Name: Mary Rachel Bryan
Nickname/Alias: Unknown
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: May 10, 1941
Location Last Seen: Carolina Beach, Bladen County, North Carolina
Date of Birth: July 14, 1937
Age: 4 years old
Race: White
Gender: Female
Height: 3'0"
Weight: 40 lbs
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Unknown
Dentals: Not Available
Fingerprints: Not Available
DNA: Not Available
Clothing: Unknown
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown
Mary Rachel Bryan and her mother, Leila , were last seen on May 10, 1941.
A native of Bladenboro, Bryan and her husband, E.C. "Eddie" Bryan, lived at Carolina Beach. The couple worked for the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. Leila had been enrolled in nursing school when the couple became engaged and were married. Bryan got her an office job at the railroad. Leila's mother disapproved of the marriage, as Eddie was divorced. The weekend she disappeared, Mary Rachel and Leila were headed for Bladenboro to visit her family. Because of the enmity between her husband and mother, Eddie wasn't accompanying Leila and Mary Rachel. She planned to leave either Friday or Saturday, possibly riding with her brother, Berry Lewis. Mary Rachel's Sunday shoes were polished, and several rings Leila always wore were found at the Raleigh Street home. The rings were Leila's favorites, and she rarely left home without them, according to friends. On May 10, 1941, Eddie Bryan told investigators that Leila said she was driving to a store a few blocks from their home. Bryan later told investigators that Mary Rachel asked to ride along. Where Leila went shopping that evening, if she did, has never been discovered. Neither mother nor child was ever seen again. Berry Lewis went to Carolina Beach to visit his sister around 21.00 on May 10, 1941. Lewis awakened Bryan, who told his brother-in-law that Leila had gone to the store. Lewis apparently drove around the beach for an hour or so, looking for Leila and Mary Rachel. Figuring he must have somehow missed them, he returned to the Bryan home, located in the 200 block of North Raleigh Avenue. Leila Bryan's 1935 Ford coupe was still missing. Husband, brother, or both called police. Bryan told police he was making concrete forms in the couple's garage when Leila had come home around 18:30 and made supper. Leila and Mary Rachel had spent the afternoon on the beach.
Local attention was intense as Leila's family was well-liked and widely known in the Bladenboro area. Searchers were combing the island and the surrounding areas for any clue of Leila, Mary Rachel, or the Ford coupe. Professional divers searched areas where a car could be driven into the Cape Fear River, Snow's Cut, and the Intracoastal Waterway. Officers visited gas stations from 50 to 100 miles away, since Eddie Bryan told investigators he didn't think the Ford had more than half tank of gasoline when Leila left. At the request of a newspaper, officers in Pinellas, Florida, began searching for the woman when the pair was reported spotted nearby. Officers questioned some of Eddie Bryan's family who lived in the area, but no clues were located. Stories and advertisements were placed in newspapers across the country as leads and suspected sightings were checked and rechecked. Officers thought they had a break later that summer when someone found a piece of automobile windshield in Snow's Cut (a large canal connecting the Cape Fear River and the Intracoastal Waterway north of Carolina Beach). It was just a few feet offshore, out from a little beach. It was in maybe 18 inches of water at the outside, and had been there for a while. Investigators determined the glass could have come from a 1935 Ford, but couldn't be sure. The windshield fragment was sent to the SBI lab in Raleigh, but as the case grew cold over the years, the glass disappeared. Investigators never found sufficient evidence to suggest anyone killed Leila and Mary Rachel. No one was ever charged. Nor was there an indication by friends or family that she had ever considered suicide.
Agency Name: N.C. State Bureau of Investigation
Agency Contact Person: N/A
Agency Phone Number: (910) 486-1262
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: N/A
NamUs Case Number: 10198
NCIC Case Number: Unknown
NamUs
Bladen Journal (Elizabethtown, NC) - Aug. 12, 2003
The Star News - Nov. 17, 2008
Added: Prior to 2011; Last Updated: 04/19/2024 - 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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