On December 12, 1983, Evelyn’s friend reported the 22-year-old missing to the Winters Police Department. Evelyn was last heard from on November 14, 1983 when she made a phone call to her friend and said she was at a bar in the Napa area and someone was “trying to get her.” Soon after, the phone went dead. Several days later, Evelyn’s mother received her daughter’s address book in the mail along with a note saying: “Joyce, you don’t know me but I found this on the beach in Lucerne and thought you might want it. – Dave”

After receiving the address book, Evelyn’s family began asking her friends and acquaintances for information about Evelyn’s whereabouts. The family was told Evelyn had last been seen with friends in the Napa area and she had exited the car they were in after an argument. Officers were able to determine the phone number Evelyn had called from was from the Chatter Box Bar in Clear Lake, California near Lucerne, California in Lake County and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office was contacted and initiated a concurrent investigation.

Investigators tracked down the person who had mailed Evelyn’s address book and eliminated him as a person of interest in her disappearance. Investigators also searched the area where Evelyn’s address book was found and recovered a ladies sock tied at both ends which had been filled with sand and rocks. Winters Police Department and Lake County Sheriff’s Office continued their investigations all through 1984 and sent investigation requests to surrounding jurisdictions.

Investigators continued to follow up with leads and possible sightings from 1985 through 1988. Winters Police Department continued to look into Evelyn’s case and examining unidentified person reports to see if there was a match and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office identified Tony Aguilar of Lake County as a person of interest and questioned him extensively. However, Aguilar died in 2002.

With advances in DNA, Investigators contacted Evelyn’s brother, who had been stationed in Germany at the time of Evelyn’s disappearance, and obtained a DNA sample to add to her profile in the nationwide Department of Justice’s Missing or Unidentified Persons System. Unfortunately, none of the information gathered to date has led to Evelyn’s whereabouts and the case remains open. At the time of her disappearance, Evelyn was described as follows:

Name: McDowell, Evelyn Joyce Age: 22 years Gender: Female Race/Ethnicity: White Height: 5’5” Weight: 115 lbs. Hair: Brown Eyes: Brown Clothing: Blue denim jeans, blue jacket, dark oxford shoes Scars/Marks: Tattoo of a blue heart on her left shoulder, scar on left knee, scar on left forearm

Anyone with information regarding Evelyn Joyce McDowell is urged to call Winters Police Department Investigations Division at (530) 794-6721. Anonymous tips may be submitted through email at tips.winters@winterspolice.org or by contacting our dispatch center at 530-7954561.