Mary Georgine Lang

Lang, circa 1983; Steven Holdren, circa 2013

  • Missing Since 10/21/1983
  • Missing From Hays, Kansas
  • Classification Endangered Missing
  • Sex Female
  • Race White
  • Date of Birth 09/23/1952 (71)
  • Age 31 years old
  • Height and Weight 5'7, 124 pounds
  • Clothing/Jewelry Description A black turtleneck sweater, a tan skirt and brown boots.
  • Associated Vehicle(s) Maroon and gray 1977 Datsun 280Z (accounted for)
  • Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Light brown hair, blue eyes. Lang wears contact lenses that may be tinted blue.

Details of Disappearance

Lang was last seen in downtown Hays, Kansas at around 1:00 p.m. on October 21, 1983. She was working as a secretary for a local attorney and was running errands for him when she disappeared, taking papers to other attorneys to get their signatures.

At 5:00 p.m., her maroon and gray 1977 Datsun 280Z was found in the 200 block of east 12th Street. The door was slightly ajar and Lang's purse and legal papers were on the front seat. There was no sign of Lang at the scene.

Her coat, with her car keys in the pocket, was found five days later, inside a box under a bridge on a county road about six to ten miles northwest of Hays.

Steven Carl Holdren is a person of interest in Lang's disappearance; a photo of him is posted with this case summary. He was accused of murder, but acquitted at trial in 1977. He was convicted of aggravated kidnapping in 1985 and is still in prison.

Holdren had been in downtown Hays accosting various women the day Lang disappeared. He has never been charged in her case, and investigators aren't sure whether he was involved.

Lang was declared legally dead seven years after her disappearance. Foul play is suspected in her case, which remains unsolved.

Investigating Agency

  • Hays Police Department 785-625-1030

Updated 4 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated August 24, 2013; details of disappearance updated.