Elsie Roane was last seen by a Town policeman out on the street in West Point, VA on May 20, 1957, carrying two suitcases.Although it appeared to police that she left with packed bags, they were unable to determine how she left or where she went.Elsie Mae was an only child. At the time of her disappearance she lived with her adoptive father, Harry W. Roane, on 5th Street. Her adoptive mother, Alfretta Roane, died two years earlier. Her father died at home in 1968.When she disappeared, Elsie Mae was finishing her sophomore year at West Point High School and was described as an above average student.She was described as kind, shy, and intelligent. Roane reported his daughter missing on Thursday, May 23, 1957, three days after she was last seen. Since he was working the night shift at Cheatham Annex Navy Supply Depot, he arrived home during the day when she would have normally been at school, hence the delay,police reported. By the following week, an alert had been sent out to police across Virginia to be on the lookout for the missing girl.Elsie Mae's friends and acquaintances were questioned at the time, but no one could offer a clue as to her whereabouts.
