Pregnant Teen Vanishes After Testifying In Murder Case

Sandra Kay Powell was an African-American teenager from South Bend, Indiana. She lived with her mother, Sally McCoy, and attended Washington High School. The 16-year-old was four months pregnant and was upset the father of her child was planning on marrying someone else.

In June of 1986, Sandra was sitting in the passenger seat of a car while her friends, Tonya Newbill and Wayne Mack, stood next to it. All of a sudden, a car drove by and one of the passengers shot at them. Sandra explained,

“I heard gunfire. Tonya screamed and ran. Wayne struggled to get to his car. He grabbed his side and said, ‘I’m shot’ and fell to the ground.”

According to her mother, Sandra “hid down in the floor board in the car” during the attack. Wayne, who had been shot in the abdomen and chest, succumbed to his injuries in the hospital.

Sandra and Tonya testified in court later that year, although neither of the teens had seen the shooter. 22-year-old Bobby Peck, driven to the scene by his brother Donald, was found guilty of murder.

The brothers’ motive had been retaliation. Wayne’s brother had killed Bobby and Donald’s half-brother.

Several witnesses, including Sandra, had been threatened by an unidentified person during the trial. There was additional security at the courthouse, and some of the witnesses were kept in protective custody. It is unknown what kind of protection Sandra was given.

On March 11, 1987, Sandra spent the day with a friend. According to her mother, they either went to the YMCA or a health spa. At some point during the evening, the friends became separated, and Sandra did not return home that night.

The friend said Sandra had been speaking on the phone with an unknown person the night before. They weren’t sure what they were talking about as they didn’t want to eavesdrop. Either way, Sandra showed no indication of wanting to run away.

Just four days shy of her 17th birthday, Sandra left behind all her belongings, including a decent amount of money she had been saving. Nevertheless, when Sally contacted authorities, they told her to wait 30 days because she was a teenager who could have just run away.

Sally took matters into her own hands. She spoke to Sandra’s friends and believes the friend who was last with her knows more than they have admitted. She also put up photos of her missing daughter around the city, however, they were taken down.

“It never made any sense, because there were other missing photos in the same places and those would still be there”.

Sandra was classified as a runaway for fifteen years until it was changed to an endangered missing case. There were very few leads in the decade following her disappearance, however, some tips have been reported since.

In 1997, one of Sandra’s friends believed they had seen her on Soul Train, a famous African-American music/dance television show. Authorities, who say this is the best lead they have received, contacted the company but couldn’t get a videotape of the episode.

Around the same time, Sandra’s mother received a tip that her daughter was an adult film star. Along with her relatives, Sally watched several pornographic films but never found Sandra. “Thank God for fast forward,” she later remarked.

A Michigan man claiming to be Sandra’s father called the authorities in 2003. He told them Sandra was in a psychiatric hospital in Detroit, but police say it was a lie.

Because Sandra was treated as a runaway for so long, her dental records were never collected. They have since been thrown away. In 2007, Sally told a reporter she still hoped for her daughter’s return. She hadn’t changed her phone number,

“I could never get myself to change it. If Sandra wanted to contact me. I wanted to make sure I still had the same number.”

However, she is aware of how unlikely it is for Sandra and her unborn baby to be alive. She has even looked through pictures of murdered Black women.

“I’m realistic about it. But I’m not going to give up hope.”

Sandra Kay Powell has been missing for 35 years. If alive, she is now 52 years old.