Name: Sherry Melissa Eyerly
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: July 4, 1982
Location Last Seen: Salem, Marion County, Oregon.
Date of Birth: December 6, 1963
Age: 18 years old
Race: White
Gender: Female
Height: 62 inches
Weight: 100 lbs
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Blue
Nickname/Alias: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Unknown
Dentals: Available
Fingerprints: Unknown
DNA: Available
Clothing: Blue jeans and Domino's pizza shirt (red/white/blue in color)
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown
Eyerly was called into work at her part-time job delivering pizzas for Domino's Pizza on July 4, 1982. She was sent to deliver three large pizzas to a remote location on Riverhaven Drive near Minto-Brown Island Park late at night. She left Domino's about 21:30.
A nearby resident came across the delivery car about one half hour later. The driver's door was open, the engine running, the headlights on and the emergency brake set. The pizzas lay on the ground near the car, and Eyerly was gone. The neighbor called the police who later determined that the delivery address did not exist. The caller had given a fictitious name and the call had been placed from a Salem motel.
Investigators say the crime appeared to be carefully orchestrated, ruling out simple rape and robbery. She was likely flagged down by someone she knew - she felt comfortable enough to set the parking brake and open the door. There were no signs of a struggle.
Extensive searches of the area failed to turn up anything. Eyerly has not been seen since.
William Scott Smith, a convicted serial murderer serving two life sentences pleaded guilty on December 17, 2007 to the disappearance of Sherry Eyerly. Smith said Eyerly died during a botched kidnap attempt.
After kidnapping the wrong woman, Smith strangled his victim to death in a secluded spot along the Little Pudding River, he told police. He left her body in the river.
Agency Name: Marion County Sheriff's Office
Agency Contact Person: Detective Mike Myers
Agency Phone Number: 503-540-8096
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: N/A
Agency Name: Cold Case Squad
Agency Contact Person: N/A
Agency Phone Number: 503-540-8006
Agency E-Mail: sheriff@co.marion.or.us
Agency Case Number: 82-100070
NamUs
Marion County Sheriff's Office
Statesman Journal 2007
Added: Prior to 2011; Last Updated: 05-18-2022 - By: Htmlcnvtr
Questions or comments? Please contact appropriate member of the Area Team
** Listed information is from the time of disappearance.
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