Missing
Andrea Jean Coyle
Coyle, approximately 1978
Date and time person was reported missing : 12/19/1978
Missing location (approx) :
Altoona, Pennsylvania
Missing classification : Endangered Missing
Gender : Female
Ethnicity :
White
DOB : 03/13/1948 (73)
Age at the time of disappearance: 30 years old
Height / Weight : 5'4, 130 pounds
Description, clothing, jewerly and more : A plaid Woolrich jacket, blue jeans, a tan knit cap and brown shoes.
Medical conditions : Coyle has a history of mental illness. She had a nervous breakdown in 1971, was hospitalized and received eight shock treatments. In 1973, she attempted suicide. Her sister stated she was functional as long as she took her psychiatric medication.
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Coyle's nickname is Andi. Her married name, which she didn't use, is Duree. Her ears are pierced.
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Coyle was last seen on December 19, 1978. She was living with her grandparents in the 700 block of east Sixth Street in Bellwood, Pennsylvania at the time. She left home at 8:00 a.m. and went to the Woodrow Wilson Adult Learning School in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where she was a student. She went there to turn in her textbooks and collect her grades.
Coyle left the school sometime prior to noon and has never been heard from again. She never picked up her grades. She took all her cash with her, but left behind her identification.
Coyle's sister stated Coyle never fully recovered from her 1971 nervous breakdown. The hospital she stayed in during that time gave her a course of electroconvulsive therapy, which her sister claims "destroyed" her mentally.
In 1972 or 1973, Coyle got married. She tried to take her own life in September 1973, and her husband packed up her belongings and sent her home to her parents. She hitchhiked all over the country afterwards, and her family heard from her at intervals of months.
Coyle served in the U.S. Amy from September 1974 to February 1975, when she was discharged on medical grounds. In 1976, she was arrested for a petty crime in Washington D.C., and committed to a hospital, where she stayed from August to October 1976.
She was placed on probation; the probation was completed around the time of her disappearance. At the time of her disappearance, Coyle was being treated on a voluntary basis in the psychiatric ward of Altoona Hospital.
Coyle frequently hitchhiked with truck drivers in 1978. She traveled all around the country and usually only contacted her family every four to six months. She may be traveling across the eastern United States, but authorities believe she's probably deceased.
Other information and links : ncy
Pennsylvania State Police
814-696-6100
September 2021 updates and sources
The Doe Network
The Altoona Mirror
Our Silent Crisis-Our Missing Adults
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are not known. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2�5% of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
Several organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and imAge at the time of disappearance: s of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
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