Name: Deborah Leigh Key
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: December 1, 1997
Location Last Seen: Carrboro, Orange County, North Carolina
Date of Birth: September 21, 1962
Age: 35 years old
Race: White
Gender: Female
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 115 lbs.
Hair Color: Brown wavy
Eye Color: Brown
Nickname/Alias: Debbie
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Pierced ears.
Dentals: Available
Fingerprints: Unknown
DNA: In CODIS
Clothing: Unknown
Jewelry: Small gold signature ring on pinky finger that is engraved.
Additional Personal Items: Unknown
Debbie Key was last seen as she was leaving a local bar in Carrboro, North Carolina on December 1, 1997.
A regular at the now defunct bar, Sticks and Stones , Key had been at the bar when a suspect in the case walked in shortly before closing. Key was last seen with the suspect in the bar parking lot. No one has seen her since.
Two days after her disappearance, Key's car was found, still parked in the same lot. Her door was unlocked. Her purse and jacket lay on the front seat.
Police processed Debbie’s car as a crime scene. But when they received the car it seemed that the car had been detailed. The possibility of gathering physical evidence had been lost.
In 2004, the suspect confessed to Debbie's strangulation, but his statements were later thrown out in court due to the circumstances under which they were obtained. He stated that he brought her body to Wilmington and put her in a Dumpster.
Debbie was single and lived with her mother in Chapel Hill. She loved animals and children. She earned most of her money from babysitting jobs around town, and lived a nomadic lifestyle.
Agency Name: Carrboro Police Department
Agency Contact Person: LT Anthony Westbrook II
Agency Phone Number: (919) 918-7397
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: 97-10843
NamUs Case Number: 1299
NCIC Case Number: M-085024830
NamUs
WRAL News
News 14 Carolina
NBC 17
Added: 1-6-2006; Last Updated: 11/06/2023 - By: kc
Questions or comments? Please contact appropriate member of the Area Team
** Listed information is from the time of disappearance.
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