Cynthia Lorraine (Lori) Perry has been missing from a group home in Wake county, NC since June 1985. That is about all that is known.

The apparent lack of information about Lori on the surface has always bothered me. When someone goes missing it is expected that the family is going to be shouting it from the rooftops. The newspapers and TV stations mention it. There should be archived stories from family and friends talking about who the missing person was, how much they are missed. There is nothing. I cannot find mention of her in newspapers, current news stories, anything. It is like no one looked for her once she was gone. The picture here is the only picture of her provided to missing persons databases.

Here is what I have gathered, I’ll include sources at the end of the post.

Lori was 17 and living in a group home of some sort in Wake county, NC. I don’t know how long she had been living there, but she had been living away from her home since she was 14. On the evening of June 21 she called her mother to ask permission to attend a party she had been invited to. Her mother told her that she could not go, like any 17 year old she went anyway. She was last seen walking away from the group home. The employees of the home called her mother to tell her that Lori had left.

Two weeks after disappearing Lori’s mother received a call from Lori, stating that she was fine and that she would come back once she was 18. During this call Lori is said to have stated that she was free of drugs.

I don’t know why she was living away from her mother. I don’t know how or by whom this group home was run. I have read speculation that perhaps she had some drug use problems. I have read that there was conflict with a step-father. None of this is first hand or in any way confirmed. Whatever the reason was, it sounds like this young woman had some troubles.

There is no information about who invited her to the party, or who she was friends with. While a quick search of “Perry family North Carolina” does return that there is a potential family, there isn’t anything about her. It is unknown what her step-fathers last name was, or even her mothers first name, so there isn’t much to go on there. According to her NAMUS profile there are dental records and DNA available for comparison. She would be 47 years old now, it is uncertain whether her mother is even still living to look for Lori.

Cynthia’s middle name was Loraine and she often went by Lori. She had a heart tattoo on her upper left arm. She left a group home at 17 and has been missing since. Even though it doesn’t appear that anyone is actively looking for her I am sure, someone is missing her.

Thanks for reading, here are some links:

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?129691-NC-Cynthia-Lorraine-Perry-17-Wake-County-21-June-1985

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/491dfnc.html

https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/8281/0/