location for decades. 

   In addition to being physically demanding; waiting tables in 1974 was also emotionally draining. Men were always making passes at her, saying rude and lewd things and grabbing her. In 1974, many men didn’t see anything wrong with pinching a woman’s bottom.  It was seen as a flirtatious compliment.  They thought the woman should be flattered by the attention. 

   But Debra was just trying to earn a living.  She was only 19 and already had two daughters. She and her husband only had one car and were trying to get ahead in life. They were trying to make it work. It had been rough. She had not finished high school and jobs like this one were about the best she could get. 

   Debra was last seen in the parking lot of the restaurant after her shift on October 16th, 1974. It was a rainy night. A long haired man of about 30 with a medium build was talking to her and bugging her for a ride. Her coworkers didn’t know the man. They also disagreed on whether Debra knew the man. Some said she seemed to know him. At least one waitress said she did not know him. He wasn’t a local man or a regular customer.  Neither she nor her 1966 green two door Ford Galaxie has been seen since. 

   (Examples of 1966 Ford Galaxie)

   Debra was supposed to pick up her husband that night at an Evansville bar. But she never showed. It was as if she had disappeared off the face of the earth. 

    Her mother had been watching her two daughters that night. She would end up raising the two girls in the wake of Debra’s disappearance. 

    Debra’s husband assumed that she ran away.  He reported his car stolen by her. Police had to talk him into filing a missing person’s report. 

   Two years later he would die after being hit by a train. Debra’s oldest daughter would pass away from leukemia four years later. 

    Her one surviving daughter, Misty Walker,  is still seeking answers to her Mother’s disappearance today.  She is a mother herself now.  Fifty years have passed since she lost her Mom. 

 

   Possible suspects in 1974 include Steven Timothy Judy. He was potentially free then.  His movements are hard to pin down. 

   It’s not Jeffrey Lynn Hand.  He was already in custody for the killing of Jeffrey W. Thomas and the kidnapping of his wife, Carol, in 1973 very near here. 

   It can’t be Raymond Charles Lamb.  He was in FBI custody for several 1973 and 1972 Indiana murders as of March of 1973. 

  Sadly, it could be quite a few people.  Violent crime was surging in the 1970’s. 

   The Windmill was located at a busy crossroads at the Southwest corner of Indiana. Whoever abducted Debra could have been in Illinois or Kentucky and on to other places in mere minutes. 

Contact the Indiana State Police if you have any information about the disappearance of Debra Wilhite. 

(812) 867-2079 or 

(800) 852-3970