Shelley Diane Luty-Missing 31 Years

Photo Credit: CharleyProject.org

ON August 24, 1982, 19 year-old Shelley Diane Luty was working at  Llanarch Diner on Township Line Road located in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. She was last seen by coworkers at the end of her waitressing shift around 11:00 PM. She got into a mint green two-door, 1978 Chevrolet Impala she borrowed from her stepfather. It was parked across the street from the diner she worked at. She had plans to meet with a girl friend after work. She drove off, but she never arrived to meet her friend. Shelley did not make it home and has not been seen since. Her car was also never recovered. Her step father reported her missing when she failed to return home. (I have a link under sources that shows a screen shot of the diner where Shelley worked at. Across the street is where her car was parked.)

Shelley was born n Mary 21, 1963. She was 5'3" and weighed 126 pounds. At the time of her disappearance, she had reddish-brown hair, and was wearing a waitressing uniform. She has blue eyes, and has previously fractured her skull. Shelley also has a scar on the bottom of her nose and a scar on her arm that is shaped like a Christmas tree. Her front right tooth was chipped and capped. She also has a history of epilepsy.

A sketch of the man who was last seen talking to Shelley 30 minutes before she left the diner. He is not a suspect. It is more likely he is a possible witness. Photo Credit: CharleyProject.org

Shelley worked with her mother at Llanarch Diner, and her mother happened to be working with her the night she vanished. She remembers a male customer who left the diner shortly after Shelley did. Witnesses believed they saw the same man talking to Shelley outside the diner thirty minutes before her shift ended. The man is described as Caucasian, about 25-29 years old. He was about 5'10"-6'0" with an athletic build (this was in 1982). Police do not consider him a suspect, but think he may have further information about Shelley after she left the diner, so he is considered a possible witness.
Right away, investigators new Shelley did not leave of her own free will. She left behind a 2 year-old daughter, whom she loved and was very devoted to. Family friends say she would never abandon her daughter. Many leads have came in, most notably from California and Minnesota. According to an article from Philly.com, at one point, her relatives and former boyfriend believed she may have been a model from California they saw in a magazine, but it turned out not to be her. The FBI was also involved in Shelley's case. They interviewed friends, coworkers, family and former boyfriends. All were given a polygraph test as well. A former boyfriend was even tracked down in West Germany, but nothing came of the interview. The FBI would conclude their investigation of Shelley's disappearance in October of 1984, two years after Shelley vanished. However, the investigators from Upper Darby still have the case as open, and her sister and daughter are still actively searching for her.

A model of a car similar to the one Shelley was driving the night she vanished. Photo Credit: CarHobby.com

Since Shelley's step father's car she was driving that night has not yet been recovered, I am wondering if it is possible she got in a car accident that night. I've been checking out the Upper Darby area (especially the area by the diner), and although it looks well developed today, it may not have been decades ago. I noticed there are a lot of wooded areas and golf courses around that area now. I am wondering where she was going to meet her friend at, which would point me in a general direction. I have been searching for different bodies of water, and the only one that came up on the map via satellite is the Delaware River. Are there smaller bodies of water in this area, such as creeks or a small lake? From the Pamella Jackson and Cheryl Miller case in South Dakota, we know it is possible for  a car to be submerged in a lake or a creek, going undetected for decades until natural events shift the elements, making the vehicle recovered. Any bodies of water or steep ravines/wooded areas that are a long the wrote she may have taken to see her friend should be checked just in case. I have read way too many news articles about people who vanish along with their cars, only to be pulled up from the bottom of a lake, river or creek.

Now, if Shelley was not in an accident and was apprehended, one must wonder how the person(s) intercepted her while she was driving, if this was what happened. It would have been hard for any abductor to get rid of her car if she pulled on the side of the road from car trouble. Perhaps she picked up a hitch hiker? Maybe she made a pit stop somewhere else before visiting her friend?
I researched the disappearances of women in Pennsylvania from 1975-1990, and I found four cases that happened 25 minutes or less away from the Llanarch Diner. The information on their disappearances are pretty vague. All the girls seem to have been taken literally right off the streets, all in a close proximity to each other during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Cheryl Iacovone was last seen walking to a friend's house. Photo Credit: Charley Project.org

 First we have 17 year-old Cheryl Ann Moser Iacovone, who vanished on July 12, 1977 in Secane, 17 minutes away from where Shelley was last seen. She was last seen walking to her friend's house from her home on Chipmunk Lane. She was never seen again. She was dating David Thompson at the time, who was affiliated with a biker gang. Another one of her friend's was affiliated with the biker gang The Pagans. It sounds like her disappearance could involve a biker gang, which could set her case apart from Shelley and the other three, but it could also not have anything to do with a biker gang.

Shirley was last seen leaving a cafe with two unknown men in a blue van. Photo Credit: Charley Project.org

  On August 28, 1981, 30 year-old Shirley Hyman was last seen leaving the Park Avenue Cafe in Philadelphia with two men. She got into a blue van with them and has not been seen since. There is no other information about her case, and she is listed simply as "Missing". She vanished 24 minutes away from where Shelley was last seen.

Myra was last seen walking to a pool at an apartment complex. Photo Credit: Charley Project.org

On September 2, 1983, 19 year-old Myra Manley was last seen in Philadelphia around 3:30 PM, leaving her father's residence to go to the apartment complex pool. She was also taking the garbage out of the dumpster. She has not been seen since, and she vanished 13 minutes away from where Shelley was last seen.

Amy may have tried to hitch a ride to her beauty school, and has not been seen since. Photo Credit: Charley Project.org

 On January 2, 1984, 24 year-old Amy Marie Matthews was last seen in Plymouth Township.
She was on her way to Gordon Phillips School of Beauty Culture that morning, and may have hitch hiked since she did not have her own transportation. She has never been seen again, and there has been no activity on her credit cards, SSN and no records of any arrest. She vanished 18 minutes from where Shelley was last seen.
I do not know whether any of these are connected, but they are all suspicious and show similarities to Shelley's case and to each other's.
There is also Frank Osellanie, who is a murderer and was convicted of killing and raping a 9 year-old Scranton, Pennsylvania girl named Renee Waddle. Her charred remains were found along Lake Scranton in Roaring Brook Township. In December of 1987, he also killed a 19 year-old college student named Laureen Finn. Her charred remains were eventually recovered in an alley in Scranton Hill's section. He is also suspected in the disappearances of Joanne Williams and Michelle Lakey.

Joanne was last seen leaving her exercise class. Her car was later found abandoned. Photo Credit: Charley Project.org

 Twenty-two year old Joanne Williams was last seen on December 7, 1978 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. She was last seen driving away to her dance exercise class from her home in her red 1977 Datsun 200 SX with white racing stripes in Chinchilla. She left her dance class for home at 10:00 PM and has not been seen since. Her car was found parked at Lafayette Street and Everette Avenue nine days after she vanished. Scranton is 2 hours away from Upper Darby.

Michelle was last seen walking north on Washington Ave. Photo Credit: Charley Project.org

 On August 26, 1986 another girl would vanish from Scranton. Michelle Lakey was 11 years-old when she was last seen walking north on Washington Avenue. She may have possibly entered a yellow car. She was planning on staying the night with a friend. She was not been seen since.
Osellanie operated mainly in the Scranton area and was not stopped until 1990. He may be a good suspect to look into for the disappearance of Shelley.

Whether Shelley's disappearance was cynical and connected to any of these cases, or whether it was an accident made from a wrong turn, she needs to be found. Her family is still searching for her, and her case is still open today. The daughter she left behind that night wants answers. Someone knows what happened to Shelley or may have seen something out of place that night. Please pick up the phone and do the right thing.

If you have any information about the disappearance of Shelley Diane Luty, please contact:

Shelley Diane Luty-Photo Credit CharleyProject.org

Upper Darby Police Department

610-352-7050

If you have any information about the disappearance of Cheryl Ann Moser Iacovone, please contact:

An age progression of Cheryl Ann Iacovone. Photo Credit: Charley Project.org

Ridley Township Police Department 

(610) 532-4000

If you have any information about the disappearance of Shirley Hyman or Myra Manley, please contact:

 (L) Myra Manley and (R) Shirley Hyman both vanished from Philadelphia in the early 1980s. Photo Credit: CharleyProject.org

Philadelphia Police Department Long Term Missing Persons Unit

215-685-3257 or 215-685-3

If you have any information about the disappearance of Amy Marie Matthews, please contact:

Amy was last seen trying to hitch a ride to her beauty school. Photo Credit: Charley Project.org

Plymouth Township Police Department

610-279-1900

If you have any information about the disappearance of Joanne Williams or Michelle Lakey, please contact:

 (L) Joanne Williams and (R-this is an age progression) Michelle Lakey both vanished from Scranton. Photo Credit: Charley Project.org

Pennsylvania State Police Dunmore Troop R

(570)963-3156

Sources:
http://articles.philly.com/1990-02-18/news/25884390_1_return-home-mother-families-and-police
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/l/luty_shelly.html
http://llanerchdiner.com/
http://pennsylvaniamissing.com/females1980to1989.html
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/i/iacovone_cheryl.html
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/manley_myra.html
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/h/hyman_shirley.html
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/matthews_amy.html
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/w/williams_joanne.html
Here is a screen shot of the diner where Shelley was last seen:
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Shelley+Diane+Luty+missing&ie=UTF-8&ei=IPKPUub7NMz-rAGbtYGgCQ&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAjgK