Missing
Jacqueline Gail Simpson
Simpson, approximately 1982
Date and time person was reported missing : 02/28/1982
Missing location (approx) :
Vandergrift, Pennsylvania
Missing classification : Endangered Missing
Gender : Female
Ethnicity :
White
Age at the time of disappearance: 44 years old
Height / Weight : 5'6, 135 pounds
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: Caucasian female. Blonde/red hair. Simpson's nickname is Jackie.
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Simpson was last seen in Vandergrift, Pennsylvania on February 28, 1982. She was employed at the Magic Lamp Bar and Grill at the time, and was last seen just after midnight with the bar's owner, Gary R. Kunish.
She did not return to her daughter's home after work on February 28 and has never been heard from again. An extensive search turned up indication of Simpson's whereabouts. After her disappearance, spots of blood were found at the bar.
A month and a half after she was last seen, Kunish was charged with her murder. He had had an intermittent romantic relationship with Simpson prior to her disappearance, but she broke up with him at Christmastime in 1981 and began seeing another man. Kunish was reportedly enrAge at the time of disappearance: d by this.
Prosecutors did not have Simpson's body, a murder weapon or a confession, but a jury convicted Kunish of involuntary manslaughter in September 1982. This was only the second time in the history of Pennsylvania that a defendant had been convicted of murder without the victim's body.
Kunish was sentenced to three and a half years in prison. He was paroled in 1988 and successfully completed the parole in 1995. He died in 1996. He never confessed or revealed the whereabouts of Simpson's body.
Authorities believe Simpson's remains are probably in the former Varos Landfill in Buffalo Township, Pennsylvania. They searched the landfill at one time, but found no evidence, and the search was eventually discontinued due to prohibitive costs.
Simpson left behind seven children. She has never been located.
Other information and links : ncy
Pennsylvania State Police
724-858-1590
September 2021 updates and sources
The Doe Network
The Valley News Dispatch
The Pittsburgh Press
October 12, 2004. July 2, 2017; middle name and picture added.
Interactive Missing Person Search Map
