Name: Nancy Elaine Leichner
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: October 2, 1966
Location Last Seen: Altoona, Lake County, Florida
Date of Birth: July 24, 1945
Age: 21 years old
Race: White
Gender: Female
Height: 5'3"
Weight: 115 lbs
Hair Color: Blonde
Eye Color: Green
Nickname/Alias: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Wears glasses
Dentals: Available
Fingerprints: Unknown
DNA: Unknown
Clothing: Two-piece bathing suit with red and blue stripes on the top and blue on the bottom; blouse top worn over swimsuit; barefoot
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items:
On October 2, 1966, around 20 members of the Aquaholics, a Clearwater, Florida skin diving club, traveled to Alexander Springs recreation area in the Ocala National Forest to scuba dive, canoe, and picnic, arriving between 11 a.m. and noon. Nancy and Pamela Nater decided the water in the spring was too cold and didn't go in. Instead, they sunbathed, walked around the picnic area, and prepared lunch. At some point while their boyfriends were in the water, the two women repacked picnic baskets and took them back to the parking lot.
Their boyfriend's last saw them around 1:30 p.m. The two men rented a canoe at 1:55 p.m. When they returned the canoe an hour later, they wondered where their girlfriends had disappeared to, but they didn't get worried for another hour. At around 4 p.m., as the group gathered to leave, they noticed the two women were missing and began searching for them. They found Nancy's glasses and both women's purses and shoes at a picnic table, but no trace of either woman.
According to various witnesses, Nancy was seen on a trail shortly before 12:30 p.m. Pam was seen about an hour later a short distance from the trail. Between 1:30 and 2 p.m. the two women had been seen on the trail together by some canoeists, who spoke to the women. Another club member saw them walking up the concrete steps toward the parking lot. At around 2 p.m. a young boy, who was fishing from a dock noticed the two on a trail, with a young man behind them who parted his hair on the left side. A week later a man from Leesburg phoned in a tip that on the day of the disappearance, at around 2 p.m., as he and his wife and daughter were on the road to the springs (County Road 445), heading in the direction of Astor, they passed a Mustang going the opposite direction, driving fast and erratically. They saw two women in the back seat of the car and two men in the front. The women looked terrified and were screaming. A few days later a Mustang was found burned in the Marion County portion of the Ocala National Forest. It had been stolen from a Daytona-area dealership either the day or day before Nancy and Pam were reported missing.
In 2007, Lake County cold-case investigators concluded Gerard Schaefer, a convicted murderer and former law enforcement officer, abducted and killed Nancy and Pam. Schaefer had been questioned about the women's disappearance in 1973 and was eliminated as a suspect after questioning. Schaefer was killed by a fellow inmate in 1995. The two-year investigation included a jailhouse confession and eyewitness accounts. Schaefer was picked out of a photo line-up by the witness who was fishing on the day of the disappearance as the young man who parted his hair on the left side following the two women. According to a fellow inmate, Schaefer took Nancy and Pam by gun and knifepoint at Alexander Springs Park and killed them.
Agency Name: Lake County Sheriff's Office
Agency Contact Person: Lt. James Dilimone
Agency Phone Number: 352-343-9529
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: 66-10-78464
NCIC Case Number: M-357881491
NamUs Case Number: 35114
NamUs
The Tampa Tribune - Sept. 29, 1996
Tampa Bay Times - Mar. 14, 2005
Ocala Star-Banner - May 29, 2005
Orlando Sentinel - Jul. 18, 2007
Ancestry.com
Added: 1/1/06; Last Updated: 4/7/22 - By: Doe-NamUs-App
Questions or comments? Please contact appropriate member of the Area Team
** Listed information is from the time of disappearance.
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