Misty Copsey disappeared 17 years ago after a visit to the Puyallup Fair. Police thought the 14-year-old was a runaway. Her mother feared a killer had taken Misty. A battle for the truth has raged ever since.
Puyallup police tip line: 253-770-3343
Reporting and writing: Sean Robinson
Editing: Randy McCarthy
Web design: Laura Gentry
Graphics: Fred Matamoros, David Montesino
Video: Joe Barrentine, Sean Robinson
Editing: Randy McCarthy
Web design: Laura Gentry
Graphics: Fred Matamoros, David Montesino
Video: Joe Barrentine, Sean Robinson
Sometimes Diana Smith drinks until she cries.
A man tells you your missing daughter is dead. He says he knows who killed her.
For the rest of the 1990s, Misty's case gathered dust.
Misty Copsey: Daughter of Diana and Buck Copsey, born 1978. Spanaway resident, student at Spanaway Lake Junior High School. Disappeared Sept. 17, 1992 after a visit to the Puyallup Fair. She has never been found.
Unanswered questions drift through the investigation of Misty Copsey's 1992 disappearance. Some will never be settled, even if the case is solved. Others are muddied by conflicting information and errors in public records. A few trails were clear 17 years ago; they are overgrown now, choked by lack of follow-up and unclear memories.
"The Stolen Child" reflects reporting conducted between 2007 and 2009. The News Tribune interviewed more than 60 people; key sources were interviewed multiple times. Some were not quoted in the story, though they provided background detail.
"Answering follow up questions posed by the News Tribune might be appropriate when this case is solved, but because it is an open investigation, we will not provide individual responses."
Interviewing the last people known to have contact with a missing 14-year-old girl is one way to start an investigation.
It takes one sentence to tell Misty Copsey’s story: She disappeared 17 years ago after a visit to the Puyallup Fair and was never seen again.
Puyallup police have failed to follow up on most of their chances to shed new light on the unsolved 1992 disappearance of Misty Copsey.
Nearly 17 years have passed since Misty Copsey disappeared during the Puyallup Fair, 16 years since her jeans, sock and underwear turned up in a ditch near Highway 410.
Puyallup police have requested a DNA test that could shed new light on the unsolved 1992 disappearance of Misty Copsey.
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© Copyright 2009 Tacoma News, Inc. A subsidiary of The McClatchy Company
1950 South State Street, Tacoma, Washington 98405 253-597-8742
© Copyright 2009 Tacoma News, Inc. A subsidiary of The McClatchy Company