Missing
Gladys Conklin
Gladys, approximately 1982
Date and time person was reported missing : 01/09/1982
Missing location (approx) :
San Lorenzo, California
Missing classification : Endangered Missing
Gender : Female
Ethnicity :
White
DOB : 05/30/1903 (118)
Age at the time of disappearance: 78 years old
Height / Weight : 5'5, 103 pounds
Medical conditions : Gladys suffers from Alzheimer's Disease.
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: Caucasian female. White hair, blue eyes. Gladys's maiden name is Plemon. Her ears are pierced.
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Gladys was last seen in San Lorenzo, California on January 9, 1982. Her husband, Irving Conklin II, said she frequently wandered as a result of her Alzheimer's Disease, sometimes taking the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) system for transportation.
Irving kept the front gate padlocked, but on the day of her disappearance he took a nap and forgot to lock the gate. When he woke up, Gladys was gone. Her husband said he thought she went missing sometime between 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. No one besides Irving said they had seen her for about 24 hours prior to her reported disappearance.
When police went to the Conklin house to take the missing persons report, they noticed the yard had been freshly tilled. Irving said it had been routine gardening. Authorities also discovered Irving had withdrawn $20,000 from the couple's bank account just before Gladys disappeared; he said the money was to put her in a nursing home.
Those who knew the Conklins stated Irving and Gladys were devoted to each other. Although many people, including Irving's own son, theorized he had murdered his wife, friends of the family thought he might have done so to spare her from suffering the slow decline of Alzheimer's Disease rather than out of malice.
Irving died in 1988; he was never charged in Gladys's disappearance.
Gladys and Irving operated a goat farm in Oregon for a decade after their 1934 marriAge at the time of disappearance: , then moved to California. Gladys was the first children's librarian in Hayward, California; she took the position in 1950. She wrote 25 children's books about insects and other nature topics, and they sold hundreds of thousands of copies. Her case remains unsolved.
Other information and links : ncy
Alameda County Sheriff's Department
510-667-3699
September 2021 updates and sources
California Attorney General's Office
The San Jose Mercury News
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.
October 12, 2004. May 2, 2019; Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : updated.
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