Nater, circa 1966

Pamela Ann Nater
Missing since October 2, 1966 from Alexander Springs Recreation Area, Altoona, Lake County, Florida
Classification: Endangered Missing

Vital Statistics

• Date Of Birth: May 30, 1946
• Age at Time of Disappearance: 20 years old
• Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'4"; 120 lbs.
• Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Dark brown hair with reddish highlights; brown eyes.
• Clothing: Blue/white 2 piece bathing suit and blue/white pinstripe boys Gant or Hugger short sleeved shirt.
• Dentals: Available
• DNA: Available

Circumstances of Disappearance
Nancy Leichner and Pamela Nater disappeared from a skin diving club picnic on Sunday, October 2, 1966. The picnic was in the Alexander Springs Recreation Area of the Ocala National Forest in Lake County, Florida. They planned to scuba dive, canoe and picnic.
Pam Nater was a 1964 graduate of Clearwater High; Nancy Leichner was a 1963 graduate of Largo High. Pam was a nurse at Morton Plant Hospital; Nancy worked for Honeywell. They had met each other just once before. The common thread was their respective boyfriends, who were diving buddies.
The young women decided the 72-degree water in the spring was too cold and didn't go in. So as their boyfriends dived and took a canoe ride, the women began packing to go home. About 4 p.m., as the Aquaholics gathered to leave, the boyfriends began searching for them. They found Nancy's prescription glasses and both women's purses and shoes at a picnic table, but no trace of either woman.
Nancy was last seen on a nearby nature trail, a winding path that follows the Alexander Spring Creek. That was shortly before 12:30 p.m. Pam was last seen about an hour later a short distance from the trail.

Cold-case investigators in Lake County has concluded that a convicted murderer and former law-enforcement officer -- long since dead -- had killed Leichner, and Pamela Nater.
Investigators said that they have discovered evidence, including a jailhouse confession and eyewitness accounts, that points to Gerard J. Schaefer as the person who abducted and killed the two young women.
During his incarceration, Schaefer told a fellow inmate at Avon Park Correctional Facility, that he took Leichner and Nater by gun and knifepoint at Alexander Springs park and killed them. The inmate kept detailed notes of his conversations, which he turned over to a corrections officer.
In 1995, a fellow inmate at Florida State Prison stabbed Schaefer to death.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

Lake County Sheriff's Office
352-343-9529

Agency Case Number: 66-10-0000

NCIC Number: M-357882188
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.

Source Information:
Lake County Sheriff's Office
St. Petersburg Times 3/14/05
Orlando Sentinel 7/19/07

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