The location where Sherry Lynn Marler went missing

This is the location where Sherry Lynn Marler went missing.

It is situated at the corner of West Commerce Street and Fort Dale Street in Greenville, Alabama.

On the morning of Wednesday, June 6th, 1984, the 12-year-old accompanied her stepfather, Raymond Stringfellow, to the First National Bank at 100 West Commerce Street.

Raymond said that he needed to sign some paperwork at the bank and that Sherry had asked if she could tag along.

After parking his red pickup truck outside the bank, Raymond exited the vehicle. Before closing the door, he placed a dollar bill on the seat so that Sherry could purchase a soda at the Chevron gas station across the street.

As Raymond was walking towards the bank, he heard Sherry closing the passenger-side door of his truck.

Roughly fifteen minutes later, he returned and noticed that his stepdaughter was still gone.

After failing to find Sherry, Raymond eventually decided to call the police. By that point, two hours had passed since she disappeared.

Family members, friends, and local volunteers immediately carried out a search of the area, but nothing of evidentiary value was found.

The police reached out to the public and drove around the surrounding roads. Flyers containing her photograph were also distributed throughout the town.

The Investigation

During the investigation, it was determined that no one except Raymond had seen Sherry in town that day. One anonymous source confidently told the local newspaper that they would have seen the missing girl had she visited Greenville that morning.

Following her disappearance, there were reported sightings of her in places such as Mississippi, Georgia, and New Orleans. However, none of them turned out to be credible.

Unverified claims have muddied the details surrounding the case. For example, multiple websites say that she was later seen with a weathered-looking man called "B.J."

The problem is that these alleged sightings are poorly documented and lack credible sources.

Investigators do not believe that a stranger abducted Sherry, as they would have found it very difficult to drive into the downtown area of a small, close-knit community and kidnap a girl off the street without being noticed.

Greenville Police Captain Thomas L. Tutchtone told the Birmingham Post-Herald newspaper, "This is not like Birmingham or any other big city. If you saw someone you didn't know, you'd quickly find out who it is."

Police Chief Lonzo Ingram also dismissed the theory: "I have a hard time believing that she was snatched off the street by a perfect stranger in Greenville."

Raymond Stringfellow

Raymond was cooperative with the police and answered their questions. However, he refused to take a polygraph test.

During an interview, Raymond expressed his belief that his stepdaughter got into a car with someone she knew.

Although some sources state that the police ruled out Raymond as a suspect, multiple statements from law enforcement indicate otherwise.

In 2013, Chief Ingram said, "When something like this happens, you try to eliminate family members first as possible suspects. That's just what we've tried to do. He was offered the opportunity to take a polygraph test but declined."

There is also a slight discrepancy in Raymond's story.

In 1986, he said that Sherry walked into the kitchen, put on her shoes, and informed him that she was accompanying him into town.

However, roughly ten years ago, Sherry's mother, Betty Stringfellow, recalled a different story. In the version that he told her, Sherry came running out of the house with her shoes in her hand while he was backing out of the driveway.

There has been almost no movement in the case over the past four decades, as all of the tips and alleged sightings have led nowhere.

The only fact that remains certain is that a young girl disappeared on that summer morning in 1984 and was never seen again.

Sherry Lynn Marler remains missing to this day.