Rothganger was last seen at Eldon High School at approximately 7:45 a.m. on May 16, 1984. The school is just across the street from her home in Eldon, Missouri. She was last seen getting into a blue Plymouth in front of the school building. She never attended classes that day and has never been heard from again. Her family reported her missing that afternoon.

At the time of Rothganger's disappearance, her mother was dating Martin Dean Priest. Photographs of him are posted below this case summary. Priest lived with Rothganger and her mother in May 1984. In 1980, he had been sentenced to 25 years in prison for second-degree murder in the death of a 13-year-old girl, but he was released after three years when the verdict was overturned on appeal. After Rothganger's disappearance, he was implicated in a Christmas 1984 double homicide in Kansas. Priest was acquitted of one of the killings but convicted of the other one and sentenced to life in prison. In 1987, while he was incarcerated, he was charged with murder and aggravated robbery in connection with the shooting death of 15-year-old girl in 1984. Her body wasn't found for four months. A jury acquitted Priest at his trial in that case. He remains incarcerated in a Kansas prison.

Priest is the prime suspect in Rothganger's disappearance, but he has never been charged in connection with her case. Foul play is suspected in Rothganger's disappearance, which remains unsolved.

Above Images: Martin Priest in 2010